Trailer Shimmy

[BigBald]

I have a slight shimmy in my trailer when running at slow speeds.....like between 20 and 35 mph. I can feel it a small amount in the vehicle....and, I can notice it when looking at the top of the tower. I had a fairly substantial problem with last year and I had my trailer looked at, and I replaced the trailer tires with brand new ones. Both tires were shot.

The shimmy isn't horrible, but it's noticible. I have no vibration or anything once I get over that 35 mph mark.

My boat is a 99 Sport with a tower that was put on three years ago. I have been towing with the tower up. The trailer is a Ramlin. The tow vehicle is a 2003 Suburban.

Thoughts?

[Rick]

RE: Trailer Shimmy

I would check the hieght of you hitch. The trailer should be level. I would also check the tongue weight. If the tongue is to lifht of to heavy that will cause a shimmy. Its also possible that the camber of the tires has changed by the axle bending slightly. Thayt is unlikely however.

[NautiqueJeff]

You might also check to see if the tires/wheels were balanced when the tires were mounted. Quite often, shops do not balance trailer tires, and that can sometimes cause problems.

[noti_dad]

What type of wheels/tires does your suburban have. I tow a 211 with a Tahoe and found that the 20in wheels and wider tires on it follow the grooves in the road causing some shimmy with the Tahoe. The grooves also have some effect on the trailer (tandem). Could be worse with a single axle. I had the same thing happen when towing my old Sport Nautique.

[wakejunky]

I put in some balance beads on my trailer tires, same thing the big rigs use for balancing their tires. I figure it's cheaper and I don't have to worry about throwing a weight and having to get the wheel re-balanced.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

Chris

[patoloco]

I'm not a trailer expert, but if you have leaf springs, you might check the tightness of the u-bolts and check for broken/weak leaf springs. If there is some play in the bolts or leafs, I have to think that could introduce some slight shimmy to the trailer.

I think also there is a way to check trailer alignment by measuring from each wheel to the tongue to see if they are substantially different lenghths....I would think bad trailer alignment could lead to instability also.

I have noticed the same thing aa noti-dad about running in the road grooves,...but that would be road-dependant.

[BigBald]

patoloco.....Now that mention it, I have heard that about the leaf springs also. I would have thought that the trailer folks would have checked that, but it's worth checking myself.

thanks for the other input...

[streightgg]

Bigbald,

I have the same issue with my 2000 Ram-Lin trailer and Sport Nautique. If you find something that cures the shimmy/shake at slow speeds please let me know.