First long trip out with the 2008 Terry 280FQS, about 800 miles round trip. Towed great, but the insides looked like they had been through a blender when we got there. We lost two drawers that overextended and blew out the drawer slides, but that wasn't the half of it. Too much bouncing going on, and I have an appointment next week to visit the dealer for some troubleshooting.

In the interim, I made some phone calls to Lippert/Trailair to track down some suspension info. Actually spoke with the former founder and CEO of TrailAir (he sold the company to Lippert) and he gave me the contact info for the chief engineer at Lippert Components, whom I am trying to reach. Top item on my list is verifying that the right springs were installed in the trailer.

I just installed new aluminum wheels and TowMax radial tires prior to the trip. Kept the OEM size (225/75-R15 load range D) and had the tires balanced. In discussing the bouncing and possible causes, the topic of tire pressure came up. If the tires are too hard, the trailer will bounce too much.

So I weighed the trailer today and here's what I got:

Truck solo 7120
Trailer axles 7640
Both 15960

Doing the math, that means the truck weighed 8320 (GVWR 8600, pretty close call here), the trailer weighs 8840 with 1200 of that on the tongue.

BUT, if you look at the trailer axle weights of 7640 and divide by 4, that means each tire is carrying 1910 lbs. Now, these are load range D tires are are rated at 2640 at 65 psi.

Here's the load/inflation table from Maxxis:



According to this, I could air down to 55psi and each tire would carry 2270 lbs, leaving a margin for assumimg that each tire is not exactly evenly loaded. This 10psi reduction would soften the ride and may help alleviate some of the severe bouncing that is sending stuff flying out of every cabinet like a poltergeist.

Now, I'm weighing this against the many threads discussing ST tire blowouts, and running at max psi as a precautionary measure. I ran this last trip at 65-70 mph, and the tires were not even warm when I checked them at fuel stops.

This past trip we boondocked for the weekend with full water. Didn't dump until we got home, so the water we brought up in the fresh tank came back in the grey/black tanks. The GVWR on the TT is 9200 lbs, and I'm almost there, and don't foresee loading anything more than we took on this last trip (remember just the two of us now, no kids).

So, what are some thoughts on this? Would a 10psi reduction make the trailer ride noticably smoother? Am I inviting a blowout by running under max psi? Does anybody else air their TT tires according to load?

Our previous Sunnybrook was almost indetical in terms of weights, axles, tires, etc., the only difference being it came from the factory woth shocks. You could leave a piece of paper on the counter and it would still be there when you arrived. I ordered the Monroe retrofit shock kit for this TT, but am thinking that something else must be amiss to be getting this much bouncing.

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2001 Suburban 8.1L/4.10 axle
CIPA extendable tow mirrors, custom PIAA lights and front hitch
Hensley Arrow
Honda EU 2000
2008 Terry 280 FQS