Front end bouncing

Hey guys,

Got a columbia daycab and when i'm going down the road loaded the front end seems to want to bounce a little bit. however, when i'm empty its fine. Could this be because of the position of the 5th wheel? or could it be I need new drive tires and an alignment?

Thanks

 

You need to do balance....thet's all.......

 

balance what?

 

If you have room weight wise to move the 5th wheel, move it back. See if that alleviates the problem. When I pulled a dry van I hated to have to move the 5th wheel all the way forward to balance a load. It creates a lurching effect on roads with joints or uneven surfaces (think I-5 in LA).

 

it is moved back to the back, so it couldn't be a problem with tires or alignment?

 

It could be tire balance, alignment, worn shocks, a leveling valve... any number of things.

The front end of my Volvo shook ever since I first got it. It was new.
At first it was very light, then over time it got worse.
The shop wouldn't do anything until the steers showed abnormal wear, then they just replaced the tires.
The second time they fixed the leveling valve, which took care of the shake for several thousand miles. But it came back.
The last time they changed the steers and did an alignment. The problem has not returned.in probably 50k miles.

 

Thanks, yeah both of my steer tires are wearing pretty good on the inside

 

Wow. Is there a particular speed where the bouncing starts or gets really bad?

 

Follow the solution from Moosetek. Sounds like balancing and three axle alignment is in order.

 

Just cruising at 70 mph on the interstate?