I have a good friend who has a 2006 Ram 6' bed quad cab 4x4 that had BFGoodrich all terrain tires. He just got new Michelin LTX tires like came on the truck as a factory standard. Now his travel trailer is swaying. Swears it never swayed before and has checked everything on his hitch including multiple calls to Equal-i-zer hitch. He is an avid RVer and very knowledgable but this has got him stumped. He has tried different tire pressures including the max of 80 in the truck tires as well as max allowable psi in the trailer tires. He towed this trailer all way down from Ohio from FL and many pulls since with no issues. Anyone ever heard of a tire causing trailer sway. Any ideas. Thanks. Phillip

 

Are you sure he didn't do something to shift weight backward on the RV at the same time?

 

I have noticed a "squirminess" or instability a couple times with new truck tires, especially with a more aggressive tread. It almost gives the sensation that all the tires on the truck are flat. The worst I encountered was with a set of Toyo Mud Terrain tires. I have attributed it to the newness of the tires, and it has always gone away after 800 or so miles, after the tires have broken in a bit. I have never towed immediately after replacing my truck tires, but I really think it could easily induce a sway in the trailer. I bet if he puts a few miles on the truck, without the trailer, it will be fine next time he hooks up.

 

Michelin tires used to be and possibly still are softsided walled. Find a good tire shop. Just my two cents, Mike.

 

I have a set and they have no sidewall strength it seems. Really wimpy and they drive like it also. It is better now that I adjusted the steering box according to the FSM and replaced the track bar bushing with a polyurethane one. I can tow the TT and feel reasonably confident with one hand on the wheel but still has a way to go be as good as the prior tires I ran.

 

Thanks PCM for getting this on the forum. I am the friend that PCM speaks of and like he said, I towed this 35 foot travel trailer 1,000 miles from Ohio to Florida last summer when I picked it up with no sway issues. I've towed it numerous times with the same setup and no sway issues. In February I put the Michelins on and everything changed. I can feel a minivan coming up next to me...a big rig truck or one of those huge Calss A's, but a minivan! I changed nothing in the trailer as far as shifting anything around and now have about 2,000 miles on these tires - should be broken in, don't you think torquefan? I plan on stopping at the tire shop today and see what they have to say. May have to go back to the BFGoodrich tires that came on the truck

 

E rated tire i assume,same size?The only other thing would be the angle adjustment on the WD HITCH has changed.I think it has to be the tires,your WT is prob 8/10 k TT, not that much wt for your truck.

 

I have always towed with michelin tires on the truck, no problem at all, maybe he does not have them aired up enough.

 

The Michelins that I bought ARE E rated tires that were aired up to 80 lbs last weekend as they were at 65 lbs the tow before and I thought that may be the problem. The trailer weighs about 8,500 lbs and you're right alboy, should not be a problem for the Cummins and the WD hitch that I have. Have adjusted that thing to every conceivable combination that there is and still no luck.

 

A friend of mine has hauled campers for a few million miles and has swore by the Michelin LTX...until his last two sets. He has described exactly what your issue is and the tire wear is faster as well.
His description is that his truck feels squishy and he moves around a lot more on the road.
I had always praised the LTX and used them often. I am almost ready for a new set of tires on the truck and when I mentioned how I was going to look at the Michelins again is when my friend said I should reconsider after what he has experienced.

He'll be in town next week and I'll go for a ride. He has chased this hoping its not the tires...adjusting his EQ hitch, shocks, alignment etc.

 

Yeah, they should definitely be broken in by now. I have always found Michelin to be one of the most problem-free tires on the market, and I have used them very successfully in the past. As mentioned above, they must have done something to change the construction of them, causing this condition. Pretty disappointing, hope you get it sorted out.

 

I went from LTX's to Hancook E rated AT tires, and first thing I noticed was the mushy feeling of the tires. After reading more about this issue, it seems after a bit of break in they feel more solid.

I can report that this is exactly what happened to me. after about 1000 miles, they feel great. I tow about 10k and they feel fine.

 

Over the last 15 years I have use Michelin LTX MS and I've gone through many sets!!! I put a set on my last 5ver my Jeep TJ and the 2001 all around the same time. The trailer was so bad I changed out the tires on my dime and it still felt like the 2001 truck was all over the road, the truck previously had the exact same tire on it. I had a second set of wheels with tires on and tried them on the truck.... Problem gone. I took the tires back to Costco and they gave me a full cash refund. Then I sold the Jeep. It IS the tires, take them back.. Michelin lost me as a customer.

 

I wasn't able to find very much about your symptoms when I did a search.
However, I did find this link...

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/tires/michelin.html

 

Well, good news – I hope. Talked to Michelin today and they agreed to take the tires back and I ordered the OEM BFGoodrich T/A tires as a replacement. Had to call TireRack.com and order the new ones and then will have to have the Michelins inspected locally and then TireRack will send me FedX labels to return the old tires. Very good customer service if you ask me.

I say I hope because I hope this solves the problem because we love our Cougar trailer!

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions....I'll let ya know the outcome.

Jimmie