Let's Talk Travel Trailer Sway

[ZRrrr]

Spend a lot of time camping and like to walk/ride around looking at peoples rigs. Also watch on the highways. This summer I focused a lot on what people are using for hitches. Surprised me to see that about 90% of the people do not use any form of sway control. This was no matter the tow vehicle or trailer size. Even on small tow vehicles with big trailers there was little no sway control. Myself and camping buddies are not the norm as the majority of use some form of sway control, even with 1 tons.

I have been through some pretty crazy winds in Southern AB and was happy to have sway control, both with my previous halfer and even the current one ton. I would like to start a general discussion about the lack of sway control I see, the need or otherwise of sway control, experiences, opinions......

 

[doorfx]

Ford 1/2 tons have built in sway control

 

[Bnorth]

Towed my 26' with my dually with no sway control or weight distribution and never had even a sniff of sway. Same trailer with my F150 used the weight distribution hitch and no sway control with no issues. Never towed in big prairie winds with the F150 though. No idea if the built in sway control is sufficient or not. It's a half ton so I imagine it will attract plenty of hate on here.

 

[DRD]

What's trailer sway? I've run the Reese dual cam since day one


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[Cat401]

Ford 1/2 tons have built in sway control

...and GM has stabiltrak with built in sway control

 

[Teth-Air]

Your truck must weigh near the same or more than your trailer or forget about it. I see guys with Toyota's and SUV's pulling 30 ft trailers. Dumb Dumb Dumb. Not that they don't have the power but on the praries it is all about the wind and getting stuck in a storm that will throw you right off the road. No sway control is going to save you, F150's don't cut it either if you want to pull a 10,000 lb trailer, and now 700 lbs lighter with aluminum??? You should be able to see the problem here.

 

[Bnorth]

Your truck must weigh near the same or more than your trailer or forget about it. I see guys with Toyota's and SUV's pulling 30 ft trailers. Dumb Dumb Dumb. Not that they don't have the power but on the praries it is all about the wind and getting stuck in a storm that will throw you right off the road. No sway control is going to save you, F150's don't cut it either if you want to pull a 10,000 lb trailer, and now 700 lbs lighter with aluminum??? You should be able to see the problem here.

So what about a one ton dually pulling a 16,000 lb toy hauler or a 12,000 kg rig pulling a 51,000 kg super B?

 

[ferniesnow]

We use a Pro Series Friction Sway Controller. When we bought the trailer, the salesman started with all the extras..............TP, all the various cleaners (upholstery, floor, tub/shower, counters, etc., etc.), and a sway bar.

I thought the equalizer hitch was good enough and I wasn't too worried about the tow vehicle (a 2013 F350). Well, the wind was the typical southern Alberta 100 km beauty coming from the mountains. It was a no brainer to try this as it was only $55 with my discount. I didn't have a clue if I needed it or not as I had not pulled anything with this truck. Well, we bought it and took off into the wind and across the wind from Lethbridge to the BC border. That was the best money I have spent on an accessory for that trailer. No sway whatsoever coming home.

With that in place, we have never experienced a sway problem.

Pro Series - Pro Series

 

[Bnorth]

Had you tried it without the sway control first?

 

[rider4life]

I'm pulling a 26'ft TT with my Sierra 1500, always had a pro series hitch and sway setup like ferniesnow and it can get a little testy when the wind really kicks up, I've also pulled my dads 28' with the Equ I lizer type system and its always solid, only difference in the trailer is where the water tank is, pretty sure with mine there isn't enough tongue weight which is adding to the problem

 

[800HMX]

Reese Dual Cam is the best but the Friction Sway Control works well too. Not sure about the factory "built in sway control." Proper weight distribution and a level or slightly nose high trailer really helps too.

i think the worst trailer to pull is a bumper pull toyhauler with a garage - just can't get the weight far enough forward.

 

[doorfx]

Blue ox makes a very nice set up.

 

[Absledder]

I've pulled everything from 10ft single place sled trailers to 35ft goosenecks with trucks ranging from a Ford ranger to dodge 3500. Never had even a hint of sway and its always been a standard hitch(except the gooseneck obviously). I think that weight balance has everything to do with it, especially just last night I watched the guy in front of me almost hitch the ditch due to his trailers death wobble. When I got close enough to see his load there was about 6 feet hanging off the back and probably negative weight on the tongue.


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[wolverine68]

I have a 27ft Desert Fox toyhauler that I tow with a Chev 2500. Been down to Colorado and Moab twice, all over BC and Alberta with only a weight distribution hitch and I've never had any sway. Load distribution is the key.

 

[ZRrrr]

Reese Dual Cam on my Titan was the bomb. Rock solid! Went through two massive thunderstorms with high winds at 1AM once due to an emergency and it was solid the whole way. I have an Andersen setup now with the F350 and it's decent, but like I mentioned, this summer I have very rarely seen any anti sway systems. Just made me wonder.

Two other buddies run the Reese Dual Cam, one the Blue Ox, and my Dad the Equal-i-zer. All others ae just good old round bar weight distribution.

 

[youngpolarisguy]

X2 on the blue ox best hitch i have ever used, I had sway problems but then I upgraded trucks and now she tows like a dream, In my opinion if you have a bad sway problem something is not right and should be fixed not covered up with sway control. sway control should be there as a backup when things go astray.

Blue ox makes a very nice set up.

 

[Caper11]

It's scary what you see on the highway these days for TT and truck combos.
1500 trucks towing 30+ ft TT with p rated tires, poorly setup trucks and TT.

It's a pretty common sight now adays to see a truck with its rear suspension squatted and the front of the trailer riding low.

Trailer loading, hitch weight distribution, tire pressure etc plays a huge role in towing comfort. Sway control is a great product to be used as a back up for a properly setup truck/trailer combo.

I wonder how many take the time to read the fine print in their trucks towing guide?

I read somewhere that ram is the only manuf that does not strip down their trucks to improve the towing and payload numbers.


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[Chump]

I try to avoid hitting the highways on the long weekends just for this reason. To many people towing big trailers with small trucks. I'm self employed so Im usually able to avoid them. I find it much nicer to head out on off weekends. Might as well stay in the city if half the sheep in calgary are trying to get out at once. I would hate to be in a half ton pulling a 30' trailer and have to do any sort of evasive manouvers. Rcmp should be more top of this. These people are putting there lives and everyone else's on the road in danger.

 

[ferniesnow]

Had you tried it without the sway control first?

No I hadn't.

I am thinking that the cheap stock tires, on a lot of RV's, may make a big difference in handling. I will run the stock tires for the rest of this summer and next year replace them with a quality "trailer tire".

 

[Bnorth]

No I hadn't.

I am thinking that the cheap stock tires, on a lot of RV's, may make a big difference in handling. I will run the stock tires for the rest of this summer and next year replace them with a quality "trailer tire".

Mine had Maxxis radials. I highly recommend them. It seems like more and more trailers are coming with Chinese tires now. Back in high school when I did tires I used to see a lot of failed trailer tires, vast majority were Chinese off brand.