How tight is tight enough?

[racecar67]

Back in Feb I moved up in the world of camping when I went from a Fleetwood Niagara pop-up to a Wildwood 26TBSS. Here's the question. On my pop-up I had a friction sway controller and it worked well with it. on my TT I have two. How tight should I get the two units? My dealer says crankum down but, how? As tight as I can get them with my hand or do I use the break over tool for my WDH to tighten? I think on my las t trip I over tightened and not only loosened and gauld the small attach balls on the hitch but it slightly bent both ears they conect to.

[dcheatwood]

I used to go snug (whatever that is) then back up to point the handle to the rear. Try backing off a little each trip until you feel wind effect on the trailer then tighten a little past that. Trial and error. You'll find a "happy spot."

[Kaadk]

My dealer told me to hand tighten (i.e. no tools) and that seems to be working so far, though the creaking and groaning sometimes drives the dog nuts.

The important part to remember is to remove them before doing any tight turns. I generally pull mine off when I get to the CG office, or when I get to the storage yard before trying to position the TT.

[w4drr]

I snug mine down as tight as I can get it with my bare hand. I think that handle is short for a reason, to limit just how tight you can get it. Adding a pipe or a WDH tool to the handle to tighten is probably not a good thing. It is kind of like the supplied hand crank for the stablilizers, which has a very short stroke to limit how much force you can apply.

Bob

[eshenderson]

On my old camper, I had the friction control sway bars that worked well. I was told by the dealer that the sway bar is actually lined with brake material and once the trailer starts swaying the liner heats up and expands creating more friction. I always hand tightened and never had a problem. As was said earlier, make sure you loosen before backing up as you will be fighting the sway control.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by racecar67

Back in Feb I moved up in the world of camping when I went from a Fleetwood Niagara pop-up to a Wildwood 26TBSS. Here's the question. On my pop-up I had a friction sway controller and it worked well with it. on my TT I have two. How tight should I get the two units? My dealer says crankum down but, how? As tight as I can get them with my hand or do I use the break over tool for my WDH to tighten? I think on my las t trip I over tightened and not only loosened and gauld the small attach balls on the hitch but it slightly bent both ears they conect to.

Race car, are you referring to a basic WDH with two add-on friction sway bars?

If so, I don't recommend you continue to use that system anymore with your new 26TBSS. Your new trailer is 29' long and has a dry weight of 5,800lbs, correct? I believe the cargo weight can be as high as 2,000lbs but even with a more reasonable 1,000lbs of cargo, you are pulling a fairly long and moderately heavy trailer. This is somewhat dependent on your tow vehicle, but ignoring that for now, I suggest you upgrade the hitch to an Equal-I-zer or Reese Dual Cam. These have much better sway control integrated into the WDH.

[w4drr]

Originally Posted by eshenderson

...make sure you loosen before backing up as you will be fighting the sway control.

I just competely remove mine before any kind of tight backing. Backing can cause an angle that will exceed the travel of the sway bar, and things will bent or break.

Bob

[racecar67]

Yep I always take it off before backing and makeing tight turns. I don't even put them on until I'm out othe driveway. Even after tightening with the WDH tool I still got pushed around by trucks. I am currently running a Husky WDH It's what the dealer sold me when I bought the TT.