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Old 07-16-2013, 09:30 PM   #1
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Sierra 292RL Excessive Sway

Hi, my name is Les. My wife and I just bought a 2011 Sierra 292RL. We absolutely love it. However we can not seem to keep it on the road. We have a Blue Ox Sway Pro system. I knew the front end on my truck needed work done on it, tie rods and such. Got all that taken care of and thought it was ready to go, took it out today for another test run and again going about 55-60 on interstate it started swerving side to side. Not as bad as first time on road but still enough to not want to take it on vacation in 2 weeks. 3000 mile round trip. I tried different load configurations on the WD bars but does not seem to help. I'm running out of ideas. Just out of curiosity has anyone else ever had any issues with this particular model. I know it's a stretch.
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Old 07-16-2013, 10:04 PM   #2
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Using a torque wrench, tighten the 3/4" bolts under each bar to no more than 90 foot pounds.

I have mine at 60
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Old 07-16-2013, 10:08 PM   #3
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This model does not have the bolts to tighten. I saw that idea in another thread. I guess they must have just recently changed the design.
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Old 07-16-2013, 10:10 PM   #4
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I should add my truck is a 2000 f350 4WD with a 9' utility bed.
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Old 07-16-2013, 10:14 PM   #5
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You are correct, they did just change the design.

The other thing to check is that you have approximately 12% (10 - 15%) of the
Trailer weight on the tongue
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Old 07-16-2013, 10:18 PM   #6
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Have you looked at swayprots ?
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Old 07-17-2013, 04:26 AM   #7
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Thanks for replies. At this time I don't have any thing else in truck or trailer. It is just dry weight. I may try loading some stuff in it just to check. I'm going to talk to mechanic today where I bought it ( Lazydays Florida ) and see if I'm missing anything. I wish I knew someone else that pulls a trailer and have them pull mine to see if they have same problem, or is it still my truck. But alas I don't.
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Old 07-17-2013, 08:00 AM   #8
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Have you ever been to a scale with the truck and camper? It sounds like, to me, that it may be helpful to get weighed to find your tongue weight and work from there.
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Old 07-17-2013, 12:08 PM   #9
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You need to find out your tongue weight. Also, what size bars are you using? You need to have them matched to your tongue weight. One might be tempted to get larger bars since you have such a large TV however that would be bad. They need to match your trailer.

Also, did you set up the hitch per the instructions? Both vehicles should look level. Again, because of your TV their could be a tendancy to set the trailer hitch high (another bad thing as it reduces your tonue weight).

We use a Blue Ox and don't have the greatest TV length to wheelbase ratio and it works great. No sway at all.

Most of all, you need to find your tongue weight in relation to overall weight.
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Old 07-17-2013, 12:25 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by tanddc View Post
You need to find out your tongue weight. Also, what size bars are you using? You need to have them matched to your tongue weight. One might be tempted to get larger bars since you have such a large TV however that would be bad. They need to match your trailer.

Also, did you set up the hitch per the instructions? Both vehicles should look level. Again, because of your TV their could be a tendency to set the trailer hitch high (another bad thing as it reduces your tongue weight).

We use a Blue Ox and don't have the greatest TV length to wheelbase ratio and it works great. No sway at all.

Most of all, you need to find your tongue weight in relation to overall weight.
I agree with everyone... esp this post... I also use the BlueOX swaypro and my chain is on link 7 from the bar.... nice bow in the bar too... NO Sway.. (i figured out my other problem.. air in the BFG tires, pumped up to 40lbs and now SOLID)... Anyway... Check your tongue weight.. by the looks of the spec on that trailer, it's around 740lbs for a dry wt of 7200..could need a few lbs..... and make sure you have a "bow" in the arms...
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Old 07-17-2013, 12:49 PM   #11
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Trailer and blue ox set up by mechnic at Lazydays. No I have not weighed it but stated TW was 1028 lb when I bought it. Blue Ox bars are 1500 lb. My original question has any one else had similar problems with model year. When we bought 3 weeks ago it looks brand new. We were wondering if previous owners may have problems with towing. I not trying to bad mouth Sierra , but things do get by. Right now I have a $21000.00 trailer I can' t tow and I' ve tried everything suggested. There seems to be very little info on the web about the 292 RL.
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Old 07-17-2013, 12:53 PM   #12
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Any chance of said mechanic going for a ride with you?
How are the axles/wheel alignment? Just shooting ideas my friend.
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Old 07-17-2013, 01:22 PM   #13
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Called dealer said he will have service call me and set up appointment to look and test drive with my truck and theirs. Will see what happens. I wonderd about axle alignment also.
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Old 07-17-2013, 03:06 PM   #14
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Sway at that speed screams improper tongue weight. I would be most suspicious of this. The good news, it takes less than 20 bucks and an hour of your time to find out. Search how to use a CAT scale.
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Old 07-17-2013, 07:02 PM   #15
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Sway at that speed screams improper tongue weight. I would be most suspicious of this. The good news, it takes less than 20 bucks and an hour of your time to find out. Search how to use a CAT scale.
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