Sway Controls

[Sierra323fk]

-Trailer:2012 F/R Sierra 323FK, aprox 9k lbs
-Truck:1999 F350 DUALLY 7.3 Diesel

-I have a w/d hitch setup and the rig pulls pretty well but I think it could be less sway with the addition of 2 sway controls.
-I have bought 2 sway controls and will be installing BEFORE our upcoming FIRST camping trip.
-My question is on the adjustment....instructions say to turn 1/4 turn clockwise I think to tighten and test and repete as nessessary.
-Can I go too tight? why/what is the larger flat steel plate included for? it looks like the plate with the ball attached should be mounted directly on the side of the a-frame by itself....thats how the shop installed the one on my car transport trailer....

Comments? Suggestions? Thanks!

[youroo]

First thing is find why you have sway then correct that,the friction sway bars are for help in those (Surprise) situations,not (Full Time). Youroo!!

[Road-King]

It sounds like I have the same type set up as you do. I had 1 sway control and with my new TT I decided to add a second. The flat bar that comes with the kit is to have welded to your hitch head to mount the sway control ball on. My hitch head had two places for the sway control ball, one right and one left, so I didn't use the flat bar that was included.

You can over torque the sway bar. It is hard to get a straight answer on how tight to put it on. From what I have read, you tighten it up as much as you can, then back it off 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Sometimes that seem to tight for my set up. I have been wondering if by having two sway bars now if I can or need to leave them a little less tight.

Hope this helps.

[great white]

I run a Husky centerline WD active sway control hitch. Basically an Equal-i-zer style hitch with a few new tricks.

No sway at all.

Does your trialer sway for no reason or when you're passed by a rig or something similar.

A properly weighted and set up trailer hitch truck combo should not sway at all.

If it does, you might have the hitch hieght incorrect or the trailer loaded wrong.

An "Anti sway" device shouldn't be needed on a regular basis. Just on the occasional twitch cause by an outside force (ie; bad side winds, semi's, etc).

Personally, rather than "double up", I'd go to a nice anti sway style hitch like the Equil-i-zer, hensley arrow, pro pride or even my hootchie gootchie Husky centerline....

[Sierra323fk]

I'm still learning about this BIG TT, I am a professional tractor-trailer driver, so not new to towing...just got to get everything dialed in together....I might not have enough air in the rear tires of my truck to boot...the hitch level to trailer was set up by a 18 year seasoned pro, so I'm not really questioning that part, lots of folks say I really don't need the anti-sway bars with my Dually.

[awjoker]

You've got about 10,000 pounds spread over about 35' somewhat balanced on two axles in the middle being pulled by a tiny 2 & 5/16" ball on the far end of it. I don't care what you pull it with, there will be sway. If you get caught between 2 big rigs, your dually won't sway but the assend of that trailer sure will. I've never used sway control before but I found out the hard way, sway happens. Most sway controls help to minimize it after it gets started. It's best to not let it get started. That's why I just ordered Reese dual cam to go with my Reese WD setup.

Good luck with your friction based control I hope it works for you. I was fortunate enough to already have the Reese setup and the DC system was only $185 more. If not, I was going to try the route you are going.

[great white]

Originally Posted by awjoker

You've got about 10,000 pounds spread over about 35' somewhat balanced on two axles in the middle being pulled by a tiny 2 & 5/16" ball on the far end of it. I don't care what you pull it with, there will be sway. If you get caught between 2 big rigs, your dually won't sway but the assend of that trailer sure will. I've never used sway control before but I found out the hard way, sway happens. Most sway controls help to minimize it after it gets started. It's best to not let it get started. That's why I just ordered Reese dual cam to go with my Reese WD setup.

Good luck with your friction based control I hope it works for you. I was fortunate enough to already have the Reese setup and the DC system was only $185 more. If not, I was going to try the route you are going.

Not trying to be argumentative, but I respectfully disagree.

Case in point, this trip:



with this rig:





with a Husky centerline active hitch and no sway.

By that I mean none. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

All 800-odd KMs of it.

Passed and passing tractor trailers, highways, side roads, construction, head winds, tail winds, side winds, up and down twisting mountain passes, avoidance maneuvers...... you name it, we saw it.

The truck never moved. The trailer never moved more than a small twitch to catch up to the truck on an avoidance. I watch the mirrors very closely when pulling. I want to know if the trailer is doing something before the rig tells me it is.

If you're set up right it will not "sway", which I define as an oscillation.

Definitely not enough so that you're knuckles go white or you actually have to look back to see what the trailer is doing.

Now, will a semi be able to "suck" you in closer?

Yup, but that's not "sway". The whole rig moves together as a result of the tunneling air effect between the two of you. Airspeed, pressure differential and all that jazz. Again, if your rig is set up properly that is.

Same thing happens when two large ships get close together going the same direction, the tend to pull/push towards each other. Found that out more than once on a RAS....

The other possibility is my rig is that one in a million jobbie that isn't effected the same by sway forces as those bound by the laws of physics, but I doubt it...

Just my .02

[Road-King]

I think awjoker was saying that without any sway control (active like the Husky centerline active hitch or a passive friction style) you will have sway no matter what your TV is. At least that's what I got out of it.

[caper]

Great white did you mean 8000kms and not 800.

[youroo]

Great White,great Pics. of your Truck & Trailer,what about a Pic. of your Hitch! Youroo!!

[Timex]

I have the WD bars with the chains on the end of them probabably like Sierra does. Have 1 friction sway control mounted on the curbside. Haven't done it yet or wanted to spend the extra $$ on a different setup. Only use my TT 2-3 weeks a year and maybe some closer trips. I am not a reckless driver(not saying you are) but my setup works for me now.

As for how much to tighten the sway control: I have learned to turn it to easy tight. That is tighten firmly without putting heavy force on it. If you hear a lot of grunting and groaning when you make even a slight turn(while traveling), you may have it too tight.

I have on occassion before entering the rv park, gone back there and loosened the tension so as to not put on a show for the happy campers watching me come into the campground.

[awjoker]

Originally Posted by Road-King

I think awjoker was saying that without any sway control (active like the Husky centerline active hitch or a passive friction style) you will have sway no matter what your TV is. At least that's what I got out of it.

That's EXACTLY what I meant.

My point was that the type of truck (single or dual rear) does not reduce the trailer sway. If all you have is a ball hitch it WILL sway at highway speeds and you better pray you don't meet a semi or worse, get stuck between 2 of them on the highway. If you have a WD hitch, it will reduce some of the sway. If you add a friction bar, you get even more reduction, sway control hitches reduce even more. I've never had the fortune of owning a ProPride but I've been told that they eliminate virtually all sway.

[DDC]

I have a Hensley, there is no sway at all.

[Terier]

I've never had any sway with my setup even with big rigs passing. Only have 1 anti-sway bar. Also, yes it's possible to have it set too tight.

[tntrac]

Originally Posted by Timex

I have the WD bars with the chains on the end of them probabably like Sierra does. Have 1 friction sway control mounted on the curbside. Haven't done it yet or wanted to spend the extra $$ on a different setup. Only use my TT 2-3 weeks a year and maybe some closer trips. I am not a reckless driver(not saying you are) but my setup works for me now.

As for how much to tighten the sway control: I have learned to turn it to easy tight. That is tighten firmly without putting heavy force on it. If you hear a lot of grunting and groaning when you make even a slight turn(while traveling), you may have it too tight.

I have on occassion before entering the rv park, gone back there and loosened the tension so as to not put on a show for the happy campers watching me come into the campground.

Just want to know the same question. This weekend, I drove for the first time with the friction sway control made by Husky (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Husky-34715-Ha...d+sway+control). Also have the Husky WDH with the chain.

Anyways, do you tighten enough that you are not able to move the friction control by your hands? I set it that I can move it using arm muscle but am not sure is that enough.

[Timex]

Unless you are as strong as Hercules, you should not be able to pull on the bar and it slide back and forth. If you can pull on it, you do not have it tight enough. It is designed to dampen the sway, not necessarily take it totally away. As it gets older it will begin to "slip" in the sleeve if you have it too tight. I have tried to clean mine by pulling the bar completely out and sanding it with course steel wool and spraying brake cleaner on the bar. Never use lubricant of any kind. They sell pretty cheap.

If you tighten down too much, the bar will try to grab causing a horrible grunt/groan noise. You'll be the envy of the neighborhood when you come into a park! Not really but everybody knows that sound. If I'm not on the road and pulling into the camping area, I'll loosen the bar so it won't sing to the other campers.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Timex

Unless you are as strong as Hercules, you should not be able to pull on the bar and it slide back and forth. If you can pull on it, you do not have it tight enough. It is designed to dampen the sway, not necessarily take it totally away. As it gets older it will begin to "slip" in the sleeve if you have it too tight. I have tried to clean mine by pulling the bar completely out and sanding it with course steel wool and spraying brake cleaner on the bar. Never use lubricant of any kind. They sell pretty cheap.

If you tighten down too much, the bar will try to grab causing a horrible grunt/groan noise. You'll be the envy of the neighborhood when you come into a park! Not really but everybody knows that sound. If I'm not on the road and pulling into the camping area, I'll loosen the bar so it won't sing to the other campers.

I would either lightly air sand mine on both sides or glass bead blast them every year and tighten them until they made noise. Never did have a problem with them. Don't know what sleeve you're refering to. If you take one of them apart, it is just brake shoe material glued to the steel sides. Sometimes the glue will give up. When that happened one time, I just countersunk some pop rivets, got brake shoe adhesive and re-glued them and riveted them back.

[tntrac]

Originally Posted by Timex

Unless you are as strong as Hercules, you should not be able to pull on the bar and it slide back and forth. If you can pull on it, you do not have it tight enough. It is designed to dampen the sway, not necessarily take it totally away. As it gets older it will begin to "slip" in the sleeve if you have it too tight. I have tried to clean mine by pulling the bar completely out and sanding it with course steel wool and spraying brake cleaner on the bar. Never use lubricant of any kind. They sell pretty cheap.

If you tighten down too much, the bar will try to grab causing a horrible grunt/groan noise. You'll be the envy of the neighborhood when you come into a park! Not really but everybody knows that sound. If I'm not on the road and pulling into the camping area, I'll loosen the bar so it won't sing to the other campers.

Thanks for the advice. Then mine needs to be tighten (I am not Hercules yet ). I will turn the nut until I can't pull/push manually.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by tntrac

Thanks for the advice. Then mine needs to be tighten (I am not Hercules yet ). I will turn the nut until I can't pull/push manually.

It needs to be tighter than that. If it doesn't pop or bang when you turn sharply, it is not tight enough. That's from using them for over 35 yrs and a whole bunch of miles.

[tntrac]

Originally Posted by dunnnc

It needs to be tighter than that. If it doesn't pop or bang when you turn sharply, it is not tight enough. That's from using them for over 35 yrs and a whole bunch of miles.

Got it. No wonder, I was like WTF the reviewers raved about this product, the sway control doesn't make any difference driving over 250 miles this past weekend .

Road King,

Does the second sway control help?