That darn sway issue

[milzat]

Island Creek,

If you do add another Friction Sway Bar, be sure to remove them BOTH while backing. The attaching brackets will be damaged if the sway bars reach the end of their travel.

As the others have mentioned and for the long term, replacing your present WD set-up with the Reese Dual Cam or Equal-i-zer, will give you peace of mind.

[grhodes50]

Thought I might mention that the Reese Dual Cam and Equal-i-zer handle the sway problem differently than the friction sway bars. They are designed to prevent sway from happening while the friction sway bars work to stop sway once it begins.

[wboudx]

I switched from the Equilizer to the Hensley. The Hensley makes the pivot point about 5 ft in front of the hitch, which puts it at about the same point as the 5th wheelers.

The difference between the two hitches are amazing. Five minutes after we started driving on the interstate at 60 to 65 mph, my wife said, "We are keeping the hitch".

The Hensley's are expensive but they do have reduced prices on reconditioned hitches. I also believe there is a new competitor that is less expensive.

[crazyv]

Originally Posted by grhodes50

Thought I might mention that the Reese Dual Cam and Equal-i-zer handle the sway problem differently than the friction sway bars. They are designed to prevent sway from happening while the friction sway bars work to stop sway once it begins.

good info to know.

[Island Creek]

This is an update. We took the trailer in and Mr. Cobb drove our tv with it hooked up. He immediately noticed the problem. Tightened the sway bar all the way. Still had the problem somewhat. He is putting the Reese Straight LIne set up on it. Before we left, he checked out tires. We had no idea that these really great tires were not enough for the trailer; he explained about the ply and the load. We are also getting new tires, too. He also noticed bounce, which really didn't bother us much on the road. He suggested that if it does bother us, that we need to add suspension, that the 150s had a soft suspension. But he suggested we wait on that and see how the Reese system might improve that. So we will see how it all goes. Thanks so much for all your help.

[acadianbob]

Don't forget to check the distribution of your weight on the trailer. Is the tongue weight sufficient as you have loaded it? Is the trailer level? Too much weight behind the axles or a "tongue up" attitude will contribute to sway. All I'm saying is to think beyond the hitch setup to make sure there isn't some other issue. You don't want to try cover up an issue with anti-sway devices. Try to eliminate all the factors that contribute to sway. We tow a 25' Surveyor with our F150. We towed it home without WD or sway control from the dealer; no real issues. But we immediately added the Reese WD and Dual Cam. The trailer is like a rock back there. We've NEVER had any sway. Your truck should handle that trailer OK.

[Island Creek]

We haven't gotten the tt back yet because we're having some other things done to it, but we went Friday and drove it with the Reese staright line system. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Even Mr. Cobb, the shop owner, said he couldn't believe the difference. He drove it before and after and is really impressed with the improvement. I certainly feel safer in the truck while we're towing! Thanks for all the advice and explanations.

[acadianbob]

Awesome! Glad you are getting your issue fixed!! That's IMPORTANT!!

[Sean Woodruff]

I mean no disrespect at all in this post...

BUT, the Equalizer and Reese Dual-Cam also operate through FRICTION.

Most here, I believe, are referring to a sway bar as a friction system. Yes, that also operates through friction.

Friction is used to damp trailer sway forces by applying a counteracting force to the trailer pivoting on the hitch ball.

The only three NON-friction systems are the ProPride, Hensley and Pull-Rite. These three designs change the effective pivot point of the trailer. By projecting the pivot point to the rear axle the trailer does not apply a load at a distance behind the rear axle like it does with any of the previously mentioned brands. This one "minor" geometrical change eliminates trailer sway. Ask a 5th wheel owner how he feels about his pivot point being at the rear axle.

With a conventional hitch, the load at the hitch ball is multiplied by the distance the ball sits behind the axle. At that point the wheel base of the tow vehicle, along with the tires, counteract that lever.

Again, no disrespect to any of the previous posters is intended. I have been in the "sway" business for 50+ hours per week for the last 14 years so I thought I would post what I know and have tested.


-

[MrT]

Welcome to the forum, Sean. I wish I'd discovered you a month ago prior to buying my Reese Dual-Cam setup, at least for purposes of comparison.

I am still tuning the Reese, so if it doesn't work out, perhaps I'll check out your product.