What a nightmare, hope this wasn't anyone from here

[Encie63]

Our neighbors were on I-80 coming back from around Atlantic, Iowa and were cresting a hill and saw a TT, being pulled by an Expedition, being passed up ahead by a semi. The passing manuever ended on a bridge and when the wind caught the trailer it swayed it slightly off the edge of the road. The trailer took off rolling still attached to the Expedition pulling it sideways into the side ditch. By the time the trailer had stopped it was flat and still attached to the Expedition but luckily it did not flip it. My neighbors stopped to see if everyone was ok, they were ok but deeply in shock. Come to find out they were from S. Carolina on their way to Yellowstone and admitted they were going a little too fast. To make matters worse they had a Grey Wolf like ours, not sure of the size though. They didn't have any details on what kind of hitch they had and whether they had a sway bar. Now we are really concerned on the lite weight of our TT but we needed to have it lite to pull it with our Trailblazer. We have decided until we have pulled it for a big trip to keep to the local highways to see how it really reacts. We had a sway bar on our pop-up and now are considering getting one for this one also. We couldn't use the hitch we had before cause it was too low. What is your opinions on this, do you think they were just being careless or is it a real concern even for the most cautious drivers?

[aintgotnun]

Sway control is just plain safer. Get it.

greg

[Encie63]

Would a sway bar prevent something like this? Sorry, I'm a woman and you know we need the details. LOL

[aintgotnun]

Originally Posted by Encie63

Would a sway bar prevent something like this? Sorry, I'm a woman and you know we need the details. LOL

Nothing but knowing the limits of your tow vehicle and the towed rig behind you and being smart about it can prevent it but it would definitely help. There may have been other factors at play as well in this incident. Overloaded, low tire pressure, speed……………………….

Sway control is safer than no sway control.

greg

[Encie63]

I have done some research on sway bars. They have left and right side friction sway controls that would go on our hitch or do you put dual cams on it? With a 4100lb trailer would you only need one side?

[dimurrrw]

Be safe and use dual cam.

[aintgotnun]

Originally Posted by dimurrrw

Be safe and use dual cam.

Yep.

[NDJollyMon]

I have always swore by my trusty Equal-i-zer brand hitch. It has built in sway control....and it works well.

Because these trailers have quite large surface areas...they do get pushed around a bit on the highway...no matter what. Big rigs passing, gusts of wind, etc. With sway control...the truck/trailer mostly moves as one unit...which makes it safer. It will prevent most sway. Loading of your truck and trailer also plays a HUGE part in sway.

I highly recommend weighing your vehicle combinations so you can crunch numbers and find out if it's well within your safety zone.
Along with a good weight distributing hitch, sway control, and the best brake controller you can get...you will be much safer on the road.

[RAC]

I recommend my setup....they have a 6 k version as well. runs about 600 bucks, but will take you 1/10 of the time to hookup and detach than if you go with dual cams.

[NDJollyMon]

PS....I use the PRODIGY BRAKE CONTROLLER as well. Very nice.

PSS...if you are in the neighborhood...I'll sell you my Equal-i-zer Hitch.

[RAC]

I have the prodigy too 6.2 is perfect for travel....haven't played with the b 1,2 or 3 thing yet (EG)

[Young Travelers]

The semis dont seem to want to slow down a bit when passing RV's, we found this out coming home from Wyoming last weekend with our new trailer. its not our 1st. I have towed 5ers and TT,s and even had a MH. I found out with the 5er and the TTs we have had that the wheel base, not just towing capacity and power, of the TV makes a huge difference in towing a RV. WE have dual sway control on our TT, and I pull with a 07' Dodge QC 4x4 long box diesel. I have plenty of power on tap, but even with a TV this large, the trucks were making our TT sway when I was passed. 2 Times I had to override the Brake controler for the TT and stop the sway. I would reccomend dual cams also. and as you said, avoid the main interstates, or maybe use a Larger tow vehicle with a longer wheel base. my $.02 good luck and drive safe!!!
YT

[Harry York]

The answer of course is the have a sway control and equalizer hitch but just as important SLOW DOWN. I see people pulling trailers at 70 to 80mph. Thats dangerous and "come on" what's the rush. I found that around 60mph is a safe speed -good stopping - better on gas milage.

[NDJollyMon]

Originally Posted by Young Travelers

The semis dont seem to want to slow down a bit when passing RV's, we found this out coming home from Wyoming last weekend with our new trailer. its not our 1st. I have towed 5ers and TT,s and even had a MH. I found out with the 5er and the TTs we have had that the wheel base, not just towing capacity and power, of the TV makes a huge difference in towing a RV. WE have dual sway control on our TT, and I pull with a 07' Dodge QC 4x4 long box diesel. I have plenty of power on tap, but even with a TV this large, the trucks were making our TT sway when I was passed. 2 Times I had to override the Brake controler for the TT and stop the sway. I would reccomend dual cams also. and as you said, avoid the main interstates, or maybe use a Larger tow vehicle with a longer wheel base. my $.02 good luck and drive safe!!!
YT

When trucks passed me...I've felt the surge of wind/movement...but never sway. The Equal-i-zer always moved truck/trailer as a unit.

I agree. Everyone seems to be driving too fast these days. (not to mention...driving too fast while distracted with electronics!)