Blue Ox Sway Pro

[BigBaron]

What are the tires on your truck(s). Have you checked the pressures?
Some tires 'wiggle' a lot.
Something is wrong. I've never had a trailer act squirrelly unless it was tongue-light or loaded more on one side than the other, not to mention low tire pressures.

[mlong]

I can tell you that passenger tires not inflated to the max pressure while towing will have some sway. I had a slight sway issue when I first towed my TT with the tires at normal pressure. After inflating to max pressure the sway was greatly reduced. My sway was never bad enough to cause me to swerve out of my lane though. I still have some wiggle but it is not bad.

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by mlong

I can tell you that passenger tires not inflated to the max pressure while towing will have some sway. I had a slight sway issue when I first towed my TT with the tires at normal pressure. After inflating to max pressure the sway was greatly reduced. My sway was never bad enough to cause me to swerve out of my lane though. I still have some wiggle but it is not bad.

You right on in your comments, but the op has a 1 ton truck he towing with and they should be LT tires.

[mlong]

Originally Posted by Platokidd

the op has a 1 ton truck he towing with and they should be LT tires.

Yes, I realize that but Baron questioned whether the OP's tires were passenger or not. I was not saying they are I was just offering my experience with passenger tires and the affect they can have when towing. It also relates to driving on any tire that is not inflated properly for towing.

I would not assume the OP has passenger tires as he stated he has a 1 ton TV. I just wanted to offer some info for others who may have smaller vehicles and are experiencing similar issues that may not necessarily be caused by the hitch set up.

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by Platokidd

You right on in your comments, but the op has a 1 ton truck he towing with and they should be LT tires.

Originally Posted by mlong

Yes, I realize that but Baron questioned whether the OP's tires were passenger or not. I was not saying they are I was just offering my experience with passenger tires and the affect they can have when towing. It also relates to driving on any tire that is not inflated properly for towing.

I would not assume the OP has passenger tires as he stated he has a 1 ton TV. I just wanted to offer some info for others who may have smaller vehicles and are experiencing similar issues that may not necessarily be caused by the hitch set up.

I was agreeing with you. and just made the comment on LT tires.
And it is good you pointed the "P" rated tire out for others members

[mlong]

Originally Posted by Platokidd

I was agreeing with you.

Sorry,
bad thing about forums & emails, you can just plain misunderstand someone's comments/remarks. It all depends on who is reading the material and what mood they may be in at the time. Innocent remarks can be taken the wrong way and start bad situations. Talking to someone and hearing the tone in there voice avoids this types of things.

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by mlong

Sorry,
bad thing about forums & emails, you can just plain misunderstand someone's comments/remarks. It all depends on who is reading the material and what mood they may be in at the time. Innocent remarks can be taken the wrong way and start bad situations. Talking to someone and hearing the tone in there voice avoids this types of things.

Ya know, I have run into that with texting the kids and on this forum, implied and received.
I think some of that could have been my bad after I re-read my post.
Happy camping

[mlong]

Originally Posted by Platokidd

I think some of that could have been my bad after I re-read my post.
Happy camping

No problem, glad we could work it out instead of just firing bad comments back and forth. I run into that with work emails and other forums a lot.

Happy camping to you also. Hope the OP gets their problem solved also

[Dogbone]

I want to thank everyone that has been trying to help. Both trucks have LT tires and are inflated to 75 lb in the rear and 65 in the front. Max for the tires is 80. I called Blue Ox and PPL Motorhomes and explained what is happening and I'm not a happy camper. Sorry about the pun. Blue Ox wants pictures, they can't give me a reason. PPL motorhomes, that is were I bought the hitch, won't exchange it for a Reese, with the trunions, or take it back. In the past, I was a member of the Cedar Creek Club, we had 3,000 members. We would share our thoughts, about different dealers, and avoid the bad and use the good. I will tell you I would not and will not use PPL ever again and I urge you all to do the same. Blue Ox people are friendly and willing to help. I just wish they could get someone here.
Thanks again for you input, Bob

[jgroff]

Hopefully it works out for you. I have been trying a few different things with my blue ox. I have a 1000 blue ox. My dry hitch is 754 and wet is 900-910. I think I count the links wrong I start from the bars. I was running on the 8th link from the bar. On the way home today I decided to try 7 from the bar. When u look at the brackets on the trailer you see one and half links below the bracket. This ran great. One down side was it made the hitch pretty noisy. Not sure if that is normal? It creaked turning an backing up. But it ran down the highway great. I was glad too Becasue it was a very windy day.

When I was on the 8th link from the bar they were level to the trailer frame but there was no flex at the tips and the front of my SUV was up 1/8" from unloaded. 7 was noticeable flex and suv was down 1/16".

Hopefully the noise in the hitch is ok.

[CHD Dad]

I love my Blue Ox. My camper is 6600# loaded with around 850# of tongue weight as verified on a CAT. I had the Andersen and it never worked right for me. I sold that and did a lot of research and settled on the Ox. Its very easy to hook up, is pretty quiet compared to other hitches and the ride is excellent on our setup. I cant recall the bar weights, they have the 3 dots which is how they mark them. They have a good amount of flex in them which is what you want for the system to work right. Its all about pressure and geometry with the Ox.

Sorry to hear about PPL. I used them in the past and they were really good about an issue I had. I used eTrailer for the Ox purchase as I had a coupon.

Regarding your sway all over the place, you shouldnt sway period with any hitch if the camper is setup right. I've always held that the sway control of any hitch design is just a backup in worst case situations. If the tongue weight is right, alignment right, tires right, etc. the trailer should tow well with no sway control at all. Your truck is more than adequate to haul that TT so it makes me think something else is "off".

[mlong]

Mine has some noise every once in a while but nothing constant. I think it is usually when I first hook up and pull out. Is your hitch constantly noisy? Maybe time to shoot a little grease in there. I think they recommend every 6 months or so to add grease.

[jgroff]

its a new setup for me. we bought a new trailer and got the blue ox put in with it. I've only pulled the trailer 4 times. so I'm still getting it dialed in. the drive home today was the first I have ever heard a noise from the blue ox and it creaked turning around corners. backing up it was pretty noisy. this is when i have 9 free links ( on 10th link). it towed great!. I think the wider i took a turn it didn't make a noise the tighter i did it made a noise and thats the same backing up, when turning it tight it would make a lot of noise



QUOTE=mlong;647401]Mine has some noise every once in a while but nothing constant. I think it is usually when I first hook up and pull out. Is your hitch constantly noisy? Maybe time to shoot a little grease in there. I think they recommend every 6 months or so to add grease.[/QUOTE]

[Dogbone]

Originally Posted by jgroff

Hopefully it works out for you. I have been trying a few different things with my blue ox. I have a 1000 blue ox. My dry hitch is 754 and wet is 900-910. I think I count the links wrong I start from the bars. I was running on the 8th link from the bar. On the way home today I decided to try 7 from the bar. When u look at the brackets on the trailer you see one and half links below the bracket. This ran great. One down side was it made the hitch pretty noisy. Not sure if that is normal? It creaked turning an backing up. But it ran down the highway great. I was glad too Becasue it was a very windy day.

When I was on the 8th link from the bar they were level to the trailer frame but there was no flex at the tips and the front of my SUV was up 1/8" from unloaded. 7 was noticeable flex and suv was down 1/16".

Hopefully the noise in the hitch is ok.

My dry weight is 840, if you can believe the book. I been using 7 or 8 loose links, 3 or 4 below the bracket. when the trailer was really loaded, water, food, beer and clothing for 9 people, it towed pretty good. Going back to camp, with everything out, it was all over the road. I watched it go from the slow lane to 1/2 way into the middle. Luckily there was no one there. My son was towing it with his 1 ton Dodge. I've been on the phone to Blue Ox a few times. They want me to send pictures.??? Problem is, the trailer is not home. It's at our campground. We have a seasonal site with a deck. I can get it out and in, but it is a bit of a problem
As far as the noise, mine only made a lot of noise when the pin that holds the bar in came out, at some point. We don't know where. BO sent me a new pin and springs. Did you grease your ball and the fittings on the hitch? Do your sockets, where the bars go in, move up and down, not side to side? They are supposed to do that.
I have the 1500 lb bars. I figured heavier was better. I was going to try the 100lb bars, but they are 259 bucks. Going to 8 loose links is a bit of a strain to get and release. It takes 2 people to release. One on the wrench and one on the release pin.

[jgroff]

Originally Posted by Dogbone

My dry weight is 840, if you can believe the book. I been using 7 or 8 loose links, 3 or 4 below the bracket. when the trailer was really loaded, water, food, beer and clothing for 9 people, it towed pretty good. Going back to camp, with everything out, it was all over the road. I watched it go from the slow lane to 1/2 way into the middle. Luckily there was no one there. My son was towing it with his 1 ton Dodge. I've been on the phone to Blue Ox a few times. They want me to send pictures.??? Problem is, the trailer is not home. It's at our campground. We have a seasonal site with a deck. I can get it out and in, but it is a bit of a problem
As far as the noise, mine only made a lot of noise when the pin that holds the bar in came out, at some point. We don't know where. BO sent me a new pin and springs. Did you grease your ball and the fittings on the hitch? Do your sockets, where the bars go in, move up and down, not side to side? They are supposed to do that.
I have the 1500 lb bars. I figured heavier was better. I was going to try the 100lb bars, but they are 259 bucks. Going to 8 loose links is a bit of a strain to get and release. It takes 2 people to release. One on the wrench and one on the release pin.

I have greased the ball and fittings. i will put more in. my sockets move up and down not side to side. 8 loose links i find easy to latch up and release, but i use my power tongue jack and pitch the trailer and tv a bit. i had to pitch it even more to go on to 9 loose links. that is the only setting my bars bend at the end. i bet you have to heavy of bars to get any sway control. it would be worth it to get the 1000 lb bars. blue ox wont exchange them? it was night and day difference going to 9 loose links. 8 i got pushed around 9 didnt even move. i dont have a big tow vehicle either.

[Dogbone]

Originally Posted by jgroff

I have greased the ball and fittings. i will put more in. my sockets move up and down not side to side. 8 loose links i find easy to latch up and release, but i use my power tongue jack and pitch the trailer and tv a bit. i had to pitch it even more to go on to 9 loose links. that is the only setting my bars bend at the end. i bet you have to heavy of bars to get any sway control. it would be worth it to get the 1000 lb bars. blue ox wont exchange them? it was night and day difference going to 9 loose links. 8 i got pushed around 9 didnt even move. i dont have a big tow vehicle either.

I just looked at the installation video, for the 6th time. The name of the piece the sway bars go in is called hitch head pivot. They swing side to side, as they are supposed to do, but they also go up and down about a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. I don't remember if it did that when I first got the hitch. Also quite a lot of grease coming out.

[jgroff]

Originally Posted by Dogbone

I just looked at the installation video, for the 6th time. The name of the piece the sway bars go in is called hitch head pivot. They swing side to side, as they are supposed to do, but they also go up and down about a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. I don't remember if it did that when I first got the hitch. Also quite a lot of grease coming out.

i just got my hitch and they do, so im hoping thats normal.

[jgroff]

I just called blue ox to confirm. they are supposed to move up and down a bit. I asked about the nosie that I heard they told me I probably had one of the chains twisted before i put it in the bracket. I didnt pay attention so I probably did.

they also told me to raise the hitch head up one hole and set it back to 7 or 8 free links and see how it drives. 9 free links seemed pretty cranked