RV_Hokie
Member
I know that Friction Sway Control is a limited amount of sway control, but my question is with the adjustment arm on these devices, how do you know how tight to tighten to have it work properly?
Friction Sway Control - How do you Adjust?
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John From Detroit
Well-known member
There are basically two ways to adjust the ones I have.. First there is the lever you use to loosen or tighten. You could, in theory "back off" a bit on that one to lessen the friction. I do not suggest this
On the friction plate either directly above, or below, the bolt that lever turns.. Is a bolt or nut. That's the friction adjustment
On the friction plate either directly above, or below, the bolt that lever turns.. Is a bolt or nut. That's the friction adjustment
OP
OP
RV_Hokie
Member
I know about the adjusting items, but what is tight or loose? What determines how tight or loose you make them and how do you determine the setting that works best for you setup? How do you feel this "friction" that is tight or loose? Is it the ability to move the sway control bar itself that measures the tightness or looseness of it in regard to the way it will manage the sway when towed? ???
Sean Woodruff
Member
While I CERTAINLY DO NOT recommend them, here are the instructions...
*******
1. SWAY CONTROL CANNOT BE USED ON TRAILERS WITH SURGE BRAKES. DO NOT USE SWAY
CONTROL ON CLASS I OR II HITCHES. USE ON CLASS III OR IV ONLY.
2. Trailer loading: Proper trailer loading is your first-line defense against dangerous instability and sway.
Heavy items should be placed on the floor in front of the axle. The load should be balanced side-to-side and
secured to prevent shifting. Tongue weight should be about 10-15 percent of gross trailer weight for most
trailers. Too low a percentage of tongue weight can cause sway. Load the trailer heavier in front.
3. The handle is an on/off device. The bolt below is for adjustment only.
4. When towing during slippery conditions such as wet, icy, or snow-covered roads or on loose gravel, turn
on/off handle counterclockwise until all tension is removed from unit. Failure to do so could prevent tow
vehicle and trailer from turning properly.
5. Do not speed up if sway occurs. Sway increases with speed. Do not continue to operate a swaying vehicle.
Check trailer loading, sway control adjustment and all other equipment until the cause of sway has been
determined and corrected.
6. Never paint or lubricate slide bar.
HOOK-UP
a. Lubricate both balls with a small amount of grease, place socket of slide bar over ball and secure with
clip. Loosen handle until the slide bar can be moved. Extend sway control assembly and place
socket over ball on trailer, secure with other clip.
b. Retighten handle until it stops (handle should be in its original level position). The sway control assembly is
preset at the factory with a tension suitable for most light trailers.
c. On some installations, damage to the sway control may occur during extremely sharp turning maneuvers.
This can be checked by slowly backing vehicle into a jackknife position while someone is watching. Do not
allow slide bar to contract completely (bottom out) or bumper to contact sway control. If it looks as thought
contact will be made or the sway control will bottom out then the sway control must be removed before
backing trailer.
ADJUSTMENT
a. Trailer configurations and loading, road and weather conditions, towing speed, tire condition and pressure,
and center of gravity of trailer all affect towing. To get maximum benefits from the sway control assembly, a
series of road tests should be taken with the loaded trailer. During the first road test try the sway control at
the factory preset force. On subsequent trips increase or decrease tension by turning the adjusting bolt in
1/4 turn increments in the direction shown on the label until the desired control is achieved. For large
trailers, it may be necessary to install a second sway control unit.
b. After about 1000 miles of towing, remove the slide bar from the sway control and clean the friction surfaces
with a wire brush. Repeat this cleaning procedure about every 10,000 miles.
*******
1. SWAY CONTROL CANNOT BE USED ON TRAILERS WITH SURGE BRAKES. DO NOT USE SWAY
CONTROL ON CLASS I OR II HITCHES. USE ON CLASS III OR IV ONLY.
2. Trailer loading: Proper trailer loading is your first-line defense against dangerous instability and sway.
Heavy items should be placed on the floor in front of the axle. The load should be balanced side-to-side and
secured to prevent shifting. Tongue weight should be about 10-15 percent of gross trailer weight for most
trailers. Too low a percentage of tongue weight can cause sway. Load the trailer heavier in front.
3. The handle is an on/off device. The bolt below is for adjustment only.
4. When towing during slippery conditions such as wet, icy, or snow-covered roads or on loose gravel, turn
on/off handle counterclockwise until all tension is removed from unit. Failure to do so could prevent tow
vehicle and trailer from turning properly.
5. Do not speed up if sway occurs. Sway increases with speed. Do not continue to operate a swaying vehicle.
Check trailer loading, sway control adjustment and all other equipment until the cause of sway has been
determined and corrected.
6. Never paint or lubricate slide bar.
HOOK-UP
a. Lubricate both balls with a small amount of grease, place socket of slide bar over ball and secure with
clip. Loosen handle until the slide bar can be moved. Extend sway control assembly and place
socket over ball on trailer, secure with other clip.
b. Retighten handle until it stops (handle should be in its original level position). The sway control assembly is
preset at the factory with a tension suitable for most light trailers.
c. On some installations, damage to the sway control may occur during extremely sharp turning maneuvers.
This can be checked by slowly backing vehicle into a jackknife position while someone is watching. Do not
allow slide bar to contract completely (bottom out) or bumper to contact sway control. If it looks as thought
contact will be made or the sway control will bottom out then the sway control must be removed before
backing trailer.
ADJUSTMENT
a. Trailer configurations and loading, road and weather conditions, towing speed, tire condition and pressure,
and center of gravity of trailer all affect towing. To get maximum benefits from the sway control assembly, a
series of road tests should be taken with the loaded trailer. During the first road test try the sway control at
the factory preset force. On subsequent trips increase or decrease tension by turning the adjusting bolt in
1/4 turn increments in the direction shown on the label until the desired control is achieved. For large
trailers, it may be necessary to install a second sway control unit.
b. After about 1000 miles of towing, remove the slide bar from the sway control and clean the friction surfaces
with a wire brush. Repeat this cleaning procedure about every 10,000 miles.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Great rundown Sean, thank you. I agree with you in not recommending friction sway control.
MLCBFarrell
Well-known member
Hi Tony,
When we used friction sway control, it took us few times of using it to find a place where my husband felt comfortable. We started out with only one anti-sway control, but soon added a second which gave us much greater control on our 29' ultralite TT. Our friction bar had a little handle looking thing, and if you turned it one way it loosened and allowed the pieces to slide more easily. If you turned it the opposite way, it made it more difficult for the pieces to slide. My husband played with it every time we went out and finally found that for him, with our SUV/TT combo, that he felt he had the most control when he tightened the arm all the way and then loosened it a certain amount. Of course, that was him and it will be different with every situation. This is also how the dealer told us to use these when he installed them. Yours may be different or the directions may suggest adjusting them a different way. Now that we have a bigger, heavier trailer we have switched hitches and now use a Reese Dual Cam antisway/weight distributing system as suggested by many of the forum members.
Good luck, LuAnn
When we used friction sway control, it took us few times of using it to find a place where my husband felt comfortable. We started out with only one anti-sway control, but soon added a second which gave us much greater control on our 29' ultralite TT. Our friction bar had a little handle looking thing, and if you turned it one way it loosened and allowed the pieces to slide more easily. If you turned it the opposite way, it made it more difficult for the pieces to slide. My husband played with it every time we went out and finally found that for him, with our SUV/TT combo, that he felt he had the most control when he tightened the arm all the way and then loosened it a certain amount. Of course, that was him and it will be different with every situation. This is also how the dealer told us to use these when he installed them. Yours may be different or the directions may suggest adjusting them a different way. Now that we have a bigger, heavier trailer we have switched hitches and now use a Reese Dual Cam antisway/weight distributing system as suggested by many of the forum members.
Good luck, LuAnn
John From Detroit
Well-known member
I agree great rundown shawn
I was going to say that to find the proper adjustment you use the "Trial and error" method.
Myself.. I set mine fairly heavy (Tight) when I used it, IT was set tighter than I suspect they recommended. Never had a problem though.
I was going to say that to find the proper adjustment you use the "Trial and error" method.
Myself.. I set mine fairly heavy (Tight) when I used it, IT was set tighter than I suspect they recommended. Never had a problem though.
OP
OP
RV_Hokie
Member
I do see all the comments about not using friction sway control, and do appreciate the hints on how to set them. SO if i cannot use a weight distributed hitch as my vehicle manual clearly says not to (Land Rover Discovery II) what sway control should I use? ???
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
No lie? Well you gotta go with the owners manual. It is rather odd as the Discovery II is listed with a tow rating of 5,500 lbs. That is an awfully heavy trailer for a weight bearing hitch system. The tongue weight would be in the range of 600 to 800 lbs. Weight bearing hitches are normally on things like utility trailers and boat trailers.
A lot of British trailers (caravans) seem to use surge brakes. WD hitches cannot normally be used with surge brakes. That could be a reason. That would not apply to the electric brake systems used in American travel trailers. You might want to check out the reasoning with Rover. Or maybe one of our Brit members or Rover fans could chime in here.
And
A lot of British trailers (caravans) seem to use surge brakes. WD hitches cannot normally be used with surge brakes. That could be a reason. That would not apply to the electric brake systems used in American travel trailers. You might want to check out the reasoning with Rover. Or maybe one of our Brit members or Rover fans could chime in here.
And
USArmyCP
Member
Hello, I will apologize in advance for the ignorance with this, but I am hoping to get some insight.
I have a 2018 Chevy Colorado (7,000 lb towing capacity) with a 2022 Rockwood Geo-Pro 19FBTH Travel Trailer (5,000 GVWR). I am using the Camco EAZ Lift Elite Weight Distribution Hitch Kit (800 lb capacity, model: 48057). It came with one friction style sway control arm (passenger side), and I added a second (driver side). The dealership I bought the TT from installed and setup everything for me. The dealer did tell me, but I should have done a better job of asking questions and learning how to actually use them. The excitement of finally picking up my TT contributed to my mistake. I then drove the TT the 575+ miles back home. There were no issues.
I have now taken the TT out multiple times. I have noticed that the truck pulls to the left or right after I make a turn. I then have to stop on the side of the road and loosen the sway control arms and then re-tighten them. This fixes the problem, until I make another turn. This process is extremely frustrating and unsafe.
I think this is user error and I am not doing something correctly with the tightness of the sway control arms. Can someone please help me understand how these sway control arms should be tightened? I think I may be leaving them too loose to prevent this. I am worried that if I tighten the arms down then it will make the problem worse (because the arms will not fully adjust).
I appreciate the feedback and assistance.
Thanks,
Curtis
I have a 2018 Chevy Colorado (7,000 lb towing capacity) with a 2022 Rockwood Geo-Pro 19FBTH Travel Trailer (5,000 GVWR). I am using the Camco EAZ Lift Elite Weight Distribution Hitch Kit (800 lb capacity, model: 48057). It came with one friction style sway control arm (passenger side), and I added a second (driver side). The dealership I bought the TT from installed and setup everything for me. The dealer did tell me, but I should have done a better job of asking questions and learning how to actually use them. The excitement of finally picking up my TT contributed to my mistake. I then drove the TT the 575+ miles back home. There were no issues.
I have now taken the TT out multiple times. I have noticed that the truck pulls to the left or right after I make a turn. I then have to stop on the side of the road and loosen the sway control arms and then re-tighten them. This fixes the problem, until I make another turn. This process is extremely frustrating and unsafe.
I think this is user error and I am not doing something correctly with the tightness of the sway control arms. Can someone please help me understand how these sway control arms should be tightened? I think I may be leaving them too loose to prevent this. I am worried that if I tighten the arms down then it will make the problem worse (because the arms will not fully adjust).
I appreciate the feedback and assistance.
Thanks,
Curtis
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Getting the right adjustment is the flaw in a friction control system; there is no good way to judge (in my opinion, of course). The basic instruction is "Road test the setting and change if 'not enough' or 'too much'". But how do you judge that?
Yours is apparently binding in a sharp turn, so I would back off the adjustment screw 1/4 turn and try it. Keep doing that until it no longer locks up in a turn. Repeat for each sway device. Whether it is still doing anything of value to control sway after you are done is a different question.
If you don't have the EAZ sway device manual, get it HERE.
You shouldn't need the devices if the trailer is properly set up to begin with, i.e. sufficient tongue weight. Sufficient is a minimum of 10% of the gross trailer weight, but 12% is even safer.
Yours is apparently binding in a sharp turn, so I would back off the adjustment screw 1/4 turn and try it. Keep doing that until it no longer locks up in a turn. Repeat for each sway device. Whether it is still doing anything of value to control sway after you are done is a different question.
If you don't have the EAZ sway device manual, get it HERE.
You shouldn't need the devices if the trailer is properly set up to begin with, i.e. sufficient tongue weight. Sufficient is a minimum of 10% of the gross trailer weight, but 12% is even safer.
Last edited:
USArmyCP
Member
Thank you, that helped. I did find a you tube video that also explained this. I will make the adjustments. I appreciate the info.
Kirk
Well-known member
Why did you add the second one? Most authorities recommend adding a second if the RV is more than 26' long. I suspect that may be part of your problem. I would try using it with only 1 sway bar.
USArmyCP
Member
When I was researching the weight distribution hitches, I saw that the one I was interested in came with 1 sway control arm. I did some more research (mainly google and youtube videos from RVers) and some said that they could feel some sway with 1 arm, but they added the 2nd and it was solid. So when I ordered my hitch kit, I also ordered a 2nd sway control arm. Didn't know if I needed it or not, but I thought it better to be safe than sorry. Again I am new to RVing and pulling something bigger than a small flat utility trailer, so trying to learn and see what works for me.
I will try it out with 1 and see if that makes a difference. Thank you for the info.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
The whole notion that a little friction pad can & will "control sway" on a several thousand pound trailer is nonsense. If the trailer actually begins to sway, that friction pad would have to clamp tightly at that time, applying like a brake. But if it were applied that much all the time, you wouldn't be able to turn. If the sway control is adjusted so that you can drive & steer normally, it is going to have little effect when and if it is ever needed to "control sway". Besides, if you experience sway, the thing to do is to fix the problem, not cover it up with a band-air device. Trailer sway is NOT a normal condition.
Sway occurs when the trailer is improperly balanced fore & aft. For an RV travel trailer, the safe and effective balance is 10-12% of the gross trailer weight resting on the hitch ball. It won't sway with that balance. Too little weight on the hitch ball and the trailer will tend to sway even in normal normal driving. This video illustrates it nicely.
Sway occurs when the trailer is improperly balanced fore & aft. For an RV travel trailer, the safe and effective balance is 10-12% of the gross trailer weight resting on the hitch ball. It won't sway with that balance. Too little weight on the hitch ball and the trailer will tend to sway even in normal normal driving. This video illustrates it nicely.
USArmyCP
Member
Great information, thank you. So far I haven't expereinced sway, but I thought it was due to the control arms. I think I will have to do some driving without them to see how it feels for me. Thanks for the video link, I will check that out.
I use a sway control when I pull my car trailer. It does help control the sway if I can not get the load as it should. Also in windy conditions, especially with no load on the trailer, the wind will move the trailer. With the sway control it takes out that sway. To those who are saying they don't work or help I have a different view on that. I can tell the difference when I use the sway control and when I don't.
Lou Schneider
Site Team
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Posts
- 13,228
The problem with friction sway control is it inhibits the hitch pivot in two directions - both going away from a straight line and going back to it. If you crank it up too much it can lock the truck and trailer into a turn if something makes the truck's rear axle lose traction.
For the most part sway control just serves to mask the problem of improper trailer balance as noted in the video above. But if you feel you need sway control the best kind is one that's incorporated into the WD hitch arms themselves. The Reese Dual Cam equalizing hitch opposes the trailer getting out of line and reinforces it going back into a straight line. The WD arms rest in a saddle, if the truck and trailer turn out of line the arms ride up and push against the side of the cams, pushing the trailer back into a straight line. The only disadvantage is you need a fairly heavy tongue weight to get the most sway control action.
For the most part sway control just serves to mask the problem of improper trailer balance as noted in the video above. But if you feel you need sway control the best kind is one that's incorporated into the WD hitch arms themselves. The Reese Dual Cam equalizing hitch opposes the trailer getting out of line and reinforces it going back into a straight line. The WD arms rest in a saddle, if the truck and trailer turn out of line the arms ride up and push against the side of the cams, pushing the trailer back into a straight line. The only disadvantage is you need a fairly heavy tongue weight to get the most sway control action.
I have the same experience. Loaded down, I don't feel I need it. Return trip, all tanks etc empty, a windy day, I feel the sway friction helps. I hand tighten mine fairly tight by hand, but the small lever bar does not really allow for too much torque.
Kirk
Well-known member
I make no claim to be a wizard but i have a lot of experience and very much disagree with that opinion, as is true of many others. Like anything else, it does need to be used right and you do need to know how. Gary has admitted that he has never used one. I have.
