scottydl
Site Team
My weight distribution hitch uses friction sway control with an add-on device like the one pictured here. It's always worked great without much noise, until yesterday when we were towing back home about 250 miles.
It still works fine, but suddenly got REALLY noisy on turns. When tightened down as instructed (pretty much as tight as I can make it by hand) and towing the trailer through a sharp turn, the device was making a constant pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop as the "slider" portion jerkily moved in and out of its tightened sleeve. I tried loosening the tension a bit (a full turn on the handle), and the noise reduced to a loud grrrrrroannnn during the turns.
The one environmental occurrence that happened during our trip was heavy rain. Could some development of surface rust cause this problem, and how should I safely clean it off? I know these device are never supposed to be lubed/greased or they can lose their friction-based anti-sway properties, so I'm curious what I can do. The noise and vibration are loud and noticeable enough that it does not seem natural.
It still works fine, but suddenly got REALLY noisy on turns. When tightened down as instructed (pretty much as tight as I can make it by hand) and towing the trailer through a sharp turn, the device was making a constant pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop as the "slider" portion jerkily moved in and out of its tightened sleeve. I tried loosening the tension a bit (a full turn on the handle), and the noise reduced to a loud grrrrrroannnn during the turns.
The one environmental occurrence that happened during our trip was heavy rain. Could some development of surface rust cause this problem, and how should I safely clean it off? I know these device are never supposed to be lubed/greased or they can lose their friction-based anti-sway properties, so I'm curious what I can do. The noise and vibration are loud and noticeable enough that it does not seem natural.