Weight distributing hitch

[Excalibur]

You might already know this; to reduce/stop trailer sway use the manual lever gently on the brake controller while maintaining speed. This pulls the trailer back in line with the tow vehicle, thus stopping sway.
One cause of trailer sway is trailer axle mis-alignment; it's easy to check this yourself and the instructions are on the web.
Another cause is having P-rated tires on the tow vehicle, they have weak sidewalls and induce sway, especially when not inflated up to the Federal Placard on the door post or tire sidewall.
This is the best instructions for properly setting up a WDH I've ever read or seen.

I know you can use the brake controller to help with the sway, but that takes attention away from the rest of the driving, like staying in the lane, etc. I would rather have something like the WDH to do it automatically so I can concentrate on the other part of towing. The only time I use the manual control is if I Feel it starting to push me downhill.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'd like to go back to square one - the reason for a WD hitch. It's not to correct swaying. Trailer sway is caused by improper weight balance, basically too little tongue weight. The tongue weight in an RV travel trailer needs to be at least 10% of the loaded trailer weight and is often better at 11-13%. A rule of thumb for planning is to use 10% of the trailer GVWR as the estimated weight (that may be where the 396 lb came from).

The WD hitch is designed to spread (distribute) the tongue weight on the truck so that the rear end isn't squatting and both the van & the trailer are level & parallel to the ground. An anti-sway function can be added, but it should not be needed once you get the balance right.

If the loaded tongue weight is in the 400-500 lb range, that's the most weight that might need to get shifted by the weight distribution. Therefore the strongest standard spring bars that could be useful would be 600 lbs. Bigger isn't better - higher rated bars will be too stiff to do their job effectively.

400-500 lbs isn't a lot of cargo weight for many 1500 vans but configurations vary widely. You may not need WD at all, but it doesn't hurt as long as it is set up right. Most owners use WD just to be confident they have the weight well-managed.

Your first priority should be to tow the trailer to a scale and get the rig weighed, with and without the trailer connected so you can establish the actual tongue weight. It's critical. Here's an article I wrote for another RV website that details the where & how of getting an RV weighed. [Full disclosure: I don't get any remuneration for links to that site but I was paid to write the article for it originally].

 

[Tulecreeper]

Weight Distribution Hitch - Andersen Hitches

View the best Weight Distribution Hitch here. Shop with us today for high quality trailer hitches and gear that is strong and versatile.

andersenhitches.com

 

[CharlesinGA]

Gary brings up something that slipped by. If you really don't need a WDH you could get a hitch head that has the ears on it to attach the small balls for hooking up a friction anti sway bar.

This is relatively inexpensive, and you can reuse the anti sway bar later as I mentioned above, with a WDH Like the one you found from Reese. WDH do have some advantages, they dampen porpoising (the up down bobbing you get when you and a trailer cross a speed bump or Rail Road line crossing a road.

Another anti sway device that can be used is Tuson Sway Control (TSC-1000) which electronically activates the left or right brakes (momentarily, less than a second) based on an accelerometer mounted in the tongue area, that senses sway. This requires rewiring of the brakes so the left and right brakes are supplied separately. The electric brakes operate normally otherwise. While nearly $600 from the manufacturer, it can be found about $150 cheaper from etrailer and other places.

Charles

 

[Onyrlef]

If you can determine what’s inducing the sway and remedy that, you won’t need anything.

 

[Excalibur]

All these posts are good information and I thank all of you that took time to respond. You have given me a lot to consider. This forum helps a lot. Thanks again.