Do you think sway control is necessary?

[cavalry6869]

I am not new to trailering, but new to towing this 33 foot travel trailer.  I am using a Reese weight distributing hitch behind my 1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 towing an Aero Coach Aerostar A30R.  I have been thinking of using the Reese Dual Cam setup if necessary.  We towed it behind a friend's pickup and didn't notice a problem with trucks on 95.  What is your experience with travel trailers?

Ed

 

[Jim Dick]

Ed,

You may know this but Reese dual cam is both load leveling and sway control. I'd say with a trailer that long you just might appreciate sway control. You can have just a sway control added without having to buy a new dual cam system. It attaches to your adjustable ball mount and trailer tongue using two mini ball mounts.

 

[utmtman]

I have pulled a trailer with sway control and without and I was glad I had it the last time cuz we hit some wind across New Mexico that was playing havoc with me even though I had sway bars. 

 

[John From Detroit]

I have pulled several trailers over the years. Some had sway control.  Some did not,  Some ... I really wished I had it.. Some I added it

And let me tell you... When I dropped that sway control bar onto it's mounts

MAN was it easier to tow

You won't know, till you tow, but to be safe.... I'd go with anti-sway from the start

 

[Carl L]

I am not new to trailering, but new to towing this 33 foot travel trailer.  I am using a Reese weight distributing hitch behind my 1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 towing an Aero Coach Aerostar A30R.  I have been thinking of using the Reese Dual Cam setup if necessary.  We towed it behind a friend's pickup and didn't notice a problem with trucks on 95.  What is your experience with travel trailers?

I would consider the Dual Cam a wise purchase -- a matter of providing a significant safety factor in your towing.  Uncontrolled sway can occur in emergency manuevers and heavy cross winds coupled with heavy truck slipstreams.  Reese claims to prevent yawing by damping it out before it starts to feedback on itself.  My experience over some 15-20 years bears that out.

 

[Jmac]

As a follow-up question,  we have an 18'ft ECO with only the sway (GVW= 4500#).  We distribut the weight over the dual axles,  with more towards the hitch.    Will a weight distribution hitch help?  and is it needed  for this small of a unit?
Jmac

 

[Ernie Ekberg]

Jmac- what do you tow that trailer with? If it is a full size vehicle- pickup/suburban, you probably don't need one. But if the rear end of your towing vehicle sags any- you might need one.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Jmac,
The need for a Weight Distributing [WD] hitch depends on the trailer tongue (hitch) weight compared to your vehicle's ability to carry loads on the rear axle (rear GAWR). It should be determined "by the numbers", but you can visually assess the need by observing how much the back of your tow vehicle squats when you hook up  the trailer. If the overall appearance is still level, then you are OK, but if the back end of the tow vehicle is noticeably lower than the front you definitely need WD.  If there will be passengers in the back seat or  gear loaded in the rear in addition to the trailer tongue, make your visual assessment with the tow vehicle fully loaded and ready to travel.

 

[cavalry6869]

Thanks for all of the replies.  I wasn't sure if I could get away with one of the "friction" type or have to go with the dual cam.  Thinking about how the WD hitch setup works, I think the dual cam might work a little better for me.  I guess I need to do a little more thinking on this.  Thanks again.

Ed

 

[cavalry6869]

Jmac,
  I also have the WD setup on my 12 X 7 Wells Cargo enclosed trailer that usually hauls my motorcycle.  I was towing it with a '99 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4WD and the rear would squat quite a bit.  With the WD hitch used with the Jeep it increases the tow capacity from 3500 to 5000 pounds and increases the hitch weight from 350 to 500.  Jeep tows it well now and sits much more level front to rear.  Now it will be towed with the Suburban, I'm gonna still use the WD.

Ed

 

[Jmac]

Thanks for the info.  My TV is a 2006 Tundra Crew.  We've had the RV out about 3-4 times since we purchased it.  As we haven't joined the ranks of the "retired".  So haven't taken the time to get the numbers from the scales yet,  but the TT rides just as level as the truck, virtually level .    So at least we're in the ball park.
Jmac

 

[Lowell]

When we bought our current TT, we had a weight distrbution hitch installed but did not add a sway control.  I had retained my friction type sway control from my previous trailer and had intended to add it to the new weight distribution hitch.  But after 3 years of towing, some in high wind conditions, I haven't seen the need to add the sway control.  On our old trailer, without weight distribution, we definitly needed sway control.

 

[edjunior]

I got my trailer 3 years ago, and have not put on sway control yet.  There is only one instance where it would have been nice to have, but still nothing too bad.  I think a lot depnds on the length of the TV and the TT.  I have a 26' trailer, and pull it with a F-250 short bed crew cab.  It pulls great without the sway control, even on a long trip from Texas to Tennessee and back.  Now, that being said, if I pulled it more often (I'm a "weekender"), I would definitely have it because you just never know what you'll encounter out there.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A number of factors affect the tendency to "sway". Chief among them is the proportion of tongue weight to the overall trailer weight - around 15% is desirable to minimize sway.  Even more is better from a sway perspective, but at some point the extra weight on the tow vehicle becomes a negative in itself.

Trailer wheelbase (hitch to axle distance) is another factor - longer is better - but there is essentially nothing you can do to alter that. And lighter weight and/or shorter wheel base tow vehicles seem to be more affected by trailer sway than longer ones.

 

[cavalry6869]

As of tonight I ordered a Reese friction sway control.  I decided not to go the dual cam route due to remarks from this thread.  I figure this should take care of the situation if it happens.  I figure with the wheelbase of the Suburban and a 30 foot TT it's kind of like insurance.

Ed