Spend the $100 and get a sway control - it is WELL worth it. Yes, I've towed without a sway control, but just about refuse to do it now. Cheap insurance - VERY cheap! I commonly tell folks it was the best $100 I ever spent.
It's very simple to hook up - two small hitch ball mounts - one on the trailer, one on the draw bar of your hitch. (See attachment.) Put the sway control between the two, hook it on with the two pins, and tighten it down. That’s it.
Not every trailer tows well, and how it tows will change with the weight on it - and how it is balanced. I've had trailers that towed perfect get squirrely with different weights on them - even when the tongue weight was within spec and adjusted. I don't know anyone who ever regretted putting on a simple friction sway control. If you tow anything big like a travel trailer, they are just about considered mandatory - talk to some full time RV'ers - they'll tell you.
Around Christmas time I saw a $40K Airstream trailer and it's Suburban tow vehicle laying on their side on IH-35 after going down a small (maybe 1%) hill. Trailer started oscillating, swaying from side to side and dumped them both over on their side. If the driver had used his electric brakes he might have been able to prevent the accident - but if he had a sway control on he would have never even been put in the situation to begin with. Nobody hurt, but a $100 for a simple friction type sway control would have saved a LOT of money and heartache - what's the old saying? "Penny wise and pound foolish"?
Weight distributing hitches are used a lot of the time on travel trailers, but for your general use utility trailer, since you can shift the load fore/aft, they are rarely needed. Not a bad thing to have, just that you really probably won’t “need†one unless you plan on having some really heavy tongue weight. (Look to your manual - it will say what your towing specs are with a weight dist. hitch vs. without.)
Make sure you have a good brake controller and I prefer brakes on both axles - not just one (I upgraded from one to two and haven’t regretted it - stopping is a good thing. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) Some may say this is overkill, but hey, just look at it as more cheap insurance (and a stress reducer as well.)
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
they are just about considered mandatory
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In my opinion, they should be mandatory on travel trailers, but I've talked with lots of RV owners who wrecked their first RV and said the dealer who sold it to them didn't tell them about sway controls.
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If the driver had used his electric brakes he might have been able to prevent the accident
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That's a little procedure everyone who pulls a trailer with electric brakes should be familiar with. When a trailer starts to sway, oscillate, or fishtail, many novices first instinct is to step on the brake pedal, and that's probably the worst thing they could do. If instead, they'd reach down and apply the trailer brakes with their hand while holding steady on the accelerator pedal, or even increasing pressure very slightly on the accelerator, they'd pull the rig back straight.
Bird,
Easing on the trailer brakes is something I learned long ago from my Father-In-Law, who was an OTR trucker. If things don't look just right, hit the trailer brakes a bit, straightens ya right out.
<font color="blue">...I've talked with lots of RV owners who wrecked their first RV and said the dealer who sold it to them didn't tell them about sway controls. </font color>
Ugh! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I bet (just pure conjecture here) the sales guys are worried about "closing the deal" and squeezing every last penny out of their customers - without having the perception of throwing in a "useless option" (kind of like the $200 undercoating they sell on cars, etc.) Shame on them! [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
<font color="blue">That's a little procedure... </font color>
Thanks for helping me out on that one - forgot to explain what I meant. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]
Yea - made me sick to see $70,000+ of vehicle & trailer laying on their sides when $100 would have prevented it. Just glad I didn't see a bunch of hamburger meat along with it! [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
Ranchman, I guess most of us have done some really dumb things as a result of ignorance. I know I have at least. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I bought my first RV in '71 and my shopping came down to deciding whether to buy a little 17' travel trailer the dealer had or to buy the 10.5' cabover slide-in pickup camper. At the time I had a Plymouth Roadrunner and a 6-cylinder manual transmission Chevy pickup. I would actually have rather had the trailer, but thought the tongue weight was too much for my vehicles, so I traded the pickup for a new 3/4 ton V-8 truck with the slide-in. It was a new dealership, the guy never mentioned load distributing hitches and sway controls, and I had only pulled boats and small utility trailers with bumper hitches. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] That Roadrunner would have pulled that little trailer very easily, but I was too ignorant at the time to know it. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
Thanks to everyone for their great help on this issue.
Sway bar and brake controller will be added for sure. Initially, my plan is to rent a larger enclosed trailer to move household items to Montana. Then purchase the trailer for hauling the tractor and attachments around town.
PJ
I know these are important on travel trailers but around here now one uses one for equipment trailers. Probably not a bad idea but part of the problem with a travel trailer is the fact that its a huge surface are for gusts of wind?
The setup in your photo connects up in addition to the regular tongue ball mount? Do you have a pic of it all hooked up?
The comment about not using the ball mounted bumper is a good one. Look around its not hard to find bumpers that are just slightly bent down....wonder what could cause that? [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
Sometimes you will see one with a 2 5/16 10,000lb ball on that thin little bumper [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] .
<font color="blue">...but around here now one uses one for equipment trailers. </font color>
Equipment trailers are generally shorter & wider, but they too can definitely start oscillating. Seen it happen often going down the highway - both on "empty" trailers and with something on them. Matter of fact, saw one going back & fourth about a full foot just the other day (lawn equipment service).
Is it as critical on a utility trailer as a travel trailer? No - that is it isn't until you wind up in a ditch unexpectedly. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
<font color="blue">...but part of the problem with a travel trailer is the fact that its a huge surface are for gusts of wind? </font color>
Yes, the wind can start the oscillation, but it isn't the only cause. Additionally, think about putting something such as a tractor or other "sail" on it. I can definitely feel the trailer get "sucked" in when an 18 wheeler passes me while hauling my tractor or Jeep on the trailer. It's much worse without the sway control (done it a couple of times - never again [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] ).
<font color="blue">The setup in your photo connects up in addition to the regular tongue ball mount? Do you have a pic of it all hooked up? </font color>
The pic I posted I got from the web. Next time I hook up my trailer (give me a week or so) I'll take a photo and post it here.
<font color="blue">Sometimes you will see one with a 2 5/16 10,000lb ball on that thin little bumper. </font color>
Yep. Some people do truly stupid things! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Seen more than one idiot going 75 mph down the highway without safety chains too - makes me sick sometimes thinking about what would happen if the trailer jumped the ball.
There are lots of folks who will never put a sway control on their utility trailer and never have an accident - I won't deny that. For $100 though, it is the cheapest insurance I know of.
I towed a car trailer behind my vehicle for many years. The problem of the swaying and eventual loss of control was always in my mind as I drove. Luckily, my setup was extremely stable without any additional sway control. But I always did stay below any posted speed limit by at least 5mph. I did get to notice that there was a greater tendency for the trailer to oscillate back and forth depending on how it was loaded. So I experimented and found the best weight distribution.
If I was to do it again I'd get the sway control. Better safe than sorry.
Rich
<font color="blue"> I did get to notice that there was a greater tendency for the trailer to oscillate back and forth depending on how it was loaded. So I experimented and found the best weight distribution. </font color>
Yep. That's definitely the thing to do as it can make a big difference. I did the same thing found though that although I could get it to a "fairly good" balance point with a given load, I would still get a few white knuckles at times. After I added the sway control I found my knuckles didn't change color and my heart rate seemed to stay constant. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
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