Trailer Sway

[8ntruck 6,809]

We just got back from an outing to Bowling Green, Ky. today.  We towed our small travel trailer on this trip.  There was plenty of wind on both on the way there and on the way back.  This wind was making the trailer to sway.  Not enough to require much steering input or loss of control, but it got old after a while.

 

The trailer is a Coleman 17FQ.  About 17' long, single axle box, with a max GVW of about 6000lb.  The two vehicle is a 2015 Ram 1500 Express pick up with a 5.7 Hemi.  I'm using a simple receiver hitch.  No idea what the toung weight is, but it does set the rear of the truck down a few inches.

 

Using an equilazer type hitch would shift some of the trailer weight to the front axle of the truck.  Would this help kill the trailer sway?  I was under the impression that due to the small size of this trailer, an equalizing hitch would be overkill.

 

I've also seen hitches with a shock absorber connected between the trailer frame and an arm attached to the hitch on the two vehicle.   Presumably, the shock ramps out the swaying motion of the trailer.  Seems like there would be some tuning of the shock required to get the right set up here.

 

Comments?  Advice?

 

Thanks.

[oliver2-44 9,352]

How you load your supplies ie put weight in the vehicle can be one factor that contributes to trailer sway. The hard part is to much weight on the hitch or not enough weight on the hitch could cause sway. It’s a trial and error thing. 
Two years ago we rented a 19 ft RV trailer to go to the beach. We picked it up 20 miles from the beach. Our gear was in the truck do the trailer was empty.  As we got closer to the open beach area and some beach breeze that thing started dancing over 60 mph. It also had a short tong and I wonder if that was a factor. 

[Ed Kennell 37,280]

I would invest in an equalizer hitch ASAP.

 

I towed a 20' dual axle Mobile traveler  with equalizer hitch on a F-250 for hundreds of miles up to 65MPH with no issues.     One day I towed it 5 mile to  the garage to get it inspected and didn't bother to put the equalizer bars on.  About 2 mile from the house at 40 MPH it started to sway so bad it nearly rolled the truck before I could stop.

 

 

[Stormin 9,980]

 With a twin axle trailer you want the weight over the axles, ie heaviest things, and have the trailer as level as possible, with just a little nose weight. That way the tow vehicle is just pulling. If the rear of the towing vehicle is being pushed down, even with a single axle, that can cause sway. Road surface, wind and too much speed can contribute as well.

  Over here we are limited to 50mph, except the motorways, (turnpikes) and that is 60mph.

[Maxwell-8 4,274]

My car can only handle 160 lbs of tongue weight, so how I check the tongue weight is check if I just can lift the trailer of the towball, I am good.

 

[Racinbob 10,805]

The tongue weight should be 10-15% of the total trailer weight. That alone could do wonders for the handling on a little 17' travel trailer. I towed a 30' for many years so the weight was quite a bit higher. The trailer should be loaded to maintain the proper tongue weight. When hooked up the tow vehicle and trailer should be level. Typically the rear of the vehicle will drop and the trailer tongue will do the same. This should NOT be remedied with booster springs, air bags, etc. That can bring the rear up but it really does nothing for the balance. The physics remains the same. It will take weight off the front axle. A weight distributing hitch is a must. Do the research if you don't fully understand how they work. I used a Reese fully adjustable ball mount allowing me to adjust and fine tune to my liking. On top of that I used Eaz-Lift sway controls. Not one but two, one on either side of the trailer frame. These are fully adjustable from basically no friction to whatever feels right. Properly set up the truck will be returned to level, the trailer will be level and the weight will be distributed across the front and rear truck axles and the trailer axles. My towing was always with a F-150 and in 10's of thousands of miles I never experienced an issue with sway or weight control. 

[1995 520H+96+97 935]

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/how-equalizer-works

 

 

[Pullstart 62,031]

Hey Bill!  I have one of those from our travel trailer!  It’s the Equal-I-Zer brand too.  Been thinking I’m tired of tripping over it and I need to sell it 

[Pullstart 62,031]

8 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

I would invest in an equalizer hitch ASAP.

 

I towed a 20' dual axle Mobile traveler  with equalizer hitch on a F-250 for hundreds of miles up to 65MPH with no issues.     One day I towed it 5 mile to  the garage to get it inspected and didn't bother to put the equalizer bars on.  About 2 mile from the house at 40 MPH it started to sway so bad it nearly rolled the truck before I could stop.

 

 

 

Hauling the old camper home from about 12 miles away, 40 mph was all I could bare to get up to.  I was white knuckling it the whole way home and was super excited to make it to the driveway to park!

[953 nut 54,143]

A few decades ago I did a couple laps around America towing a 25' dual axel travel trailer towed by a 1967 Olds 98. The weight distribution hitch made all the difference in the world. It towed well and I had to watch my speed because you didn't notice how fast you were going. I hooked it to the bumper of my C-20 Chevy for a weekend get away and it became downright evil to tow.

[rmaynard 15,265]

I used to tow a 21 ft Coachman trailer. Always used a Reese equalizer, and never had any major sway. That is until one trip, we filled the fresh water tank to flush it a day or so before we leff, and forgot to empty it. In the course of a quick lane change, the water started to sway and so did the trailer. Almost lost control. Moral of the story, never travel with water in the tank.

[squonk 40,659]

Short tongue will sway bad. Equalizer hitch will help but add an adjustable ball mount and  a friction sway control.

 

 

 

 

[Racinbob 10,805]

2 hours ago, squonk said:

Short tongue will sway bad. Equalizer hitch will help but add an adjustable ball mount and  a friction sway control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definitely add the sway control. That Reese is virtually identical to the Eaz-Lift I used. The top long lever 'turns it on' while the lower bolt adjusts the amount of friction. There's a lot of force on these things which is mainly why I used two of them. They didn't have to be set as tight. I didn't like the mounting screws either. I put another plate on the inside and bolted through. 

Don't let Pete in on this. You don't want grease on the bar.  

[Pullstart 62,031]

The Equal-i-zer kit is load bars and sway control in one.  Many load bar systems don’t allow reversing either but these do too.

[The Freightliner Guy 1,327]

My dad has a weigh safe hitch on his truck https://realtruck.com/p/weigh-safe-adjustable-ball-mount/wei-ws4-2/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=free-pla&utm_content=surfaces&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpfusupWr-gIVdcLCBB3k0AOJEAQYASABEgLBNvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Edited September 23, 2022 by The Freightliner Guy

[cafoose 3,323]

39 minutes ago, The Freightliner Guy said:

My dad has a weigh safe hitch on his truck

Watch when you walk around the truck with that mounted. It can cause excessive pain

[The Freightliner Guy 1,327]

@cafoose At least it’s not one with a pintle hitch hook man that’d hurt 

[8ntruck 6,809]

8 hours ago, Pullstart said:

Hey Bill!  I have one of those from our travel trailer!  It’s the Equal-I-Zer brand too.  Been thinking I’m tired of tripping over it and I need to sell it 

PM sent.