Sway

[AHarris]

Pulling the sig trailer with the sig truck, I had to check my shorts on the way from the last trip because a gust of wind came along and nearly put me in the ditch. Normally I tow at 67-70, but I need to stay under 65 with this set up or I start getting more sway than I'm comfortable with.



I've got an anti-sway bar, equalizer bars, and a heavy duty hitch. Bars are locked pretty tight when I set them up as is the anti-sway bar. It's the same setup that worked fine with my previous camper, a 25' that weighs about 60% what this beast does (7200# unloaded).



I realize that with a 30' trailer is going to sway a little bit but, being on my 3rd camper in 10 years of RVing, this is excessive.



Any tips anyone has on how to set up an RV hitch, a recommendation for a good hitch (I'm looking into one I've heard called the Hensley Arrow) is greatly appreciated. Or do I just need to live with towing under 65?

 

[goodguys75]

Pulling the sig trailer with the sig truck, I had to check my shorts on the way from the last trip because a gust of wind came along and nearly put me in the ditch. Normally I tow at 67-70, but I need to stay under 65 with this set up or I start getting more sway than I'm comfortable with.



I've got an anti-sway bar, equalizer bars, and a heavy duty hitch. Bars are locked pretty tight when I set them up as is the anti-sway bar. It's the same setup that worked fine with my previous camper, a 25' that weighs about 60% what this beast does (7200# unloaded).



I realize that with a 30' trailer is going to sway a little bit but, being on my 3rd camper in 10 years of RVing, this is excessive.



Any tips anyone has on how to set up an RV hitch, a recommendation for a good hitch (I'm looking into one I've heard called the Hensley Arrow) is greatly appreciated. Or do I just need to live with towing under 65?

make sure you have more tonge weight in the front... i like my truck to squat about 2 inches and then I air up the airbags... . airbags might also help alot... just shift your load a little more forward... .

 

[AClayton]

As with most economy based TT's and 5th wheels, the tires on these rigs are marginal to say the least. Keystone is famous for this and has been touched on in these forums for some time now. I bought a Keystone Raptor earlier this year and although I love the RV, there were things that needed added attention. A better set of tires will help, re-distributing the weight to the front and matching side to side loading as accurately as possible will reduce sway more than you will want to imagine. With a heavy duty truck, I prefer to have more weight on the truck and compensate with your WD hitch.



And... don't forget that for what weight you place toward the front of the RV for weight distribution, it is equally as severe to having heavy cargo placed behind the trailer axles. That will take tongue weight off the truck!



If it were me, I would consider rectifying the situation as much as you can before purchasing a hitch that may conceal your swaying highway manors. With that said, conversely, some trailers sway more than others due to different floor plan designs and placement of axles.



Alan

 

[Hoefler]

I would guess that your equalizer bars are too light. Heavier trailer= heavier tongue weight. You don't want to level your rig with air bags. It will just make it worse and mask the real problem. You need more weight transfer to the steer axle, this can only be accomplished with the equalizing bars. If the bars get chained up and are bowed pretty good, it is time to get heavier bars.

 

[HBarlow]

A 30' conventional trailer in the wind presents a directional control challenge. The laws of physics are hard to overcome or tame.

I agree with Alan's comments about some of the sway originating in the soft and weak sidewalls of cheap radial tires but with 15" wheels and tires there is not much you can do. Converting to 16" LT tires would provide a huge improvement but at a significant cost.

A set of good LRD radials fully inflated would help a bit and so would shifting to 15" bias ply light truck tires.

A Henseley hitch is a good product but with a lot of unnecessary complexity and a huge price tag. A very old-fashioned, tried and true Reese dual cam sway control hitch assembly will cure the problem for about $500 or $600 the last time I looked.

The Reese dual cam design utilizes the torsion spring bars for sway control using cams that "lock" the trailer in alignment with the tow vehicle. The design was the choice of thousands of Airstream and Avion owners years back before fifth wheel trailers took over the RV market.

Look at the Reese website to see how they work. I have two or three old ones lying around I acquired when I bought used Airstreams and one Avion. I would give you one but I'm not willing to box and ship it and I know you are not close by.

 

[mpaulson]

I assume that the truck tires are the OEM's? I know nothing about what the 2010 oem tires are like, but I know that the oem tires that came on my 07. 5 dually were good for pulling my 30' (now 35' as I added a built in bike rack on the back) and when I got new tires, goodyear silent armours(big mistake for pulling) they were brutal, even with the duals on the truck. I felt like I was driving a fish on the road, I could actualy feel the sidewall flex on the truck tires. So if you have changed your tires on the truck, or the oems are weak sidewalled, this could be your problem maybe. I now have goodyear duratracs on the truck and they are good with the trailer.

 

[NIsaacs]

A 30 foot bumper pull trailer at about 8500lbs should not control the tow rig in your sig. Like others have said, put some weight on the hitch, that truck will pack it and like it. Measure the distance between your tires and fender wells front and rear. Let the weight of the trailer level the truck. Don't tighten the equalizer bars to the point you now lift the rear back higher then level. Make sure the rear truck tires are fully inflated.



Nick

 

[JBallou]

I had a similar issue with a 30" Toyhauler, resolved by making sure that I had enough weight on the rear of the truck.



2nd I removed the friction type sway device, don't know or understand why it worked better without it but it did. I have herd that a sway device of the friction type are not good for a large long trailer.



Good luck.

 

[Slow Six]

Years ago I pulled a 32' TT with the Reese dual cam sway control and bars and had no problems. Also as mentioned previously tires can be a factor. If your hitch weight is light the trailer will never pull properly.

 

[CDonaldson]

I pull a 32' Avion BP, it is about 8500 or so unloaded. It came with an equalizer hitch, and also the sway control-which I took off/don't use. I experienced a little sway in winds with 45mph gusts, stopped backed off the weight control some, backed off my speed some, still experienced some sway. I also got rid of the 15" D rated tires on the trailer. Many times the trailer tires ARE the problem, and backing off the weight distribution, putting a little more weight to the rear axle will help, but the tires are the problem more often than not if you do what I did to change the situation at hand. The sidewalls are too flexible and sway is the end product. Since that experience, and since changing to a stiffer sidewall tire on the trailer, I have been in high winds with over 60mph gusts and NO problems whatsoever.





CD

 

[CUMMINZ]

Couple years ago we purchased our first 5er. It was a like new 29' Sprinter. Knowing we were going on several extended trips we upgraded to 235x16s 10ply. Even with the 29 footer the ride and control was like night and day.



#ad

 

[ed9824v]

I had terrible porblems pulling a 30 foot traverl trailer 98. 5 shortbed 4 door 4x4 35" tires till I went to a equalizer hitch with 4 way sway control now there is not problem with wind or down hill travel. I now drive far more relaxed. worked for me. Ed

 

[BIGNASTY]

65 70

If your speed is 65 to 70 on any tire that came with the trailer you have bigger stones of granite than I. I pull a 30 ft TT but have Bridgstone E rated LT tires it did make a difference

 

[AHarris]

A 30' conventional trailer in the wind presents a directional control challenge. The laws of physics are hard to overcome or tame.



I agree with Alan's comments about some of the sway originating in the soft and weak sidewalls of cheap radial tires but with 15" wheels and tires there is not much you can do. Converting to 16" LT tires would provide a huge improvement but at a significant cost.



A set of good LRD radials fully inflated would help a bit and so would shifting to 15" bias ply light truck tires.



A Henseley hitch is a good product but with a lot of unnecessary complexity and a huge price tag. A very old-fashioned, tried and true Reese dual cam sway control hitch assembly will cure the problem for about $500 or $600 the last time I looked.



The Reese dual cam design utilizes the torsion spring bars for sway control using cams that "lock" the trailer in alignment with the tow vehicle. The design was the choice of thousands of Airstream and Avion owners years back before fifth wheel trailers took over the RV market.



Look at the Reese website to see how they work. I have two or three old ones lying around I acquired when I bought used Airstreams and one Avion. I would give you one but I'm not willing to box and ship it and I know you are not close by.

Thanks Harvey. I'll do some checking on the Reese setup. I did research the Hensley Arrow and, while they sound pretty good, they start at about $2500 for a "factory reconditioned" unit!



Would you reconsider packing and shipping one of your hitches for $200?



I will be replacing those tires too! The ones that came on the camper look pretty cheap!

 

[AHarris]

Couple years ago we purchased our first 5er. It was a like new 29' Sprinter. Knowing we were going on several extended trips we upgraded to 235x16s 10ply. Even with the 29 footer the ride and control was like night and day.



#ad

How much did that upgrade set you back?

 

[AHarris]

I assume that the truck tires are the OEM's? I know nothing about what the 2010 oem tires are like, but I know that the oem tires that came on my 07. 5 dually were good for pulling my 30' (now 35' as I added a built in bike rack on the back) and when I got new tires, goodyear silent armours(big mistake for pulling) they were brutal, even with the duals on the truck. I felt like I was driving a fish on the road, I could actualy feel the sidewall flex on the truck tires. So if you have changed your tires on the truck, or the oems are weak sidewalled, this could be your problem maybe. I now have goodyear duratracs on the truck and they are good with the trailer.

I've got the OEM Michelins (same ones that were on my 07. 5).

 

[AHarris]

A 30 foot bumper pull trailer at about 8500lbs should not control the tow rig in your sig. Like others have said, put some weight on the hitch, that truck will pack it and like it. Measure the distance between your tires and fender wells front and rear. Let the weight of the trailer level the truck. Don't tighten the equalizer bars to the point you now lift the rear back higher then level. Make sure the rear truck tires are fully inflated.



Nick

I was running 70psi in the rear tires for towing but I think I had the eq bars cranked down too much.

 

[HBarlow]

The equalizer or spring bars won't add much to sway control. A friction sleeve sway control, sometimes two of them mounted on opposite sides of the trailer A frame, will help reduce sway. The best sway control is provided by the Reese dual cam with cams at the trailing edge of the spring or trunnion bars.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I weighed my truck/trailer one day and was surprised to find I was within 900 lbs of my GVWR, even with my little 25" TT. I went from 70 to 80psi all around and it made a big difference in the handling.
You might try that first, at least its cheap!

 

[CUMMINZ]

How much did that upgrade set you back?

AH,



It has been 3 years. I think the wheels were 4050 bucks a piece and tires were not much over 125. 00 bucks a piece. They were made in China but the tread looked good. They ran well.