Tail is wagging the dog

[BIGNASTY]

Look at my signature below, I have a 30' trailer also and when I had put Goodyear Silent armour tires on the truck and aired them up to 80 psi, it was scary driving down the road compared to when I had the stock oem tires on the truck. I now have Good year dura tracs on the truck and all the handling is back to normal. My point is that the tires on the truck can make a world of difference reguardless of how it is loaded and connected sometimes. Proper loading as the others have mentioned is very critical also thoug. I hit 140 km/hr sometimes passing and it doesn't scare me with the trailer in tow. My truck is a dually and the tires still made a very noticable difference.

Gee I would have found it scary to air up the Goodyear's to 80psi without being in some kind of explosion proof cage :-laf never had much luck with Goodyear

 

[AHarris]

I've also been looking at a lot of good reviews on the Pulrite system. But they are high dollar (not as bad as the Hensley Arrow, though and less complex). If I can get one for less than $1K I might be persuaded to give it a try.

 

[MMeier]

gee i would have found it scary to air up the goodyear's to 80psi without being in some kind of explosion proof cage :-laf never had much luck with goodyear

x 2 !!!!

 

[ed9824v]

I had the same issues with my trailer, about 31 foot towing with a 99 Dodge diesel 4x4 shortbed, I put on a swaybar and problem still there. I new I would not be happy till this issue was resolve, I was not comfortable towing. I went and bought the equalizer four way sway control hitch and it is more then improved it is perfect. I am sure the dual cam set up is equally good there is a never ending debate on the two. PROBLEM WAS SOLVED. ED



Equal-i-zer® Hitch - The “American Original” with 4-Point Sway Control™ and Weight Distribution

 

[rluft]

I've owned a couple of travel trailers and used the same Reese equalizer bars and friction sway control on them. I tend to think that those systems are a band-aid for ill handling trailers. As suggested, make sure that the trailer has the correct tongue weight when loaded and then don't over tighten the bars.

 

[AHarris]

I found a Reese Dual cam system on eBay for $149 and might give it a try, along with ensuring the weight is biased toward the front and the rest of the hitch is set up correctly. Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[AHarris]

Problem solved

I snagged the aforementioned Reese Dual Cam sway control on eBay for $149 and free shipping. Took about 2 hours to install it plus dialed in the ball angle and adjusted tire pressure to specs. Trailer tires were 15psi low (50psi instead of the recommended 65). Also lowered the tension on the spring bars to 6 links. As luck would have it the Reese spring bars I already had were notched at the ends and ready for the dual cam set up (it's the older style P/N 60001).

Test tow in both calm and windy conditions were night and day difference from before. Very impressed--tracks straight and true down the Interstate and sway is all but gone... feels MUCH safer! Solved the whole problem for $149 and 3 hours of my time. Looking forward to the next camping trip and tow. Thanks fellas!!

 

[AH64ID]

Great deal!

 

[Superglide]

Try tightening one more link and see what that does. I had the exact same experience with the RV dealer as you did, even though I told him it was my first TT and never even towed before. After watching and hitching up my buddy's TT I realized he tightened his more than I did mine. I went up one more link and it made a world of difference. It tows very nicely now with no more sway. My TT is a 2003 27' Jayco Eagle.

 

[GAmes]

... ... sway is all but gone...

I am wondering what you define as sway. If you are talking about the little push you get when being passed by a truck, that is not sway and there is nothing that will stop it. If the trailer is wandering to the left and right and gets worse with added speed, that is sway. You should have ZERO sway without a sway control device, much less with one.

 

[crispyboy]

Many folks have given you good suggestions and it sounds like you have a winner with the Reese Dual Cam. They have been around for awhile and are fairly solid. What weight bars do you have? Make sure that you have at least 1" of deflection in the bars. This deflection allows the anti-sway (dual cam) portion of the hitch to work.

The single friction bar that you previously had make good boat anchors.

I would make one more suggestion to finish dialing in your hitch. When you are loaded down on your next camping trip, take a trip to the CAT scale and see how much weight your actually moving around. Also adjust the hitch such so the trailer and truck both ride level - Very important! Make sure the head of the hitch has the proper tilt.

Personally I have been spoiled. A few years ago I purchased a Hensley Arrow off of Ebay for $600. I had to do some reconditioning (sand blast, paint, regrease bearing etc. ). It is night/day difference pulling a trailer. It even seems to limit the bow wave from the semi-trucks. The other nice thing about the Hensley is that there is infinite amount of adjustment to weight distribution (at least up to the bar weight rating) without effecting the sway performance.

There is a competitor to the Hensley. It is called the 3P hitch from Pro-pride. A former Hensley employee started the company. It works the same way.

Trailer Sway Control Hitch Guaranteed to Eliminate Trailer Sway - ProPride 3P



Post a picture of your hitch setup if you get a chance.

 

[AHarris]

I am wondering what you define as sway. If you are talking about the little push you get when being passed by a truck, that is not sway and there is nothing that will stop it. If the trailer is wandering to the left and right and gets worse with added speed, that is sway. You should have ZERO sway without a sway control device, much less with one.

It was the wandering with added speed and wind made it worse. I also set the hitch and tire pressures up properly and I think that made a lot of difference too.

 

[AHarris]

Many folks have given you good suggestions and it sounds like you have a winner with the Reese Dual Cam. They have been around for awhile and are fairly solid. What weight bars do you have? Make sure that you have at least 1" of deflection in the bars. This deflection allows the anti-sway (dual cam) portion of the hitch to work.

The single friction bar that you previously had make good boat anchors.

I would make one more suggestion to finish dialing in your hitch. When you are loaded down on your next camping trip, take a trip to the CAT scale and see how much weight your actually moving around. Also adjust the hitch such so the trailer and truck both ride level - Very important! Make sure the head of the hitch has the proper tilt.

Personally I have been spoiled. A few years ago I purchased a Hensley Arrow off of Ebay for $600. I had to do some reconditioning (sand blast, paint, regrease bearing etc. ). It is night/day difference pulling a trailer. It even seems to limit the bow wave from the semi-trucks. The other nice thing about the Hensley is that there is infinite amount of adjustment to weight distribution (at least up to the bar weight rating) without effecting the sway performance.

There is a competitor to the Hensley. It is called the 3P hitch from Pro-pride. A former Hensley employee started the company. It works the same way.

Trailer Sway Control Hitch Guaranteed to Eliminate Trailer Sway - ProPride 3P



Post a picture of your hitch setup if you get a chance.

Thanks. I've heard a lot of good things about the Hensleys and 3Ps but the cheapest out there seems to be around $3K (for a reconditioned unit) and goes up from there. My next RV purchase will most likely be a 5th wheel (or none at all if these damn fuel prices keep climbing).



I'm getting about 1 1/2" of deflection on the bars and the set up seems to work best on 6 links and a little too much on 5.



Will post pix shortly...

 

[AHarris]

A couple pix below of my setup with the dual cam attached...

 

[HBarlow]

It looks good and looks like it is set up correctly.

That old Reese dual cam assembly will serve you well as long as you choose to tow a conventional travel trailer. That hitch was the gold standard of hitches from the '50s to probably the '90s. Tens of thousands of Airstreamers, Avioners, and other premium trailer owners used them.

 

[wyhog1]

It might be your trailer... . more than anything else. I had a 2006 Keystone hideout bumper pull, 30 foot toyhauler. It pulled terrible... I tried different things but to no avail. I think the springs were too weak and the tires were stock china made... . the guy I bought it from had problems pulling it also. I bought a fifth wheel toy hauler... . all is good.