Controlling Sway and my Story

wlanguru · 10-14-2014, 12:01 AM

Yesterday we were traveling north on I5 north of Sacramento and was getting pushed around quite a bit from wind. We checked the weather reports before leaving and the forecast was for 10MPH. Although, I checked the historical report for yesterday and the wind was 25MPH with gusts of 35MPH, not sure how to account for a poor forecast. The trailer was a handful and I stayed between 45 and 50 MPH heading north.

That wasn't the scariest part. I had thought we were clear of the wind when were just south of Red Bluff. As I was passing a slow semi right at the crest of a hill and he started matching my speed as we came over the other side. He sat just ahead of the rear bumper of the TT. I tried to slow down and he slowed down and if I sped up he seemed to speed up. I had finally decided to go ahead get on the brakes and slow way down when suddenly we hit a cross wind and this combined with the air he was pushing. The TT started to sway a lot and the F150 anti sway system kicked in with the dashboard flashing at me that it was trying to control the sway. I quickly reached down and grabbed the brake controller and got the trailer back under control. Also, I heard the semi hit his exhaust brake and finally he backed off and let me get over to the right.

That scared the crap out of me. I am really careful and keep my speed safe and really try and not make any moves that could get me in trouble. The semi was at least 10-15 MPH slower than me when I moved over to pass so he sped up pretty quick.

Today, I started researching friction sway control and what options I have with my current WDH hitch. I already went through the process of using the scale to get my hitch set up properly and under normal conditions the trailer , WhiteHawk 28DSBH, pulls like a dream. My hitch is a Husky Round Bar WDH and they make a friction control system that can be added.

Would a system like this help add some additional control in a situation like I experienced?

nbhybrid · 10-14-2014, 04:47 AM

first thing is you should never have sway. I tow a big trailer with my little Rav4 and have absolutely zero sway in all kinds of wind

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the hitch you have. I am serious. Go out and put an ad on it and sell it. they are no good.

Do not use a friction sway controller. They are inferior to the other options out there. Plus you have to remove them every time you back up.

I use an Equal-I-zer "E4" hitch....IF you want all of your sway to go away go buy one. They are only 500 bucks and easy to install yourself.

You have tens of thousands of dollars in truck and trailer don't use a cheap inferior hitch.

You likely are light on the tongue as well and if you want run it,trailer loaded as to camp, through a cat scale and weigh the tongue. Or set up the bathroom scale to measure it at home. Or better yet purchase a tongue scale for trailers. They are only 120 or so. Small price to pay for your safety

You want the TW on the heavy side as well.

Good Luck

Ustabslim · 10-14-2014, 05:29 AM

Is there anyway you can post a close up picture of your current set up.

Ustabslim · 10-14-2014, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbhybrid

first thing is you should never have sway. I tow a big trailer with my little Rav4 and have absolutely zero sway in all kinds of wind

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the hitch you have. I am serious. Go out and put an ad on it and sell it. they are no good.

Do not use a friction sway controller. They are inferior to the other options out there. Plus you have to remove them every time you back up.

I use an Equal-I-zer "E4" hitch....IF you want all of your sway to go away go buy one. They are only 500 bucks and easy to install yourself.

You have tens of thousands of dollars in truck and trailer don't use a cheap inferior hitch.

You likely are light on the tongue as well and if you want run it,trailer loaded as to camp, through a cat scale and weigh the tongue. Or set up the bathroom scale to measure it at home. Or better yet purchase a tongue scale for trailers. They are only 120 or so. Small price to pay for your safety

You want the TW on the heavy side as well.

Good Luck

I don't understand the having to having to remove the friction sway controller to back up...
I've never undone mine, if we are talking about the same thing, in over 40 years.

Seann45 · 10-14-2014, 05:34 AM

Tongue weight tongue weight tongue weight... 10-15% of the trailer weight should be on the tongue. Now if you want to totally eliminate sway and have the $$$ get a Hensley Arrow..hitch..

33 RLDS · 10-14-2014, 06:32 AM

I use a cheap friction sway control and I have not experienced any sway.

Plus I am sure guys with Hensley hitches probably think your equa-i-zer is junk. Its all relative to what works for you..

**FPM III** · 10-14-2014, 07:05 AM

Let's get back on track here. The OP has a problem that he's asked for help in resolving. He didn't ask for a shootin' match as to what hitch system is superior.

Not every sway issue requires big bucks to resolve it. We should be like doctors-focusing first on obtaining information (symptoms and patient history) from the OP and, if possible, suggesting simpler solutions first, before pulling out the "big guns". Why force the OP to have a brain transplant when all that may be needed is a simple aspirin?

I don't want to close this thread because if I do, everyone loses; especially the OP. He's a newbie on this forum and needs all the help he can get. He's come here for help. Let's give him some.

eldermike · 10-14-2014, 07:19 AM

You should be slightly low in the front of TT on flat ground while hooked up. BH style trailers have lost of space inside for packing for trips but it's not always in the right place for good towing. In your case with the 1/2 ton truck you might need to add something like Timbren springs to your truck and shift more weight ahead of the trailer axles. There are starting rules of thumb but in most cases its just best to load weight either on the axles or in front of the axles for best towing.

Not sure if you are hauling water. I have found it's best to pull the trailer dry.

I have been in your shoes and you can improve this condition by thinking about the things I wrote here. Go lower in the front and shift your load in the trailer.

NHcamper · 10-14-2014, 07:31 AM

I have the same trailer and previously towed it with a F150.
I was experiencing sway at times, maybe not as bad though.
I upgraded my friction sway control to a Reese Dual-cam WDH, added Timbrens to the rear end of truck, and changed shocks to Rancho 9000's.
I did this all at once and the towing was Greatly improved.
These kinds of changes/modifications seem common with 1/2 ton trucks pulling trailers is this length and up.
Good Luck!

Jagiven · 10-14-2014, 10:52 AM

Situations like this can be scary, I have had a few white knuckle moments. Did or have you checked your tire pressure in the TT tires? I made the mistake not to check mine once in a similar condition and it was a beast to control, even little sports cars were pushing me around. I was down about 5 psi that spring day, I had checked the tire pressure a week earlier when I brought the HTT home, so I figured I was good. I am now extremely religious about checking tire pressures and it is easy to do. Tongue weight is also a potential issue, if the tongue is to light, sway is in your future. This case you need to check your setup at a CAT scale, it takes time, but it does not cost much.

I would agree a good integrated sway control in the WDH is important. I have used both Equilizer and Reese Dual Cam, I like them both. I have towed trailers with and without and I have no desire ever to tow a large trailer without a good hitch setup.

Last year we were in Wyoming in the rolling prairies in the foot hills, we kept going up and down and periodically the road would cut through the hill top. Every time you came through a cut you could feel the momentary push. I went through one and thought we were in for it. After that I slowed down for those cuts.

Old Blue · 10-14-2014, 11:34 AM

There are a lot of people that use the Friction sway control and dont have any problem with them I used one on three different trailers with out any problem as long as the trailer was level or a little lower at the tongue there might be a little sway from time to time but not bad. With the new trailer it is longer and a lot heaver so I went with the Reese dual cam and now I dont feel any sway at all.

dmward · 10-14-2014, 11:40 AM

I have a similar TV/TT as yourself. I have a Reese WDH with the Dual Cam sway control. It works great in heavy crosswinds (as I experienced driving across the prairies this summer).

Derek

wlanguru · 10-14-2014, 02:15 PM

Thank you for all of the great discussion and input. Several months ago we did visit a Cat Scale with the trailer loaded for a trip and followed the procedure outlined by a post from Rusty Eagle. I would need to dig the tickets back up to get specifics. The summary is I netted out with getting the front axle weigh back to it's unloaded weight by going up a link on the WDH and also getting 14% of the TT weight on the tongue by shifting storage around in the TT. Also, for truck upgrades we have Roadmaster RAS. We have taken 3 trips , approx 1500 Miles total, prior to this one and have never had a problem with sway at all only some initial bounce that was cured by the RAS.

One thing I did realize that I didn't post previously, is that we weren't able to dump the black and grey water tanks before we left the campground. The black tank was full and both grey tanks were 3/4 full. We dumped at a Sanidump located at the TA Truck stop outside in Corning, CA. After we dumped we didn't have any problems with sway at all.

From the discussion of tongue weight though, logic tells me that this could have been a big part of the problem I had. I know that at least the black tank is located behind the rear axles and I am not sure about the grey water tanks. The bottom of my Whitehawk is covered so I would have to remove the covering to determine the exact location.

Regardless, I am still looking at upgrading my hitch setup from the discussion. I don't have a close up picture of my current hitch but here is a picture of in a parking lot loaded for travel.

**Crabman** · 10-14-2014, 02:28 PM

Oh yes, having the rear waste tanks full of water throws everything off as a tongue light trailer is much more prone to sway.

Ustabslim · 10-14-2014, 02:41 PM

What Crabman said.

wlanguru · 10-14-2014, 02:56 PM

Yeah that is 500 to 600 pounds of sloshing liquid and other stuff added to the rear of the trailer now that I really look at it. I don't know why I didn't think about that the first time I posted.

Dumping the tanks ASAP is now on the priority list.

Also as I side note. The newer F150s tell you if the system is kicking in to control sway. It flashes on the info screen between the gauges. I don't want to see that message ever again if it all possible.

Jagiven · 10-14-2014, 03:01 PM

All that water sloshing around can make a big difference in handling.

Out of curiosity, when Ford’s sway control kicked in, did it engage the trailer brakes at all?

wlanguru · 10-14-2014, 03:25 PM

No it doesn't. It only controls the truck's brakes when the system engages and will apply braking to one side of the truck or the other to control the sway.

I reached down and grabbed the trailer brake myself to pull it straight and slowed way down as well. I was going between 55 and 60 and trying not to go to 65 or 70 to get passed the semi when it happened.

David472 · 10-14-2014, 06:07 PM

Another thing I have experienced, which one other poster mentioned, is tire pressure. During our current trip heading south when we reached the warmer air temperatures, I started to experience more handling problems in passing situations. I checked the TT tire pressures with a manual gauge and found one tire 5 lbs higher than the other 3. I let out those extra 5 lbs, and it made a big difference in handling during passing situations.

ON EDIT; the other 3 were at full spec for pressure, the one was over spec.

Nighthawk 96 · 10-14-2014, 06:48 PM

I have the same hitch as you. I have the #800-1200 bars and one friction sway control. I have never experienced any sway. Not to say that I might some day down the road.

Many folks recommend having two friction sway controls for a trailer as long as yours.

One works just fine for me. I have though about getting another brand of hitch, but why spend the money if what you have is working well.

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