About to purchase first small travel trailer. 16ft Starcraft. Do I need to purchase sway bars?

What are you pulling it with and what is the tongue weight?

I'd pull it for a couple of short trips first to see how it handles. You might even have someone else drive your TV pulling the trailer with you following behind so you had see what it's doing.From some TTs I've seen going down the road, either people can't tell looking in their mirrors that their trailer is swaying badly or they never look in their mirrors. You have to either speed-up or slow down to get further from them in case they cause an accident.Bill

Welcome to the forum!!Are you talking about Friction sway control or a weight distribution hitch. If your tow vehicle is big enough where you don't need a weight distribution hit, I would put on a friction sway control just to help in the wind and the wake of passing trucks. If you need a Weight Distribution Hitch, I would get one with integrated sway control. Just my 2 cents.

Do you NEED to have one...? Maybe, tow it and find out.Does it hurt anything to have one...? Not at all. If it was mine, I would invest $400 and get an Equalizer WDH. It won't make the ride worse and you can easily remove it and install it on your next RV too.

Receiver on your tow vehicle is rated with two weights. One for using a weight distribution system (many come with built in anti sway systems) and a second for load carying only (which is a smaller number). Your fully loaded tongue weight and your tow vehicles specifications determine if you MUST have a weight distribution hitch. IF it is determined that you need a weight distribution hitch, you would be best served to purchase one that has integrated anti sway. It'll be a lot more fun towing with one than without.Good luck / Skip

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Trackrig
Explorer II
Apr 25, 2015
I'd pull it for a couple of short trips first to see how it handles. You might even have someone else drive your TV pulling the trailer with you following behind so you had see what it's doing.

From some TTs I've seen going down the road, either people can't tell looking in their mirrors that their trailer is swaying badly or they never look in their mirrors. You have to either speed-up or slow down to get further from them in case they cause an accident.

Bill
Dick_B
Explorer
Apr 25, 2015
What are you pulling it with and what is the tongue weight?

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