Adjusting sway bar?

Is there a specific brand you would recommended?

Terryallan wrote:
As mentioned the handle is not the adjustment. The bolt under it is the adjustment. Leave it alone. Unless the pads get really worn. Then you turn / tighten them 1/4 round at a time. 1/4 round is a lot more than you think.

I agree, thousands of miles on sway bars and I've never touched the adjustment nut for tension. Just tighten the handle down to bottom out the threads and then back off a bit to make sure the on off handle is pointed back towards the trailer and not towards the ground.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Lynnmor wrote:

acritzer wrote:
Follow up question, sorry. Do the sway bars usually wobble? The balls don't really fit in tight.

Yes, they wobble.

I have never read good instructions about adjusting friction type sway bars. The manufacturers are very vague about how to adjust the tension bolt. What I do is find a wide road with no traffic and jerk the steering wheel to induce a bit of side movement. Of course do only as much as is safe. Watch the trailer in the mirror to see how it responds. Tighten the adjustment just enough to control the sway. Yes, it's just a guess as to what is correct. Many just take it out of the box, install it and think that they have sway control.

You're supposed to crank them down tight.

As mentioned the handle is not the adjustment. The bolt under it is the adjustment. Leave it alone. Unless the pads get really worn. Then you turn / tighten them 1/4 round at a time. 1/4 round is a lot more than you think.

The handle functions as an on/off switch. You should always tighten it until it stops and then back off until the handle is parallel with the a frame. Doing it this way will ensure that you always get the same amount of tension on the bar - no guessing. :)

The adjustment is the small bolt with the hex head on it below the bar. This should be preadjusted from the factory and, in most cases, does not need to be changed until many miles of towing have passed. Of course, if you have a very light or small trailer then you might have to make an adjustment. The advice given in the post above is a good way to do it.
Barney

acritzer wrote:
Follow up question, sorry. Do the sway bars usually wobble? The balls don't really fit in tight.

Yes, they wobble.

I have never read good instructions about adjusting friction type sway bars. The manufacturers are very vague about how to adjust the tension bolt. What I do is find a wide road with no traffic and jerk the steering wheel to induce a bit of side movement. Of course do only as much as is safe. Watch the trailer in the mirror to see how it responds. Tighten the adjustment just enough to control the sway. Yes, it's just a guess as to what is correct. Many just take it out of the box, install it and think that they have sway control.

Follow up question, sorry. Do the sway bars usually wobble? The balls don't really fit in tight.

When in doubt, follow the instructions! Thanks.

Yes, that's the way you set it up.
When you turn there is many, many times more force against it then when you just try to slide it by hand.
If you could move it by hand then it would be useless.