Controlling Sway Stresses Trailer Frame?
Let's say I have a travel trailer with a BAD sway problem. Rather than fix the problem, I decide to "fix" the problem with a Propride or Hensley. Even though the trailer is now "fine," underneath a...
Forum Discussion
From reading this forum for a long time I think the biggest problem is most people don't even know what "true sway" is.
They think when a big rig pushes them around it's sway. It's not.
They think when a side wind hits them and pushes them around it's sway. It's not.
I've heard it time and time again on here. "You need to put sway control on your trailer just in case." I got news for them. Trailers just don't decide to sway. If they are manufactured wrong, they will sway. If they are manufactured correctly, they won't. It really is that simple.
Your comments are well received. I live in Nevada five miles from where the great American author Mark Twain in his book Roughing It wrote about the Washoe Zephyrs, incredibly strong winds. In Nevada if you don't know how to tow in the wind you probably won't get out much. And wind is not sway, just as you indicated. Neither is sway going down a long hill with a curve at the bottom on a slippery road and the trailer pushes the tow rigs rear end into a jackknief situation. There is no sway, just poor traction. A WD hitch with a sway feature will not help. In the past some hitch manufacturers felt that in slippery situations sway control can actually be detrimental.
Thousands of every type of construction trailers are towed millions of miles a year without sway control or mitigation. The whole sway fear should be tempered by facts not hype. How many weigh their trailer loaded for camping and then the tongue? Or, do most just purchase a hitch and hope for the best not really knowing what the trailer's weights are? For those that want peace of mind or 'insurance' go weigh your tongue and calculate the tongue weight and see if it is within limits. That, not a hitch, is peace of mind and insurance. And then if they want to throw a WD/sway feature hitch on as well, at least they know their trailer values are
good and the hitch is not there to save them, just to go along for the ride.
As far as the OP's original question, I am aware of Airstream frames being damaged by overly aggressive WD hitches, not so much from the sway feature, but too much tension on the bars. There is lots of information about this especially as it relates to the Equalizer hitch damaging the Airstream tongues (or not). If interested spend a quality evening on their forums and you will see plenty on this issue.
