Friction anti-sway device use in rain or wet roads

25' long, or 27' 5" with the tongue. I updated the specs in my signature.

The hitch doesn't have the tab on the other side, and it's not flat so I can't buy a flat tab and have it welded. The spot where a tab would go is a compound curve.

I suppose a trailer shop could cut and weld a custom piece. Would you recommend I go to the trouble and expense?

I suspect that a single friction sway control will work fine with your trailer. Just make sure your trailer is loaded properly with enough tongue weight and that your hitch is set up properly.

See the sticky at the top of this page for information on how to do that job yourself. The dealer will most likely not do it right and the trailer will not be loaded for camping when he does it, so you will need to re-do the hitch set up yourself. Good way to learn how your hitch works! :)
Barney

I have a single friction device and round WD bars on my 31 ft TT and it seems to work OK. I have thought of going to the Blu Ox system but just can't believe it would be better than what I have now.

cdevidal wrote:
25' long, or 27' 5" with the tongue. I updated the specs in my signature.

The hitch doesn't have the tab on the other side, and it's not flat so I can't buy a flat tab and have it welded. The spot where a tab would go is a compound curve.

I suppose a trailer shop could cut and weld a custom piece. Would you recommend I go to the trouble and expense?

It sounds like you have a reese hitch head. When you buy a new sway bar it will come with a small tab to weld on to the hitch head which you will mount the new sway bar to. Yes someone will have to custom fit it and weld it to the hitch head... But it is worth the trouble.

For me, with my 31 ft travel trailer the first sway bar took out about 85% of the wiggle between the TV and TT the second sway bar took out the remainder of the wiggle and made the push and pull from passing vehicles impact the truck and trailer as one unit.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

They'd already welded one tab but the other side has no tab.

It's pretty common to weld the second tab on. As noted earlier, the flat steel bar with a hole for the small sway control ball is often supplied with the second sway control device. It usually is a pretty easy job to weld the tab onto the other side of the hitch. I would recommend doing it. I have two sway bars myself for my 28-foot trailer.

The issue of untightening the sway control bars in wet conditions is an interesting one. The theory is that if the trailer is restricted from freely moving behind the tow vehicle, it could prevent the tow vehicle / trailer from properly turning on a slippery surface and / or hinder the trailer from straightening out after a turn.

While this is logical, my curiosity revolves around the fact that most hitches are friction-based (all, that is, except the super-hitches costing $2500 and up). So, all these friction-based designs essentially must have the same characteristics on a slippery surface as the classic anti-sway bars. Should not they also be untightened as well except, as noted, they cannot be, as doing so would also negate their weight-transfer function, which is integrated in their designs.

For me, the classic friction-bar devices have served me over the past 35 years, just as they have done for countless others from the beginning of modern trailering in the 20th Century. I don't usually stop and untighten them in rainy conditions and have never felt any unusual things happen. However, I don't tow on ice and snow, and wouldn't in any case with any hitch.

Well I will know soon. I bought the Reese friction bar to mate with a WDH (if memory serves, it is by Quality S?) and I have three "trips" planned: The initial "outing" in the driveway, then a ~180 mile (round trip) shakedown cruise between two cities, then a ~1800 mile round trip to see family. I hope to get the kinks worked out on the shakedown cruise, and if one bar isn't enough that should tell me. Both trips will be on relatively flat land and no snow/ice is expected for either. The shakedown cruise has the advantage of not being far from civilization.

Just keep in mind how your trailer is loaded - make sure it has enough tongue weight (I'm assuming this advice was already posted somewhere in this thread). My TT (21 foot) is a bit easier to tow due to it's length, but I still seem to find it tows better when I load the front of the trailer a bit (pile up sleeping bags and pillow in the front). Don't over do it. You'll figure out your own sweet spot for loading and tongue weight.