When to release friction anti-sway bar in snow & why?

If the friction forces from the sway bar are greater than the friction between the tires and ground, when you go to make a turn, the trailer/tow vehicle junction (tongue) won't pivot and you'll be turning one LONG vehicle. If the friction difference isn't much, the trailer may pivot, but not enough and still not track straight.

Or, if conditions change it could have enough friction to the road to turn as you turn, but then if you hit a very low friction surface after the turn, the trailer can't straighten out. Not enough friction to the road surface to overcome the sway control.

Either case can be bad.

Now it does take a very low friction surface for that to happen, but that's what can happen with glare ice, hardpacked snow etc.

You release the tension on the sway bar anytime the conditions are such you could lose traction on either vehicle. At which time you should also be slowing down. Driving and towing in snow is no big deal, do many miles every year. Drive according to conditions which includes parking on occasions.

All of this 'stuff' are not for the good days out there where a riding lawn mower
'can' tow it...but the bad/worse days out there when Mr Murphy crosses your path

Either it is there spot on or not...no time to go back to the store for better/bigger/etc
nor time to re-setup properly

Also, these things are not a one size fit all and that includes conditions out there

What may work fantastically on dry pavement many not in slippery pavement to
actually making it worse

Friction bars add 'friction' to the yaw motion...even when turning safely.

Some also do NOT like getting wet and that will reduce their 'friction'

As others have said...best to slooooow down or just get off the road and wait
till the conditions improve

Great points -- thanks! Of course I slow down a lot in bad conditions or (if needed) simply get off the road and wait. But if I am in slippery conditions, and driving slowly enough that sway is not a problem, then I now understand, thanks to your collective wisdom: releasing the sway bar allows me to steer into a skid, without having the rigid "lever arm" of the trailer accentuate the skid!

And really, I am not sure I need a sway bar at all, in any situation -- it is a very small and light trailer, with plenty of tongue weight. But I have never driven without it on dry highways, and it does not do any harm, so why take a chance?

I drove in a snowstorm once and vowed never again. The trucks still speed by and their air flow is now snow flow and the visibility goes to zero when they pass.

wnjj wrote:
When driving in snow, speeds should be low enough that sway won't be an issue. With low friction between the tire and the ground, you don't want high friction at the hitch. It could make quick steering and counter-steering difficult in the event of a skid.

All the responses so far have been very good. I will second what wnjj stated and add a little more.

Heavy rain, the start of rain after long dry period (grease/slime on road) ice covered roads, wet sloppy snow etc create slippery road conditions. The slippery condition however it was created, creates a bad situation if the tow vehicle starts sliding. In this case you really do not want the trailer rigid to the back of the truck. This could make a bad situation worse as it is then harder for the truck to return driving straight or come back under control.

The manufacture needs to "warn" of the condition to help shed liability back on them. The "need" is to understand and use the hitch tools the way they were intended. They are not intended to be used when the truck does not have high traction to the road surface.

When road conditions are slippery, you need to slow down. Now what is slow and what is fast? There is no magic answer to all conditions but if the truck or trailer is sliding, it is too fast. 45 mph is sort of a rule of thumb that unstable trailers even on dry pavement can start to get out of control. By going faster, the unbalanced trailer is now more easily triggered into a sway event. By going slower it may not get out of control. Also pending how bad the out of balance on the GVW to the TW percent can shift that 45 mph up or down.

Point: If it is slippery out, slow down regardless of the friction sway bar. If it remains slippery and you have to tow, unhook or release the tension on the friction sway bar until the road conditions become good again for towing. The best can be, tow only until you can get off the road in a safe place and park it until things get better. You are then in control and not at the demise of what slippery roads towing can present.

Have a good trip and be safe. Hope this helps

John

I doubt if your friction bar is necessary at all, but if it says to release it, then I would.

The best thing to do in a snow storm when you are towing, is park. Your driving may be fine, but there are so many bad drivers out there, you can't avoid them all.

My last camper had a friction say bar. I never took it off in rain. But I did when traveling in snow. My current camper has an Equal-i-zer WD hitch. It's got built in sway control. I've never tried it on snow yet.

I think the most important thing in snow or rain is not driving above your abilities. Keep larger distances between vehicles, drive much slower, and use your brakes less. I didn't have the friction hitch. I had the Reese straight line on my previous TT. I've driven in a lot of bad weather conditions in WY. I use 4WD a lot when on hard packed slippery snow or ice on hwys. Any abrubt movement on a slippery surface can get you in trouble. Let your engine slow you down even on flat surfaces. Be careful about black ice. However, I never released the tension on my hitch.

When driving in snow, speeds should be low enough that sway won't be an issue. With low friction between the tire and the ground, you don't want high friction at the hitch. It could make quick steering and counter-steering difficult in the event of a skid.