Friction Sway Bar Adjustment?

When I used one on my old trailer I found that removing the bar & spraying it with a brake cleaner helped to quiet the creaking & moaning. It dries instantly so it will not affect the functionality of it. That being said, some creaking & and moaning is normal. Anything that relies on friction has to make noise, otherwise there is not enough friction applied.

As tight as you can by hand. You shouldn't have to adjust any of the other bolts/nuts.

LarryJM wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

As for removing. Remember. Any thing less than fully on, is off.

Sorry, but that tells me you don't have much if any experience with this type of system. What is called the on - off bar is there to fully set the system on a consistent basis whatever sway mitigation you have after adjusting the tension nut. It is not really like an on or off switch. Partial tightening is like riding or dragging your brakes ... thus this concept of fully on or fully off is a misconception and not supported by the directions from the manufacturer on what to do in adverse road conditions.

Larry

From Reese. Instructions for sway control bar.

NO3. The handle is an On/off devise. The bolt below (7)is for adjustment only.

No4. When towing in slippery conditions such as wet, icy, or snow covered roads, or on loose gravel. Turn On/off handle counterclockwise until ALL tension is removed from unit. Failure to do so could prevent tow vehicle from turning properly.

So you don't need to argue with me. You need to argue with Reese. Me? I'm with them. Maybe it's not me who doesn't understand the unit.

Clearly. A TT should not sway without a sway bar, as you aren't supposed to use it in slippery conditions.

Terryallan wrote:

As for removing. Remember. Any thing less than fully on, is off.

Sorry, but that tells me you don't have much if any experience with this type of system. What is called the on - off bar is there to fully set the system on a consistent basis whatever sway mitigation you have after adjusting the tension nut. It is not really like an on or off switch. Partial tightening is like riding or dragging your brakes ... thus this concept of fully on or fully off is a misconception and not supported by the directions from the manufacturer on what to do in adverse road conditions.

Larry

Not sure if I agree with this.

I found the device (call it what you will) very helpful when driving with strong and gusty cross-winds, which can be pretty "normal" in the Prairies.

Suppose it might help with emergency maneuvers as well, but I have no experience with that.

Agree or not. It is not to prevent sway. Only to help control it once it starts. A trailer should not sway if properly balanced, and hitch adjusted. If it does. You have other problems.

IMO a sway system will help in normal driving when road conditions and wind along with passing vehicles put abnormal forces on longer trailers. I also remember that the recommendation is not to remove in in adverse weather conditions such as rain, but to loosen it so it mainly won't "grab", but still provide some minimum sway mitigation.

It is not needed in normal driving. If yours sways in normal driving. Fix it. Mine is not affected by passing vehicles of any size. With or without the swaybar installed
As for removing. Remember. Any thing less than fully on, is off.

Terryallan wrote:

brulaz wrote:
Thanks for all the good advice.

I first put the anti-sway bar on when the prairie cross-winds started up on the trip back home. That seemed to work well against the winds so guess that was my initial "test" run. When there was no wind, I didn't seem to need anti-sway. Big trucks and buses rushing by me had little effect. The new trailer is quite heavy with a fair amount of tongue weight.

It was later that I noticed that the adjustment nut was loose and so finger tightened it before clamping down on the upper lever. Again it worked fine afterwards with the cross-winds. I guess there was some initial wear-in on the first day that caused this. And as the friction pads wear, guess I'll keep hand tightening that nut a little bit more.

Remember. It is NOT an anti sway device. there is actually no such thing. It is a SWAY CONTROL bar. It is not to keep the TT from swaying in normal driving. It is NOT to enable you to drive the TT in a straight line. If you need it to control the trailer in normal driving. The trailer has other serious problems, that a sway bar will only hide, until the problem come out from under the sway control bandaid and bites you.
It is only to help dampen sway once it has been induced by the driver during a emergency maneuver, Like dodging a dog, child, deer, or other vehicle that has wandered into your lane.

IF a TT sways in normal driving without a sway bar. You need to find out why, and FIX the sway problem. And then, and only then , Add a sway control bar. Then you will be ready for that idiot that cuts you off.

That your TT does not sway with out a sway bar. Is the way it is supposed to be. (Again that is not what a swaybar is for). So you are ready for the sway bar. Put it on, and you are ready for the emergency moves, you hope to never make. It is too late to put one on, while you are dodging the deer.

BTW, Yes the handle is the on off switch. Bottom out the threads is ON. Any thing less is off.

Also notice. You are to remove it when driving in slippery conditions. If you are using it to keep the TT straight. You can't remove it. But for safety. It needs to come off on slick roads. It "CAN" cause the TV not to turn / go straight, when you turn the wheel. Not a good thing.

IMO a sway system will help in normal driving when road conditions and wind along with passing vehicles put abnormal forces on longer trailers. I also remember that the recommendation is not to remove in in adverse weather conditions such as rain, but to loosen it so it mainly won't "grab", but still provide some minimum sway mitigation.

Larry

Terryallan wrote:

...
It is not to keep the TT from swaying in normal driving. It is NOT to enable you to drive the TT in a straight line.
...
It is only to help dampen sway once it has been induced by the driver during a emergency maneuver, Like dodging a dog, child, deer, or other vehicle that has wandered into your lane.
...

Not sure if I agree with this.

I found the device (call it what you will) very helpful when driving with strong and gusty cross-winds, which can be pretty "normal" in the Prairies.

Suppose it might help with emergency maneuvers as well, but I have no experience with that.

brulaz wrote:
Thanks for all the good advice.

I first put the anti-sway bar on when the prairie cross-winds started up on the trip back home. That seemed to work well against the winds so guess that was my initial "test" run. When there was no wind, I didn't seem to need anti-sway. Big trucks and buses rushing by me had little effect. The new trailer is quite heavy with a fair amount of tongue weight.

It was later that I noticed that the adjustment nut was loose and so finger tightened it before clamping down on the upper lever. Again it worked fine afterwards with the cross-winds. I guess there was some initial wear-in on the first day that caused this. And as the friction pads wear, guess I'll keep hand tightening that nut a little bit more.

Remember. It is NOT an anti sway device. there is actually no such thing. It is a SWAY CONTROL bar. It is not to keep the TT from swaying in normal driving. It is NOT to enable you to drive the TT in a straight line. If you need it to control the trailer in normal driving. The trailer has other serious problems, that a sway bar will only hide, until the problem come out from under the sway control bandaid and bites you.
It is only to help dampen sway once it has been induced by the driver during a emergency maneuver, Like dodging a dog, child, deer, or other vehicle that has wandered into your lane.

IF a TT sways in normal driving without a sway bar. You need to find out why, and FIX the sway problem. And then, and only then , Add a sway control bar. Then you will be ready for that idiot that cuts you off.

That your TT does not sway with out a sway bar. Is the way it is supposed to be. (Again that is not what a swaybar is for). So you are ready for the sway bar. Put it on, and you are ready for the emergency moves, you hope to never make. It is too late to put one on, while you are dodging the deer.

BTW, Yes the handle is the on off switch. Bottom out the threads is ON. Any thing less is off.

Also notice. You are to remove it when driving in slippery conditions. If you are using it to keep the TT straight. You can't remove it. But for safety. It needs to come off on slick roads. It "CAN" cause the TV not to turn / go straight, when you turn the wheel. Not a good thing.

brulaz wrote:

12rvjoe wrote:
Interesting .... I have been using mine wrong all along lol

Question's : How do I know that I have adjusted the tension bolt correctly ?

: When I turn the top handle to off ( loosen it ) the bar slides easily, should it ?

Joe

When I loosen the top lever, the bar slides easily. I think that's as it should be. And then you crank down the lever as much as you can to "turn on" the sway control, leaving the lever in a horizontal position so it doesn't interfere with your WDH.

As for the tension bolt adjustment: trial and error seems to be the answer. On mine, finger tightening seems about right.

I used a single friction sway bar on our last trailer for 26 years and actually wore one out after almost 20 years and 100K miles towing. What Skip says is IMO absolutely incorrect ... these friction bars DO NEED to be adjusted and should be tested for effectiveness each time you start a road trip or about every 500 miles or so. They are basically just like your trailer brakes as the linings wear they need to be adjusted. Here is how I always tested mine and it must be done on the road. I would typically get on the interstate on a straight stretch with no traffic with two lanes and get in the middle of the road at a speed of around 50mph. The take and make a short fairly quick "S" type maneuver and watch the rear of the trailer. Now you don't need to make a real hard maneuver ... what you want is to see the back of the trailer swing to one side and the maybe make a small swing to the opposite side once you are going straight and then fall into line w/o any more tail wagging. This is hard to explain, but a little careful experimenting and it will be fairly obvious when the sway is working. I always wanted mine fairly tight. Initially you can carefully back off on the ON>OFF bar a lot and see how your trailer swings multiple times back and forth w/o any sway control and I recommend doing this test at around 40 mph which is plenty fast enough.

Larry

skipnchar wrote:
It ifs extremely rare that anyone needs to change the factory settings so no adjustment necessary.
...
IF adjustment ever is necessary it is accomplished using the stud with locking nut, usually located below the handle. I used mine for over 60000 towing miles and it never needed adjusting.
...

Hmmm, don't recall if mine has a locking nut. Should be easy to add if it doesn't.

The WDH and anti-sway bar (RV-Pro) seem to be pretty poor quality. They weren't what I asked for when ordering the trailer, but I wasn't going to wait around a day or so to get what I wanted at some outrageous price. Snow was coming, and the trip was cross-country.