Getting started with sway control
Here's the quick and dirty question: What questions do I need to ask about weight distribution and sway control systems? I'm already thinking, trailer weight, tongue weight, and can I back up with...
Forum Discussion
goducks10 wrote:StirCrazy wrote:
most of the sway control in hitches is snake oil, sway is cause by inproper loading (not enough tounge weight. you want over 10% of the trailers weight on the ball, and if you can sneek it closer to 13 - 14% even better. with the trailer level and that much weight on the ball you shouldn't ever need any sway control, but if you do just buy a weight distribution hitch that you cn add it on later. in 38 years of towing, I only ever had sway once and it was when I was 16 and brand new to towing and I quicky learned how to load my little trailer I had art the time.
Steve
What happens when that 13-14% lifts the front end of the tow vehicle and causes the front to become light and less in control?
if your truck is rated for the trailer it wont, and using an equalizer hitch puts some of that weight back on the frontif set up properly. the design is 10 to 15% for the hitch weight of a trailer for a proper set up. so take my 29' trailer I had before I got a 5th wheel, it was 8000ish fully loaded and I had 1000 lbs hitch weight. the payload for my truck was 2500 lbs so if 1000 lbs was lifting my front end to that point something was wrong. when that happens 9 out of 10 times you are trying to tow with a truck not rated for that load.
Steve
