Sway Controller ? for longtime towers

handye9 wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:
Are you referring to the single bar anti sway where they have 2 actual balls. A large ball for the hitch and little ball for one sway bar?

Yes, I think we're talking about the same kind of sway bar. Hitch head had 2-5/16 ball for the trailer and the little ball was mounted on a dog ear of the hitch head. There was another little ball welded on a plate that was screwed to the trailer frame. The damage consisted of the dog ear bending on the hitch head, the plate ripped off the trailer frame, and the friction bar bending.

Was it installed incorrectly, I couldn't tell you.

My old Draw Tite hitch had the same setup, I never had a problem either, but, I too had the warning from the dealer. I always removed to bar, for backing.

When I bought a new trailer, I did the install for the sway bar. Besides giving specific measurement for the plate on the trailer, the manual also had the warning about removing the bar for backing up.

There very well could be folks who have towed (for years) and backed up with the bar installed, and never had an issue. Maybe, it's luck, maybe it's a different brand that is built a little different. I don't recall the brand, but, I have heard of one that doesn't have that warning in the manual.

Here is a link to install instructions for a Reece sway bar. It says, on some installations the bar may need to be removed for backing up.

I guess the one I saw damaged, was one of those installations.