Sway Bars - Need One or Two?

I have a "standard" Reese weight distributing hitch (WDH) with one anti-sway bar for our 21 foot trailer. If your trailer seems to be swaying back and forth while simply driving down the road (no wind pushing it, few bumps, etc) you should look at a few things. You shouldn't NEED a anti-sway bar just for normal driving down the road - the bars simply help reduce sway if it occurs.

Short answer - Yes, adding a second sway bar will help reduce sway. But...

Is your WDH actually setup correctly? I towed my rig for a few years setup with how the dealer put it on. Towed okay, but not great. I found that by changing the angle slightly on the hitch coming off the truck and changing how much tension the weight distributing bars had, towing improved greatly. Check the website for your hitch manufacturer for info on setting up the hitch, also read all the how-to articles scattered about these forums.

Also, how is the weight distributed in your camper / TT ? Many times sway can be reduced by moving some weight to the front of the TT, but don't over do it! Preferably, you can go to a commercial truck scale to weigh your rig all hooked up and see how much weight is on the hitch. I found that by just moving bed sheets / sleeping bags to the front of the TT while towing, the towing seemed to be better.

Hopefully some of this helps!

donn0128 was referring to an integrated WD/sway control hitch that would eliminate the sway bars and perform better like the Equalizer 4 pt, Reese Dual Cam, and others. All of which would perform both functions and do it better than friction sway bars.

Every set of sway bar instructions I have ever read said that you need two for a trailer your length. Some say 24ft some 26ft as the line you need two bars. They are cheap and easy to take on and off.

Adding the second bar will not be the quantumn leap from a feel standpoint that the first one was. It mostly takes the remaining wiggle out of the rig.

Make sure your WD hitch is dialed in then add the second sway bar. chances are your rig will be rock solid after you add the second bar.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

You should only need one, but if you feel you need more, two won't hurt.

Don't know what Don was referring to, but you didn't mention the WDH at first. Maybe that was it. But also, I thought I might need two sway bars until I messed around with mine and found I didn't have it set right. Made all the difference.

Otherwise, with a WDH and sway control, if you feel like you're still experiencing a lot of sway, check your load distribution. When I started, I didn't know anything, and loaded everything in the back of the trailer thinking less weight on the hitch the better. I had way too much in the back and experienced a lot of porpoising and a bit of sway. Got educated, and all was well soon after.

Thanks for your reply, Don. We do have a weight distribution hitch...are you referring to that or something else?

We've very new to this...

Thanks again...

Yes. But a proper setup hitch might help you more.