"The trailer started whipping..."

Wow, what a thread!

Someone stated earlier that these kinds of accidents are usually always man made. I agree with the exception of some catastrophic failure of a critical part of the system.

Sway is caused by improperly loaded trailers, fast speeds, quick lane changes and exterior forces such as wind either natural or caused by a passing truck. Going down a long hill is always ripe for trouble. The sad reality here is that many folks simply hook their trailers up their TVs and hit the road. They have little clue about weights and proper loading and speed is not a concern to them.

Toss into this nightmare the total absence of a good hitch with BUILT IN SWAY CONTROL and you have the makings of a disaster as witnessed early in the thread.

Strangely, I agree with a lot of what Never2 had to say about the friction bar thing and the advice to hit the trailer brakes while accelerating. I do not have his keen ability to maintain constant intense focus for hours at a time and lack the lighting fast reflexes to respond to an emergency. I am sure glad he is super human in this regard, it will make me feel better when I see him go around me on the highway.

coolbreeze01 wrote:

CarnationSailor wrote:
X2 on the advice to slow down. I tow at 50-55 on two-lane roads and 55-60 on interstates. And I slow down more going downhill.

Hopefully you use turnouts. Tow as slow as you are comfortable with........

I do use turnouts. Don't forget, the speed limit for towing trailers in your home state is 55 mph - on all roads.

CarnationSailor wrote:
X2 on the advice to slow down. I tow at 50-55 on two-lane roads and 55-60 on interstates. And I slow down more going downhill.

Hopefully you use turnouts. Tow as slow as you are comfortable with........

gmw photos wrote:
The real scoop is, that with a properly rigged weight distribution and sway control, you are good to go. For a person to suggest that a driver rely on being able to correct sway issues with correct application of trailer only brakes is in my opinion, irresponsible.

The only thing I would suggest to you would be to perhaps slow down down some. I pull a variety of trailers, bumper pull, fifth wheel, goosenecks ( camper, horse trailers and equpiment trailers ) and I prefer to pull around 55 to 60. I find this to be a safe speed, both for me, and the folks that want to move past me.

This is a fair and accurate statement.

X2 on the advice to slow down. I tow at 50-55 on two-lane roads and 55-60 on interstates. And I slow down more going downhill.

Seattle Lion wrote:
All this makes pretty scary reading to me. We have a weight distribution hitch with an anti-sway bar (friction) installed by the dealer. At this point we can't afford one of the $3000 hitches discussed. So far (only 6 trips, 5 over mountain passes with some scary wind) we haven't hit a sway condition that took us near the edge. One gust of wind activated our Ford "sway control" and warned us to slow down. We normally drive 60-65mph with a very rare burst to 70 in a passing situation.

In other forums I have noticed that extreme conditions get the most attention and that a newbie reading would assume that something dire is about to occur on every trip.

So how big a risk do we face with a properly set up truck/TT? Our TT has about 12% weight on the tongue. There is some darker color on the sway control (friction) that suggests to me that it actually did something for us. Under all conditions to date, the trailer feels "neutral", neither pushing nor pulling the truck. Up till now I was feeling pretty safe. Now I am not so sure. I don't want to be panicked into making changes I probably don't need or just giving up with RV'ing. What is the real scoop?

The real scoop is, that with a properly rigged weight distribution and sway control, you are good to go. For a person to suggest that a driver rely on being able to correct sway issues with correct application of trailer only brakes is in my opinion, irresponsible.

The only thing I would suggest to you would be to perhaps slow down down some. I pull a variety of trailers, bumper pull, fifth wheel, goosenecks ( camper, horse trailers and equpiment trailers ) and I prefer to pull around 55 to 60. I find this to be a safe speed, both for me, and the folks that want to move past me.

All this makes pretty scary reading to me. We have a weight distribution hitch with an anti-sway bar (friction) installed by the dealer. At this point we can't afford one of the $3000 hitches discussed. So far (only 6 trips, 5 over mountain passes with some scary wind) we haven't hit a sway condition that took us near the edge. One gust of wind activated our Ford "sway control" and warned us to slow down. We normally drive 60-65mph with a very rare burst to 70 in a passing situation.

In other forums I have noticed that extreme conditions get the most attention and that a newbie reading would assume that something dire is about to occur on every trip.

So how big a risk do we face with a properly set up truck/TT? Our TT has about 12% weight on the tongue. There is some darker color on the sway control (friction) that suggests to me that it actually did something for us. Under all conditions to date, the trailer feels "neutral", neither pushing nor pulling the truck. Up till now I was feeling pretty safe. Now I am not so sure. I don't want to be panicked into making changes I probably don't need or just giving up with RV'ing. What is the real scoop?

Larry C wrote:
I'm assuming that you are referring to the post that "Nvr2loud" and I have been debating this morning?

If you are aiming your comment at me, your are preaching to the choir. I've been there, done that...

Have a good day

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I'm fairly certain you have a good understanding of the safety issues involved ;)

pappcam wrote:

Nvr2loud wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:

Nvr2loud wrote:

The_Barbarian wrote:
My wife's statement: "OMG, I bet they had did not have sway control bars." As we drove by, I could not tell either way.

Taft Midway Driller

I wouldn't have sway control bars if you paid for them. Mine came with one bar, but I gave it away the first time out.

Brake controller with manual (and accessible) lever is all I need.

I don't use fire extinguishers, but have four of them anyways. I not as positive as others that nothing will ever happen.

Apples to oranges...

I believe that sway control bars cause problems. I would equate my brake controller with a fire extinguisher, both respond to a problem. I would equate sway control bars to fighting a forest fire with a garden hose.

Don't listen to this guy.

X2 - Don't Listen

It's about time someone said it.

WoodGlue

Regarding the claim that when a friction sway control is overcome by wind, it is too late to correct the problem manually, this is simply not true - based on my personal experience.

I had a single friction sway control bar that seemed to adequately control sway for over 10,000 miles of towing. It didn't eliminate sway totally, but did control it under normal circumstances ("truck suck" and moderate wind gusts), and I stay off the road when severe wind is predicted.

Then when we were within 150 miles of home following a 3000 mile trip, we got hit by a freak wind gust that overcame the control. The rear of the trailer went hard right, then back hard left, and was starting back right by the time I got to the manual slide on my brake controller. I'm talking 3 seconds tops between the gust hitting and the trailer breaks coming on.

The trailer straightened out just like everyone said it would and we avoided a disaster. So you can get a sway situation under control AFTER a friction control is overcome.

However, the event scared my wife and myself sufficiently that we bought a Hensley Arrow as soon as we got home! I feel much safer on the road and no more white knuckle driving.