sway bars

[andrew_the_newb]

As you can tell by my username I'm new to the RV world, just picked up our trailer yesterday not knowing anything about towing a trailer this size down the road and it was a white knuckle ride to say the least. Started checking online and sounds like I need sway bars, any suggestions? The trailer is a 28' keystone springdale and I'm pulling it with our Chevy Tahoe. Please help.

[pitch]

There is no reason to go to an RV dealer for your WDH. Any trailer sales lot, will get what you need probably much cheaper than an RV dealer.
People on this forum are real fond of spending other folks money. You do not need to break the bank for your system. I got a "cheap" pro pride system for 279.00 dollars. It function just fine. Just make sure that the bars are right for your weight. Base all your decisions on the gross weight of your trailer. If it hasn't bee molested there with be at least one sticker on your TT showing the GVW.

If you are like most of us you need to balance cost against usage. Two or three short trips a season does not require the same outlay as a cross country trekker.

Do some googling some reading and forge on!

[Roundtwo-40]

If you and your friend are mechanically inclined do it yourself (there are you tube videos that show you how) the one kicker is that the ball has to be torqued to 400+ footpounds.. (ie big air impact wrench or long cheater bar) and the socket is a tight fit (equalizer sells a turned down socket for 50+$) but some say they have been able to use a short socket or 1 3/4" and get it to work. Good Luck!

On edit: $900 for an installed Equalizer hitch??? OUCH..my 14k (biggest they sell) was $600 delivered (RVW)...talk about padding the labor..

[andrew_the_newb]

Thank you for your help, the last thing I want to do is endanger anyone at anytime. I do want to educate myself on anything that may become a issue so I know how to handle a situation. Can you give me any ideas of where to start? I know to keep at a safe speed (55 mph) on the freeway at the most, give myself plenty of room to slow down/stop, I watched videos on how to handle a blow out. Any more suggestions? As I said, I want to be safe and I welcome any information on the matter.

[bikendan]

forget the dealer and the person you bought the trailer from. neither is your friend and only out to take advantage of you.
it's a good thing you didn't have an emergency, otherwise that 28' trailer could have easily overwhelmed your short-wheelbase Tahoe.:E

order an Equalizer WDH and a Prodigy BC from RVW. you'll get free shipping and your mechanic should be able to easily install it.
heck, you could install it yourself!!

my next suggestion is that before you venture out with the trailer, is that you educate yourself more about RV's, before you endanger you, your family and the rest of us.
the fact that you bought such an item without doing any research ahead of time, is something you can't afford to do again. you'll need to learn how RV's work and how to operate all the systems and how to get everything set up.

[andrew_the_newb]

Than you everybody for all your help, glad I signed up for this forum. Now, my next question is, I called a local RV lot to see what kind of weight distributing hitch they have and he said he doesn't stock them but orders them as needed and he can get me a EQUAL-I-ZER for $745 plus $150 install. My mechanic and good friend (also a rv'er) said I can order it and he'll install for me but he has a 5th wheel, never had to install before. Do I go with the over priced dealer or my mechanic?

[bsinmich]

I think your seller was a lot more eager to sell and not worry about any details. TTs have electric brakes and they are controlled by the brake controller in the tow vehicle. I haven't had a TT since I started RVing in '69 but I remembeer my first trip. We had a 21' Layton 1969 and towed it with a Lincoln. The TT dealer said I should try just the Reese hitch and then see if I needed the sway control. I needed the sway control. That TT was heavy at 4400#. You should also have a breakaway switch that fastens to the truck and will apply the TT brakes should the TT ever break loose.
The next problem is what happens to your name when you are no longer a newbie?

[wbwood]

Only if you have a brake controller in the Tahoe. I'm not sure what year table you have and if they built them in on them or not, but the 2010 f250 we had, had one built in. If you do, there should be controls on the dash somewhere. If not, then you can purchase one and you will need it.

[andrew_the_newb]

Thank you everybody for the info. my next question is brake controls. I did not know that brake controls were required by law. The trailer does have its own brakes but as far as being controlled, there is none. I was informed that since it has its own brakes and when I press the breaks in the car and the trailer breaks according to the brake pedal being pressed I was good. This was false information?

[tbred]

Hi Andrew, Husband and I are newbies as well. We recently purchased a new 32 ft. tt. The dealer we used strongly suggested the Anderson no sway/weight distribution system. It is a newer design but we love it, very easy to adjust and very user friendly. Husband towed the trailer home from Ohio in a bad storm, high winds ect... and was very pleased with the performance. We paid 495.00 for it installed.

[Roundtwo-40]

You are on the correct path in not taking yours and your family's safety lightly, My first TT ride many years ago was with the cheapest WDH the dealer had and it was white knuckled all the way home, from personal experience do NOT go cheap on the WDH and brake controller for the sake of your blood pressure and safety. I use an Equalizer 4 point sway and a Prodigy 3 brake controller and feel safe pulling my rig. There are others that are probably just as good but again you will be in the $500 range for a quality hitch and around $120 for a good brake controller.
Be safe and Happy Camping!

[Matt_Colie]

Andrew,

The only stupid question is the one you are afraid to ask for fear of looking stupid. Uneducated can be fixed here, stupid is another issue.

You might be a newbee, but so far, the biggest mistake you have made was not researching this first. You have some good answers now an go on learning how to do this safely.

It is my duly considered opinion that as soon as one has to go to a ball larger than 2" he should be considering a WD hitch system.

Problem with Semantics......
Sway bar has several meanings, and one may apply to a truck, but it has no (imho) effect on a trailer tow situation. That is a transverse suspension member to equalize the position of the wheels on an axle. Engineering actually calls there anti-roll bars. They are not what you want at all.

A weight distributing hitch can make all the difference in the world. It will make towing much more pleasant. I have not been in the market for many decades as what I have works well. So, you will have to count on others for current information. I can tell you it will add a few minutes to hitch/unhitch time, but the time you go to move the rig a couple of blocks and done set it up, you will remember why you usually do take the time....

Matt - Towing only boats and toads these days

[Hondavalk]

Etrailer.com
Even if you don't buy from them I would go to etrailer.com or go to youtube and look at some of there videos. I think they would address most of your questions. I've always had good luck with there prices and if you want you can learn how to do the install yourself. I think most people will do a better job themselves than the dealer and will have a better understanding of how there hitch works.

[Terryallan]

andrew_the_newbe wrote:
Sorry, should have been more specific. I bought my trailer through private party. The seller mentioned sway bars as I was pulling out of the driveway but made it sound like it wasn't necessary. And my Tahoe is rated to pull 7100 lbs and the trailer weighed down is 6400. Does the Tow package on my vehicle not apply to this? Again, if I'm asking stupid questions I apologize, still brand new to this.

Yes your tow package applies, IF you are using a WDH. If you will look on your receiver. You will see 2 weights stamped there. One will be prolly 500lbs tongue weight, and 5000lb trailer weight, and will have "weight carrying" before, or after it. That is what your receiver can "carry" with out a WDH.

there should also be another weight stamped on it. Will be something like 900 lbs tongue weight, and 9000lbs trailer weight, and have "weight distributing" before or after it. That is what your receiver is rated to carry with a WDH.

However. That is NOT the tow capacity of the Tahoe. Only the weight, the hitch is rated for. As you have stated. Your tow capacity is 7100lbs. GM as well as all manufacturers put the same hitch on every vehicle in it's class, and so the hitch is rated for the tow capacity of the highest rated vehicle it goes on.

BTW. Once you have the WDH setup correctly. There should be NO trailer sway. It should just follow right along. You will feel it back there, but it won't be pushing you around. Once you have it right. Then add sway control. The dual cams , and straight line hitches are good.

And IF you haven't got a brake controller. The Prodigy is a very good one to get. With the tow package. It should just plug in, But I'm not sure about GM vehicles.

[bikendan]

that long of a trailer, with the shorter wheelbase of the Tahoe, you really need a good WDH with built-in sway control, not a cheap one with a friction anti-sway bar.

the Equal-i-zer or the Reese Dual-Cam would be the minimum. a ProPride or Hensley would be the best but they are very pricey.

you can get an Equal-i-zer shipped to your door, for around $450 from RVW.

do you have a brake controller or did you not research that either?
that's required by law and may have contributed to your white knuckle experience by not having any trailer brakes.
you can get a Prodigy BC from RVW also, starting under $100.

[wbwood]

You will be spending at least $500 to do it right... You need a weight distributing hitch and then some sort of sway control. Like a Reese frinction sway bar or something.

The WDH will distribute the weight properly (as long as it's set up porperly). It may help some on sway, but you will still need sway control.