Best sway control & Yukon towing

[kfp673]

Hello All,

I have 2 separate but related questions. Before I jump in, I am within my weight limits and fully understand a heavier truck would tow better than our Yukon. With that said, I have 2 questions.

1- Sway control. What is the absolute best system? Our travel trailer is just over 30' and when I bought it a few years ago I relied on the RV dealer to recommend the hitch equipment. What they gave me was Reese WD system 800b (tongue weight is in the 650 range) and a single friction sway bar. When I am towing at slower speeds through the hills I have no problem, but anything over 50 mph and the sway gets pretty bad. Windy days can get a bit scary. I would like to get the best sway system I can to completely eliminate the sway if possible. I have played with the WD setup to see if I could eliminate sway that way. I thought the tongue weight might be a little light so I dropped down from the 3rd chain link to the second to see if that helped. Not sure if it helped the sway because it made handling pretty bad so I quickly put it back.

2- We have a new 2015 Yukon. I used to tow with a 1/2 ton Ram so similar capabilities (obviously less payload). However... the new Yukon has an auto leveling rear air suspension. It is pretty cool in that any load added and the compressor kicks on and levels the rear. My question is when should I set the WD bars. Should I drop the hitch on the ball, allow the air ride to level, and then set WD bars? or turn the truck off and set WD bars, then allow air ride to adjust? Or does it matter at all?

The big issue here is the sway control. Is what I have as good as it gets? should I add a second friction bar? better systems? Thanks for your help!

[APT]

Since you are askign about the angle of the ball, this thread about how a WDH works and this thread about how to adjust a WDH my help.

[BarneyS]

Put enough tilt on the head to allow you a minimum of 5 links under tension when the bars are drawn up. If you get the WD you need with more than that (6 or more) all the better. The only time you might want less than 5 links under tension would be with a very small Aframe trailer (3 or 4 inch frame members)but in that case you would not need to be putting much tension on those bars in the first place.

Also keep in mind that that "bars should be level or parallel with the A frame" statement ONLY applies to the round "L" shaped bars and NOT to the trunnion style of bars on the traditional style of WD hitch.
The new Blue Ox hitch is a slightly different animal and the tilt is built in and not adjustable.
Barney

[jerem0621]

Just a note about welding the tab onto your existing head. My local dealer told me they would do it for me for about $10.00-$20.00. I would do that before I bought a whole new hitch.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[mikeinaz]

Funny you ask I was wondering the same thing. I am sure one of the experts will chime in as they have it down to a science. Parallel to the frame seemed to be what I remember bar wise so the tilt of the head controls that.

The one hitch I am considering if I need to step up to a better system than I have is the Blue Ox and it has a pretty good tilt to it, after reading all the Blue Ox reviews and comments it appears that is where a lot of the sway prevention comes into play as well. On theirs it allows the bars to be ratcheted up and flexed more therefore providing more control. Like I said I am sure one of the guys who really knows will give a lot of good info.

[kfp673]

mikeinaz wrote:
Air up those tires to max PSI as JEREM0621 said, made a world of difference when I did that. I also have a 30' TT and a short wheelbase TV, a newer style Durango. Last pull I made was taking the TT to storage last year, aired up the tires to max PSI and had made an adjustment to my hitch, dropping the height 1.5" as I felt I was a tad 'nose up'. Drove 3 miles down the freeway w/ no friction sway control attached (just wdh engaged) and had no sway at 65mph.

Will take it out on a trip here in the next few weeks and see how it is on a normal road trip, with sway hooked up of course. I had been debating getting a 2nd friction bar or upgrading to a different hitch altogether but those two things seemed to make a HUGE difference.

Yes I am definitely at max PSI. My ball is dropped as far as the shank allows it, however it may be a valid point. Seems pretty level to me but maybe the air suspension is raising it to be a bit nose up. I'll look at that and if it seems to be the case I guess I'll have to get a new shank.

I wish their was a way to easily add a second friction bar without having to buy a whole new hitch to see if that is enough. As mentioned in an earlier post Curt only sells the single friction attachment and it seems as though you would have to weld / modify yourself to add another.

Also, is their a "rule of thumb" as to how much tilt you should have on the ball for the WD bars to function properly but not too much?

[mikeinaz]

Air up those tires to max PSI as JEREM0621 said, made a world of difference when I did that. I also have a 30' TT and a short wheelbase TV, a newer style Durango. Last pull I made was taking the TT to storage last year, aired up the tires to max PSI and had made an adjustment to my hitch, dropping the height 1.5" as I felt I was a tad 'nose up'. Drove 3 miles down the freeway w/ no friction sway control attached (just wdh engaged) and had no sway at 65mph.

Will take it out on a trip here in the next few weeks and see how it is on a normal road trip, with sway hooked up of course. I had been debating getting a 2nd friction bar or upgrading to a different hitch altogether but those two things seemed to make a HUGE difference.

[kfp673]

Great responses all. Thank you! I have some homework to do on these Hitches. I honestly did not realize there were $2500 hitches so I am still trying to catch my breath a bit 🙂

After reading these posts I did find that section in my manual that states to allow the vehicle to level prior to adjusting the WD hitch. Seems strange to me but I guess I will continue doing it that way. If nothing else it should provide a stiffer rear suspension that way. I will work on getting my weights and look into these hitches. The debate I am having with myself now is whether I should spend the big $ right away, or spend $4-500 on the EQ or Reese and hope that is good enough. I read great reviews on these 2. Thanks again!

[hawkeye-08]

BurbMan wrote:
The absolute best sway system is either the Hensley Arrow or ProPride P3 hitch system, hands down. These are the only 2 that use the geometry of the 4-bar linkage to prevent sway sway, not just manage it. Another good choice is the Pull-Rite if they make one for your vehicle.

Regarding the auto-level on the Yukon, read your owner's manual, it should tell you the specific steps for hitching a WD hitch with auto-leveling.

X2

[gijoecam]

As someone already posted the OEM procedure, I won't beat that dead horse, save to say that's the way one should always set up their rig if air suspension is involved. Otherwise, there is no way to know how the WDH will impact the weight transfer.

Hensly or ProPride are the hands-down 'best' when it comes to performance. The design truly inhibits sway.

Any of the other sway-control hitch setups will be adequate at damping sway should it occur.

A friction sway control is, IMHO, at the bottom of the list for 'best'. That being said, they are perfectly adequate if set up properly.

[APT]

Spend $15 before $500, or $2500 on a new hitch. Start a a scale to find out where you stand for weights with reqpect to all your Yukon's ratings, what % of trailer TW, and how well the WDH is adjusted. Since you mentioned self leveling suspension, that tends to complicate WDH adjustment.

Get 3 passes. Truck alone, truck plus trailer without WD and truck plus trailer with WD. You want to know the Yukon's front axle weight, rear axle weight, and your TTs combined axle weights. A Cat Scale is designed to provide that.

[hookie]

I can absolutely attest to the effectiveness of the Hensley hitch. Used it with the older design of Dodge Durango (2004) with a Hemi and a 30 ft TT. With the Hensley there was NO sway. On TWO different occasions when I had to make an emergency maneuver, the TT just followed the path of the TV. No drama. No white knuckling at anytime including in the Rocky Mountains. It took me a long time to get over the cost but NEVER regretted it. There is a learning curve to using it but again, so worth it for the peace of mind, safety, and improved towing experience. Oh, also used it with a 3/4 ton Yukon XL with the same results.

[jerem0621]

Hi OP,

Just for the record on the air ride for a 2015 Tahoe here is the owners manual...



Sway vs Natural Movement

We need you to clarify something... Are you getting real sway or is the trailer moving around some when you get passed?

there is a natural push-pull motion that you will get from passing vehicles...no matter what...the idea is to make the push pull motion act against the TV and the TT as one unit... The unnerving part about towing is when you can feel this suck pull act on the trailer, then as the pressure wave reaches the TV you can feel the trailer moving back into the lane as the TV is pushed in another...

Ideally, the pressure waves from passing vehicles and the wind blowing on the side of the vehicle push the entire rig as one...no independent Movement between the TV and the TT... One solid push is much easier to deal with than lots of little movements.

If you are Swaying.. as in this video then we have some serious issues to address. Your trailer should not be swaying.

We need to deal with the "other factors" that impact these little movements.

Wheelbase vs rear Overhang

....the Tahoe/Yukon does have a shorter wheelbase than the Suburban but the rear overhang on the shorter Tahoe/Yukons is much less. Rear overhang is the distance from the rear bumper to the axles.... The less rear overhang the better. I don't have the figures in front of me know but the long rear overhang on the suburban offsets some of the benefits of the longer wheelbase, and vice-versa for Tahoe/Yukon shorter wheelbase with short overhang.

In the end the towing prowess of the 2015 LWB Suburbans/Yukon XL's vs the shorter Tahoe/Yukons are basically the same.

Tires

One of the reasons that people see an improvement when they move from a half ton to a 3/4 ton is due to tires....

No, I don't recommend you change your tires to LT tires that are found on 3/4 ton trucks... not yet.. lets work with what you have for now.

Check out your payload sticker on your door.. Here is an example from one from a 2015 Suburban that I had as a rental...



Notice that the tire pressure is listed at 35 PSI? Huge chance that this is your problem unless you are already doing what I am about to recommend.

Here is the tires off of the same Suburban....



you may have to zoom in to see it.. but these tires are rated to 51 PSI max... Guess what PSI I would be towing a TT at? You got it.. 51 PSI. I highly recommend airing your tires up to MAX PSI before every tow. It should improve your towing experience... possibly significantly...

Airing up the tires to 51 PSI (or whatever the max PSI is on your sidewalls) will stiffen up the tires and help keep the squishy out of the tires.

Weight Distribution

I have not adjusted a hitch with the air ride suspension.. what I am hearing from the screenshot above and other users is to let the air ride air up, preloading the shocks... then turn off the air ride and hitch up, adjust the wd hitch.. then turn on the air ride again.... The same owners manual says that you need to try and get the front fenders back to factory height. basically, no rise or drop on your front fenders once the WD hitch is adjusted.

Sway Control

You have a single sway bar... one of these type devices..



You need two... one on either side of the tongue.. I am sorry for this terrible picture, but its what I have readily accessible



To run two bars with your current hitch you will need to weld on a sway bar mount to the hitch head because Reese in their infinite wisdom thought that adding only one mount to your Reese head was totally awesome. (Truth is they want to "upgrade you to Dual Cam Sway Control"

A new tab that a welder can weld to your hitch head will be provided with the new Sway bar if you choose to go this route.

or you can add Dual Cam Sway Control to your current hitch. its finicky.. and I don't like it personally. Many run it with no problems. I personally prefer the old fashioned friction bars.

Hensley hitches, ProPride, and the PullRite hitches are all options that eliminate sway period.. But these are HEAVY beasts of a hitch (150-200 ish lbs) and can put Half Ton towers over their receiver capacity if they are running close to max already. GREAT HITCHES though.

Vehicle Loading

I would pay attention to your vehicle loading... I would try to keep only light stuff in the back.. load the trailer with the stuff as much as you can.

Try to keep it so that the TV is doing two things from a payload standpoint while towing...

1) Carrying People
2) Carrying the Tongue Weight

Heavy stuff needs to be in the trailer.

Hope this helps some...

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[petendoll]

Hello kfp673, I tow a Flagstaff V-Lite 26 which measures 29'7" with a Ford Expedition. Our vehciles are similar in size. As others have said here, the best is to have a vehicle fully capable to tow what you have, a larger vehicle. However, if you have to stay with what you have, the Hensley is the safest way to go. They are expensive but mine took the white knuckle driving out of it. Wheel base is too short on our vehicles for the length of trailer we are towing. This can lead to losing control in wind or quick maneuvers. There is a video you can watch on YouTude from Hensley. It will show you what difference it can make especially on a shorter wheel based vehicle. If you call the company, they have reconditioned hitches that are about a third less than new. They will match your vehicle and trailer with what you need. The best solution is a larger tow vehicle but this is the next best thing safety wise. Good luck.

[handye9]

Absolute best sway control, is probably Hensley or Propride hitches. They are both quite spendy. Used one could run 1000.00+

You asked about a second friction sway bar. -- Some sellers recommend dual sway control on anything over 25 foot.


You asked about your air suspension system. -- Turn it off and set WD bars first. Then turn the air system back on.

If you allow air system to work first, it could be raising your rear end and making the combination look level, and in turn, give you a false sense of security in weight being restored to your front axle. The air system doesn't restore weight to the front axle. Leave that function to the WD hitch.

If your front axle is too light, your subconscious hand movements could be causing some tow vehicle wiggle. That in turn, causes some trailer sway. Passing big rigs could also be inducing some tail wagging the dog issues.

Maybe, your air system is helping with mis-adjustment on the WD hitch.

Questions you should ask yourself:

Is my tongue weight exceeding the weight rating on the hitch bars?

Am I actually (real scale weights) within all of my ratings? (receiver, payload, GVWR, GCVWR, tow rating)

Is the WD hitch set up correctly? If your air ride is active while hitching up, maybe not.

Is sway control set up correctly? Due to your trailer length, you should have dual sway control, but, adding another sway bar, may not be enough to fix your problem. Take a look at the other things in addition to the second sway bar.

Your wheelbase is a bit short for a 30' trailer.