Breaking sway bar balls

[rsmith159]

Hello again. I added a left side sway bar this year (Husky) and have broken the shank on the front mounting ball on both trips so far. I have checked the operation in turns and everything looks good so just wondering if anybody else has had this problem. I have emailed Husky and am awaiting a reply. Thanks.

Rick in Cobourg

[Jerrybo66]

rsmith159 wrote:
Jerrybo66.....what would you recommend?

Rick

Good question.. How do we stop a Chinese overtake of American business? They bought the number 3 food producing company in the US so we've seen escalating prices. We have no help from our government. I don't buy anything Chinese made of metal but other than that, I don't know. 😞

[rsmith159]

Jerrybo66.....what would you recommend?

Rick

[camperforlife]

Jerrybo66 wrote:
Could the bottom line cause be "made in china". Reliable name products no longer mean quality. Many have prostituted themselves to chinese quality for name brand profits. Sorry.. Just a thought..

Nothing to be sorry about and yes I think it does have something to do with it. I noticed that my new "China Made" slide bar is a very rough casting, more so than the other ever was. Therefore it drags more, generates more friction pad residue and cannot be run as tight as I always have the older American made one.

[Jerrybo66]

Could the bottom line cause be "made in china". Reliable name products no longer mean quality. Many have prostituted themselves to chinese quality for name brand profits. Sorry.. Just a thought..

[BigDaddyHfx]

I have what I think is the same sway bar. I just replaced the ball on the trailer's A frame. We had traveled a short distance between a campground and the storage facility. When we got there the friction bar was dangling. The cotter pin was still in it so I looked at the ball. I could see there were score marks made by the cotter pin at various points. Finally the cotter pin had damaged the ball enough that it slipped off. I replaced the ball but it still didn't seem to fit securely. I then looked at the sway bar itself. The ball reciever was deformed where the cotter pin went through it (was no longer round at that point). Got out a hammer and made it round again which made it fit better. I'll have to keep an eye on it but I've towed with it for about 900 miles since with no problems and no damage to the new ball.

This is my second sway bar in little over 2 years. The first one was damaged when the cotter pin came out and the bar got dragged over something at a gas station. Actually had to replace both original cotter pins because they kept falling out.

I didn't bother contacting the company since the ball replacement was cheaper than my frustrtion limit of dealing, as a Canadian, with an American company. And I needed it right away so no time to wait for a warranty replacement.

[rsmith159]

camperforlife.... interesting. Sounds more and more like too tight.

Rick in Cobourg

[camperforlife]

I only used 1 for years. I added the second and promptly broke off a ball on the second side. It was set up properly and adjusted the same as I had always done on the other side.

I noticed that the sway bar had a heavy accumulation of the friction pad dust on it. I took a wire brush and cleaned up the bar, installed a new ball, backed off the tension by 1 revolution and have never had any more problems.

[rsmith159]

The only thing I got from Husky which was new info to me was that the two screws (top with lever and bottom) should have the same number of threads showing when properly adjusted. I'll be checking that out on my new unit.

Rick in Cobourg

[Tachdriver]

One thing I would like to do is to set the bar up as I am towing and see how much force it requires to move the bar in and out.

I have never used the adjustment screw on mine, it appears it is set correctly but how does one really know?

[portscanner]

Good giggly wiggly. Friend of mine (who does not RV) looked over my shoulder at this thread as I was reading it and thought it was about something ... naughty!
😮

[rsmith159]

I heard from Husky (kudos for quickness) and they are going to send me a new unit. The feeling that I get from them is that it was too tight even though I followed the set up insructions. Maybe mis-adjusted from the factory (my theory). Anyway, I'll give the new one a try and post results.
E

Ricl

[bid_time]

Then it sounds like it is way to tight to me. Mine is 2 turns and I can move it in and out.

[rsmith159]

bid_time.... not sure, maybe 4 or 5 turns.

Rick

[bid_time]

How many turns of the loosening handle does it take for the bar to be loose enough to move it in an out by hand?