Good and Bad about Blue Ox Sway Pro

[Rescue16]

I just purchased a 2013 Cougar 32RBK travel trailer and I am towing it with a 2006 Ford F350 Crew Cab With the 6.0 Powerstroke. I am looking at getting the Blue Ox Sway Pro and would like to here the good and bad about this WD/Sway control. With my previous RV and vehicle (21SS Shamrock Hybrid and Ford E250 Conversion van) I used the Equalizer and all the experience was great it was really noisy.

Thanks in advance for taking a moment to tell me the good and bad!!

[DinTulsa]

I've towed close to 5000 miles with my Sway Pro this year and really like it. This is my first TT or WDH hitch so I have nothing to compare it to. But with my truck and 38ft TT, its great. No sway and easy to hook and unhook.

[NWnative]

I have been happy with the performance of the Blue Ox Sway Pro with my set up. Had and Equalizer in the past and was happy with it as well except for all the noise when turning. The Blue Ox has served my set up well. My truck squats just a little when hooked up and, sway has not been an issue at all and......I am towing with one of those aluminum trucks that many say are to lite to tow. I have said before that every situation is unique and what works for one person may not work for another. I would not hesitate to by another Sway Pro if I had the need.

[762x51]

Did the GMC have LT tires - YES
and does the Ford have P rated tires - YES?
Are the tires low profile? - P265/60R18
How about when you get all the weights a picture of the entire rig? - Will do

[camperforlife]

You do need to weigh the tongue. My dealer swore that the 1000 lbs bars were more than enough. They were not as my actual tongue weight was 1350 lbs. Blue Ox worked with me to get the right bars and it made a major difference and yes the rig tows much better with the factory traction/sway control turned off.

Did the GMC have LT tires and does the Ford have P rated tires? Are the tires low profile? How about when you get all the weights a picture of the entire rig? I hope you get it all sorted out.

[762x51]

I have a SwayPro towing our 1998 25ft Airstream and after trading my GMC Sierra for a Ford F150 2x4 I've had nothing but problems towing. The trailer sways violently at times and always when a truck is passing, regardless of the direction.

The SwayPro towed OK with the GMC Sierra using the standard hitch bar that came with the SwayPro hitch but it did sway at times and I thought this was normal. To set up the F-150 I had to order an extended hitch bar from Blue Ox because I couldn't open the Ford's tailgate with the standard bar.

Currently I have been using 750# spring bars and these are the Cat Scale weights for the current setup with the truck and trailer loaded for a 2 week trip. I do carry about 20 gallons of fresh water because we sometime stay overnight in a WalMart parking lot.

Truck:
Steer Axle: 2680 lb
Drive Axle: 2100 lb
Gross Weight: 4780 lb

Truck + Trailer:
Steer Axle: 2640 lb
Drive Axle: 2880 lb
Gross Weight: 10780 lb

From this you can determine:
Loaded trailer weight = 10780-4780= 6000lb
Actual Tongue Weight = (2640+2880)-4780= 740 lb

Dry hitch weight per Airstream: 680 lb
GVWR: 6300 lb

Blue Ox says the tongue weight should be 10%-15% of the GVWR so in my case this would be 630 lb to 945 lb so my weight of 740 lb is right where it should be.

Thinking the problem may have been the weak springs on the Ford F-150, my son and I installed a Air Lift air bag suspension system (with compressor) on the truck and that really improved the ride quality but hasn't stopped the trailer sway.

I had several phone conversations with Blue Ox last week and after a lot of discussions they suggested that I get a set of 1,000 lb spring bars because of the actual tongue weight on my setup being 740 lbs. I had ordered the kit from RVWholesalers.com and they refused to make an exchange because I had ordered the kit over a year ago. I felt that that shouldn't be an issue because THEY recommended the 750 lb spring bars. Anyway, Blue Ox said they would send me a set of bars because, in their opinion, I had been sold the wrong product. I don't know if any of you have talked to Blue Ox tech support but they are GREAT. Not just because of this issue but I had spoken to them when I first bought the SwayPro and was setting it up on the GMC and they were VERY helpful.

FedEx dropped off the new bars this morning and my son and I will be heading back to the local CAT Scale on Friday to set up the system using the new bars. I'll post the results Friday or Saturday.

One other thing - The Ford F-150 has a built in sway control system that MUST be turned off if your hitch setup has sway control built in. Otherwise they will "fight" one another.

Moderator edit to re-size picture to forum recommended limit of 640px maximum width.

[badercubed]

That must be the sweet spot. I am at the 10th link on 1500lb bars.

[camperforlife]

I recently went up to the 1500 bars after not being happy with the 1000lb bars the dealer sent me home with. I pulled home from Michigan Saturday just an hour or so before a tornado struck. I had 30-40 mph side winds most of the way home and couldn't be happier how it handled. I did notice some wiggle & push then remembered that Marty at BlueOx said that the trucks electronic sway control can fight the hitch anti-sway properties. I switched off the sway\traction control and it really settled down. I use the 9th link.

The wind was so bad that going up I got 10.5 MPG, coming home in the wind it was 7.5 mpg going 10 mph slower.

[dthfsa]

I am currently running on the 10th length as well. My big issue right now is the fact my truck only has P rated tires, with the size of this new trailer it wiggles around more than I like.
The first time I pulled this new trailer was pure white knuckle driving, they sent me away from the dealer on the number 8 link, with the 1000 lbs bars I was running it on the 11th link.
Our plan is to finish out the season with the F150 and come next spring move to a 3/4 ton truck.

[rsaylor3]

Dthfs,

What link are you attaching at? I too just changed to 1500 lb bars and use the 10th length, counting from the bitter end of chain.

[dthfsa]

We have a 331BH Laredo Travel Trailer by keystone. 7900 lbs. empty, 810 lbs. tongue weight (As stated from factory). I suspect my TW is well over 900 lbs.
My original Blue OX set up had the 1000 lbs. bars. It did not feel right so after some discussion with Blue Ox and my dealer we switched to 1500 lbs. bars. Much better handling. They actually sold me a 1500 lbs. set but it had the wrong bars in it, or it was not labeled correctly.
Here are some of my measurements with the Blue Ox.

Empty Truck: (All measurements at center of axle to top of fender opening)
Front Axle: 37 1/2"
Rear Axle: 39 5/8"

No bars, but hooked to truck:
Front: 38 1/2"
Rear: 37"

With 1000 lbs. bars:
Front: 37 1/2"
Rear: 38"

With 1500 lbs bars:
Front: 37 1/2"
Rear: 37 3/4"

I have not scaled truck and trailer fully loaded, but I did scale the two minus, food, clothes, wife, water and extra cargo. The truck and trailer combined at that time was 14,790 lbs. I don't have the front and rear weights with me or I would share.

[DocRobbs]

I had to tow my heavy trailer with my Yukon XL instead of my truck due to a breakdown. I've used a standard but had to get a WD hitch on the road. Bell Road Rv in PHX sold me the Blue Ox Swaypro, didn't have much choice and had to pay full price.

That said I'm sold and have towed a heavy trailer ~6,000 miles.
1) very easy to install and set up. Almost nothing to adjust except for ball height.
2) coupler is a cinch to use, no muss, no Fuss, no trouble to hook up. Used to dread my other one.
3) was skeptical but the sway control just works!
4) back up now without even thinking about it just like it's not there.

I haven't tried the Equilizer and probably would have bought that if I could have but not now. I'm sold!

[hawkeye-08]

OH48Lt wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
A w/d hitch with chains doesn't have sway control- for that you need one like the Equalizer or Blue Ox, which has rigid bars where the chains would be.

Of course, with properly sized/inflated tires, the correct load distribution, and the correct speed one doesn't need mechanical sway controls at all!

As is well known throughout most of the trailering world EXCEPT in North America...

Until you get into a 30mph crosswind.

I have a standard WDH with the chains. I believe we are setup properly. We get no movement when trucks pass us (either direction) and I was anxious to see how we did in cross winds.

Coming home last Sunday, we were in winds, mostly cross winds. Steady at 20-25mph, with gusts to 45mph. The only time we had movement was coming out of cut (where the banks along the road are high, sheltering you from wind until you come out and have sudden wind). Even then, it was only slight movement, certainly not sway.

I think the winds is when the size of the tow vehicle makes a big difference. The tow vehicle is very stable so it doesn't contribute to the movement that a 1500 would (like the Yukon XL we had previously).

[carringb]

A cam seems to hang when disconnecting.

I found this too. But only when using an even number of links. A went one tighter, and the 1/2 twist in the chains prevents it from catching on the center pin (this is where it binds). Turned out running one link tighter made it ride better anyways (I was getting a little uplift in the front end over dips and bumps before going tighter, even though ride height was okay).

[johnchaas]

I have a 1000# TW TT on a nissan titan that supports 960#, so I am living on the edge. I am also handicapped, so I needed something that would be easy to connect and disconnect. I purchased the blue ox with the 1000# bars.

My first go around, everything installed by the book. Very easy to install the cams and adjustments were also easy. No issues hitching the camper. My cams seem to bind when unhitching, but I need to double check that I am disconnecting the chains properly.

When chains were installed, there were only two links showing. Serious concerns that I under sized the bars. The rig drove well with no sway. I had it on back roads and the highway.

My first hitch was stolen, so I purchased another with the 1500# bars. I could not get the shank to fit in my receiver. I thought I was crazy. First one had no issue at all. After reading here, I spent 5 minutes with a grinder to grind the corners down a bit (yes, removing the powder coat, but I needed it now!). Now it fits into the receiver without an issue.

I also bought the correct ball this time; one that I did not need to sleeve when installing in the hitch. The nut for the ball is recessed. The nut for the ball was huge; I think 1 7/8, but I am not sure. I went to 4 autopart stores, 3 mechanics shops and a trailer store before finding the correct socket at Ace hardware. etrailer should sell a socket with the ball.

The 1500# bars are a definite improvement for my 1000# TW trailer. If anyone else is on the line, I would suggest going up to the next weight class bars.

The good:
+Easy to install (even though I had to grind it);
+Easy to hook up
+Very stable with my Nissan Titan; which is barely up to the job.
+etrailer.com was great to work with

The bad:
-I had to grind the shank to fit the receiver.
-A cam seems to hang when disconnecting.
-The nut for the ball is recessed, requiring a socket. This nut is large and the socket is VERY hard to find.
-It is VERY heavy. I know others have said this. I can't stress it enough. I have not seen any difference in the shank and head, no matter the weight class. It seems the only thing that changes are the bars. If you have a 5000# travel trailer, you may be buying a hitch that can tow 20000#. That hitch is going to be overkill, and a backbreaker to change.