Sway bars advice

[Roam_Schooling]

Ok, so our rig is a 2003 Excursion towing a Jayco 287 TT (about 30 feet long and 6200 lbs dry). Took her for her maiden voyage from Kansas City to St. Louis for a few days. The Excursion pulled the TT great! BUT...there is a bit of sway. I've got a Fastway e2 WD hitch with sway bars connecting the TV with our TT. But when semi trucks come up alongside us, or when the wind hits the camper, there is a bit of sway. I understand by physics alone there will always be some sway. I get that. But my question is, if I add a Hellwig sway bar underneath, will that cut down on that sway? Significantly or just a little bit? Or, is there another suggestion you may have about helping with the sway. Mind you, I can live with it if need be. But it does get a bit tiring to constantly readjust that wheel from sway. Thoughts?

[myredracer]

In addition to the above good info., the TT should be level to slightly nose down. Changing ours to slightly nose down made a noticeable improvement. We had shocks installed on our TT.

You have an '03 TV. Are the shocks in need of replacement or is front end possibly in need of a rebuild? I installed Bilsteins on our truck that helped a lot. I also did a complete rebuild on the front end and eliminated play.

Tire pressure is very important. I have our TT tires at 65 psi (max. sidewall) and the TV tires at 75 front and 80 rear. It's good practice to check tire pressure on each leg of a trip before you head off, esp. if elev. & temp. change.

It may not be any single thing that is not right but can be a combination of things together that makes it all work right. It's taken me a couple of seasons of addressing every possible contributing factor and now have no sway. We have a Reese DC WDH which I like because of it's self-centering action but has taken lots of tinkering to get it right.

[jerem0621]

Few things I do...especially with my old 32ft trailer and truck.

* ensure all tires are aired up to max PSI on the tires sidewall
* Ensure my hitch is adjusted correctly and that my front fenders are lose to their unloaded vehicle height.
* Ensure I have both away bars tight (I understand yours has an integrated sway control?)
* Ensure the brake controller is adjusted so the trailer brakes leads the TV.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[mowermech]

It appears that what you are encountering is what I call "wind wander", not real trailer sway.
REAL trailer sway is when the trailer starts to sway back and forth in ever increasing arcs, leading to eventual destruction if it isn't stopped. A properly built, properly loaded trailer, on properly inflated tires, being towed by the proper tow vehicle, should never do that. If it does, find out what is wrong, and fix it!
"Wind wander", when encountering cross winds or the buffeting from passing traffic, is simply something you have to live with. I had to put up with it for about 50 miles on the way home Sunday, in our Class A. Even the motorcycles were going down the highway leaning into the wind! It can be challenging keeping it between the lines in those kind of conditions.

[mkirsch]

If it's not threatening to throw you into the next lane, or the ditch, then it is not a serious issue.

Tires with stiffer sidewalls on the tow vehicle, and better sway control can mitigate it further, possibly to the point where you might not even notice it.

[Roam_Schooling]

Ok, the push pull concept makes sense then. As I was driving down the road, if a large vehicle passed alongside us or a wind gust hit us, we would bow in towards the vehicle a bit. There would be a brief moment of trailer sway, but then it would course correct rather quickly. So this is fairly normal then? Stands to reason since I am pulling such a high profile piece of equipment. If so, I can live with it.

[mkirsch]

This is NOT sway you are talking about here...

Sway is an uncontrolled oscillation of the trailer that gets worse unless corrective action is taken. If it stops by itself, it is definitely not sway. Sway is an inherently unstable condition. When the trailer corrects itself, it is demonstrating that it is inherently STABLE.

You are referring to "push-pull," or "bow wave effect" here.

Of course, the mitigation is better sway control, which then makes me look like I'm contradicting myself... The thing is, what you're trying to achieve is a more rigid connection between truck and trailer, at least in the yaw axis, so the whole thing moves as one. That's precisely what sway control does, to control sway. This is a happy side-effect.

You don't get nearly as pronounced of an effect from a 5th wheel or a Hensley/Propride hitch. This is because the pivot point is at, or is projected to, the center of the rear axle where the slight side force has no leverage on the truck. A conventional bumper hitch has 3-5' of leverage on the rear axle, making the effect much more noticeable.

[Golfcart]

I always get sucked toward larger vehicles passing me but the slight sway recovers almost instantly

If it does take longer for it to correct I just pull off and crank down my sway even more. Everyone has their preferences but I like to keep mine !@#$ ringing tight

You might want to check the distance on the bracket installed on your TT, if its not installed in the right spot you might not get full use of the sway bar. Just a thought

[Hondavalk]

Also is it sway or push that your feeling? When you're pulling a giant billboard down the road and there's a sudden air pressure change, ie: wind gust, semi truck, you're gonna feel some sort of push.

[lawrosa]

Roam Schooling wrote:
Tires are inflated correctly so we are good there. And the sway is not constant. It's just enough to be annoying at times. But I was also driving back through Missouri on a windy day. So some sway on days like that will be normal. And my cargo area up by the tongue was fairly empty. But then again, the TT didn't have a lot of cargo in it at all. But you guys are saying it would be better to shift some of that weight up towards the tongue, right? Without overloading that area of course.

Whats inflated vorrectly mean?

We dont know your weights or how your WD is set up so any advice on where to move weight is nil...

You could have to much TW as far as we know and your front truck axle may be too light...

[bikendan]

The Kroc wrote:
Ask the dealer if you can pay the difference for an E4 hitch, you will be amazed at the difference. I never felt safe with our original E2 setup. For $ 190.00 more We got the Equalizer instead, that took care of the sway completely.

x2!
For that size of trailer, I would've never bought the E2.
It's fine for smaller trailers, IMHO, but the 4pt Equalizer would've been a much better choice.

[BarneyS]

Yep.
Barney

[Roam_Schooling]

Tires are inflated correctly so we are good there. And the sway is not constant. It's just enough to be annoying at times. But I was also driving back through Missouri on a windy day. So some sway on days like that will be normal. And my cargo area up by the tongue was fairly empty. But then again, the TT didn't have a lot of cargo in it at all. But you guys are saying it would be better to shift some of that weight up towards the tongue, right? Without overloading that area of course.

[lawrosa]

inflate your tires to max cold psi. It should mostly go away..

As long as your WD is set up right.

[ChooChooMan74]

Sway bars are on a vehicle and used to control roll. On a trailer, you have torsion or spring bars, and friction sway control. Having the Fastway E2, you do have spring bars with some sway control built in (Not as good as the Equal-I-Zer E4).

I would first make sure your setup is correct. Make sure you have the proper sized spring bars for your application. Make sure your hitch head is adusted and you set up the hit per the manufacturers instructions. If you are still having issues, head on to the scares and see if something is out of wack (IE Low tongue weight, or not enough weight distribution.) One thing I did was drill a hole in my shank as close as I could to the tow vehicle. Even a few less inches closer with the ball helps with leverage.

And, I think you will always feel some wind. My DGF father drives coach busses, and he says he can feel wind and tractor trailers.

EDIT: Looking at your floorplan, your fiction dry weights look very light on the nose. And, that floorplan looks like you can easily load too much weight behind the axles.

Also, make sure your tires are aired up properly on both the trailer and TV.