Truck with auto anti-sway

On my previous Silverado,(like TomG2 said) it takes some violent swerving to activate it. If you ever get to that point, you'll be glad to get any help you can! I tried it just to try it, without a trailer, and it took 4 or 5 tries and some real wheel whips to get it to activate.

I really can't imagine the sway control activating with any normally operating setup, even moving a little in high wind. You'd likely be white-knuckling bad before it kicks in.

Just think how much it takes before the stability control to kick in with an empty truck. You will feel the loss of control before it activates.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
One word of caution.

I have read about Ford owners complaining of poor fuel mileage with the system turned on with swaying conditions.

That makes sense because it brakes one wheel, then the other then back to the first and then over and over and over. So it would be like putting the brakes on all of the time.

Anyway, something to be aware of.

Makes sense. Hopefully the hitch setup will prevent the truck system from activating! Poor gas mileage, used to that! The 08 250 DIESEL got at best 9 mpg towing! Got out of that Ford diesel debacle and now have a new gas engine that gets (so far)about 9.5 towing.

One word of caution.

I have read about Ford owners complaining of poor fuel mileage with the system turned on with swaying conditions.

That makes sense because it brakes one wheel, then the other then back to the first and then over and over and over. So it would be like putting the brakes on all of the time.

Anyway, something to be aware of.

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
I never ever shut off the built in anti-sway on my 2011 F-250 and also use the mechanical sway control with the hitch. Why would you not use it, that is what it is for.

Our old 2008 250 didn't have it so we weren't familiar with it. The Ford dealer wasn't really sure how to answer the question of running both systems simultaneously, apparently they were not well versed in hitch set ups. Being our 1st tt I'd rather err on the side of caution, hence my looking for advice here. Thanks again.

I never ever shut off the built in anti-sway on my 2011 F-250 and also use the mechanical sway control with the hitch. Why would you not use it, that is what it is for.

Thank you so much for the great explanations! I was thinking it was making constant adjustments rather than the "reactionary" adjustment. Now in understanding how it works, I hope the Anderson setup is good enough for the Ford system not to come into play! It will be much easier now not having to disable the system every time the truck is started while towing. Thanks again!

If it is a GM pickup, the built in Anti-sway needs some violent swerving to activate. I tried it on purpose and it did work, but I would hate to need it.

I hope your truck's anti-sway system never activates. It is a reactionary system well beyond normal driving behavior. The WDH with integrated sway control should prevent it from ever getting to the point of the truck activating. Use both.

Two totally different things.

The Anderson sway control is a pure mechanical sway system. It just tries to keep the trailer straight by mechanical means.

Your TV sway control is VERY sophisticated and is done with computers and brakes. When the TV senses sway it will start to brake the wheel(s) it needs to, to keep the trailer from swaying.

One will work alone just fine but both together will work great!