Equalizer w/ sway

[Fireman02]

I know these topics are beaten to death, so I apologize in advance. On our trip this week, our 2nd time camping, we got some sway. But on the way home it was pretty windy and we had A LOT of sway pretty much the whole time we were on the highway. It was enough that my wife was nervous. My truck was getting thrown around in my lane quite a bit. My question is this something I have to live with due to the length of our trailer (35+ feet), or is this something that I can adjust the equalizer to minimize?
Thanks

[Community Alumni]

Fireman02 wrote:
I stayed around 60mph. Any faster and the sway got even worse.

What really helps is driving slower especially in higher winds. My experience is when I tow at/around 55 mph I have no issues with sway.

[mrgrim007]

Earl E wrote:
Email or call Equal-i-zer. They are very responsive and helpful. You should not be having any troubles with that hitch so something is set up really wrong. They will help you. Call!

X2. My dealer initially set up my Equal-i-zer wrong. Equal-I-zer was very helpful via email and over the phone.

[Earl_E]

Email or call Equal-i-zer. They are very responsive and helpful. You should not be having any troubles with that hitch so something is set up really wrong. They will help you. Call!

[jerem0621]

The thing is with these friction sway control hitches is once the sway forces exceed the friction holding power of the hitch the trailer will still sway.


And YES the Equal-I-zer is a friction based sway control and gives you about the same holding power a standard friction sway control hitch will give with dual sway controls.

The key with any hitch is set up of the WD hitch, and all the other factors such as trailer loading, TV loading, front end alignment, tire air pressure , trailer axle alignment all play factors into a satisfactory tow.

The Equal-i-zer is a capable WD hitch with sway control...but it's only a piece of the puzzle.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[bradyk]

I tow with an Equalizer as well and never have sway issues even though a smaller trailer at about 28 feet.
Just another thought other than the usual already mentioned is it may be worthwhile to take a trip to the scales and way your trailer. Many times on the forum over the years people go to the weigh scales and the weight is not even close to what they thought and especially tongues weights as they can change a lot based on loads and options in your unit that may be different from the brochures and spec sheets.
You may find that your tongue weight is ot what you require and maybe the tail is wagging the dog due to that. It is a low cost method to confirm before doing anything drastic so may be worth a try.

[DutchmenSport]

The bolt he is referring to is the one under the hitch ball, that adjusts the angle of ball.

You know, just because a product advertises "sway control" does not mean all sway can be 100% eliminated under ever condition. Face it, a 35 foot trailer is a LOT of trailer and under windy conditions, it's going to push the tow vehicle around. Mine is also 35 feet, and that's a LOT of "sail" for the wind to catch and whip around. With enough wind, under the right conditions, even semi-trucks have blown over. You Tube is full of videos of trucks flipping over due to wind.

When you notice this condition happening in the future, you need to slow your speed down, and if that does not work, slow down more, and it that does not work, slow down more, and if that does not work ... pull over and STOP!

More than likely there is absolutely nothing wrong with your set-up, your rig, or anything else. You've just got to drive with common sense ... slow down or stop.

[GaryWT]

Not sure what bolt you need to tighten on the equalizer hitch. Anyway, you might have to bring the L brackets up a hole to help out. Are the bars pararelle to the frame and is it adjusted correctly to bring the front of truck down. Do you have anything on the back bumper. How much weight is in the back of the truck. We use to have some sway when we had the 150 but with the 350 we have none to date.

[MackinawMan]

Fireman02 wrote:
Equal-I-zer. We are pretty nose heavy as far as everything is loaded either in the bed of my truck or the front of the trailer. I didn't fill my fresh water tank this time which would help put a little more weight over the front of the trailer.

If you're running the Equalizer brand hitch and getting "a lot of sway" something is not set up right with your hitch IMHO.

Every time I've towed with it, save 1 time, it's performed very well, and that's many many trips.

The one time it performed poorly was when I actually forgot to torque the sway arm bolts so I basically had no sway control and only the weight distribution.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Oops!

I see now you have an Equalizer brand. Never mind!

[Fireman02]

I stayed around 60mph. Any faster and the sway got even worse.

[Fireman02]

Equal-I-zer. We are pretty nose heavy as far as everything is loaded either in the bed of my truck or the front of the trailer. I didn't fill my fresh water tank this time which would help put a little more weight over the front of the trailer.

[old_guy]

you also did not tell us how fast you were driving. hope you did slow down some. some people think they can still drive 70 going up hills and in a tornado.

[downtheroad]

Un-sure exactly what hitch you are running..Is it a generic equalizer hitch with a friction sway bar...or an Equal-i-zer brand 4 point system?

Post back with more info and you will get lots of experienced advice and opinions...

Proper tongue weight is also a big player in sway.

[Tachdriver]

First you may be a bit tail heavy, move some weight to the front.

Second you do not mention what hitch you have. That information will us determine what anti-sway system you need.