Sway control on new trailer

[garyleahkent]

My son has purchased a 1/2 ton 2011 Suburban & a new 28' Puma travel trailer. The dealer sold them a hitch that has weight distribution & sway control built in. They are having terrible sway problems, to the point of getting off the interstate to travel back roads. They have taken the whole rig back to the dealer & they supposedly made adjustments but it has not helped. They have not over loaded the trailer or Suburban. What else can they do?

[Tachdriver]

I use a Husky with two friction control bars. Based on the comments I see on this forum I can say that everybody's set up and rig is different. I towed using my-new-to-me new truck and we had terrible winds to the scales. Without the sway bar it tows fine and tracks well but I can feel the passing vehicle. With both sway bars installed is much smoother.

My rig weighs about 6000 lbs dry and 24 feet long. I use the link to this spreadsheet to find out where I am in the loading of my rig.

Link to worksheet

Basically weighing your rigs, first vehicle as loaded, full tank, family, iPods, cheetos and drinks on the scale, then weigh with your TT connected and WD system activated, then again with the WD system de-activated.

Fill in the spreadsheet and you will see where you are at. No guessing here.

Also if your trailer does not have sufficient tongue weight you will have sway.

[JayGee]

What kind/brand of hitch/sway control does he have? More information might help diagnose the problem.

[MarkTwain]

garyleahkent wrote:
My son has purchased a 1/2 ton 2011 Suburban & a new 28' Puma travel trailer. The dealer sold them a hitch that has weight distribution & sway control built in. They are having terrible sway problems, to the point of getting off the interstate to travel back roads. They have taken the whole rig back to the dealer & they supposedly made adjustments but it has not helped. They have not over loaded the trailer or Suburban. What else can they do?

Throw the weight distribution and control sway control into the junk pile. RV dealers tend to install the cheapest hitch in order to make some profit on the total sale of the trailer. There are a number of good hitch/sway control units out there.
Reese Dual Cam and Hensley but there are others.

[bobndot]

Sometimes dealers may not know what they are doing.
# 1 ....and easiest thing to check. Make sure the trucks tires as well as the trailer tires are inflated to max.
#2. if you are using a friction type sway control , tighten the handle enough to limit the sway.

Make sure the trailer is level and the truck is sitting level while hitched up.
The equalizer bars should also be level with the trailers frame in order for the spring bars (equalizer bars) to do their job.
If not, then the hitch head (the ball mount) needs to readjusted by adding or removing washers on the head adjusting bolt to adjust the angle of the ball.
google the make and model of the hitch and use 'youtube' to see how to set it up and make adjustments.
e-trailer.com has good 'how to' videos to show each model hitch and how to install it. If you call e-trailer, someone might be able to help you over the phone. They have people on hand and know every hitch on the market.

Make sure there is enough trailer tongue weight on the tow vehicle. More tongue weight can help trailer sway.
If you have items inside the trailer, try moving them ahead of the axles.
Make sure the water and holding tanks are empty. Too much weight in the rear will cause poor handling.

[Hondavalk]

I would guess the trailer doesn't have enough tongue weight. 10 to 13% of total trailer weight should be on the tongue. Sway control devices help buffer sway when induced by something like a passing semi or gusting side winds but on its own the trailer should not have sway.

[JWRoberts]

I quit using sway bars 25 years ago because I could tell no difference. First, your son should objectively describe the relative word 'terrible' to really make sure they have a problem. Last fall, we were going north on 95 in central Fl. with 30 mph crosswinds. My wife described the sway as 'terrible' and was yelling for me to slow down, but I described it as only a minor inconvenience.

Make sure you have good shocks on the Suburban, proper TT tire pressure, maximum air in the rear TV tires and go to scales and make sure that the tongue weight is about 10 to 12% of the TT weight.

[padre1944]

I don't know how much the Suburban can tow or the weight of the trailer, but I know that the friction sway control hitches don't work well. I had one on a 27 ft. trailer but when I upgraded to a 35 foot one it didn't work well. I got a Husky Centerline HD hitch that really helped. You can find information on hitches and towing on this forum. It is also important to have the thing installed and set up correctly. Towing should not be as bad as you indicate.