Weight Distribution vs Sway Bars
I am told that some people have both a weight distribution hitch and a sway bar for their travel trailer; while others have told me that you only need one or the other. I just purchased a new trailer...
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We also recently went from a 5th wheel back to a travel trailer. For the first year, I used a Reese HP trunion style WDH with no sway control. I had no sway but did feel the occasional truck push and pull on the trailer as it passed. A line of trucks could get annoying.
A few months ago, I found a barely used Equalizer 4 point hitch on eBay for a song. It's weight distribution bars are also sway control. It stopped the push/pull from passing trucks.
Our travel trailers are bordering on light tongue weight empty in order to accomodate lighter tow vehicles. It takes very little to upset that balance. We have a rule for loading our TT. We can load anything we can carry as long as it's in front of the trailer's axles. If you don't have much cargo aft of the axles, you're likely ok on tongue weight but a trip to the scales is still a good idea. When hitched up to travel, the trailer should be level or "slightly" nose down. The truck's front bumper should be at least half way back down to it's unloaded height by use of the WD bars.
Equalizer has a good write up on their website on how to set up a WDH. There are several Youtube videos as well.
A few months ago, I found a barely used Equalizer 4 point hitch on eBay for a song. It's weight distribution bars are also sway control. It stopped the push/pull from passing trucks.
Our travel trailers are bordering on light tongue weight empty in order to accomodate lighter tow vehicles. It takes very little to upset that balance. We have a rule for loading our TT. We can load anything we can carry as long as it's in front of the trailer's axles. If you don't have much cargo aft of the axles, you're likely ok on tongue weight but a trip to the scales is still a good idea. When hitched up to travel, the trailer should be level or "slightly" nose down. The truck's front bumper should be at least half way back down to it's unloaded height by use of the WD bars.
Equalizer has a good write up on their website on how to set up a WDH. There are several Youtube videos as well.
