I'm Looking for advise on sway control for my new travel trailer.It's 30'7"long and 7,247# with 960# hitch weight (dry) so I know it will be heavier loaded.I asked the service techs where I bought the trailer from which type of sway control was best.One told me to go with the friction type because you could adjust it.The other one told me to use the dual cam type because with the friction type you had to stop and adjust it every time you made a sharp turn like on a exit ramp and that you had to take it off when backing up.I went with the dual cam type because I didn't want to have to stop every time I went around a sharp turn.Is this true?Another guy told me he had to use both types to control it.Should I get the friction type too before I start towing it?When I towed it home it was very windy and swayed bad so I know I don't want to take any long trips like that.I just had my tires rotated and forgot to add air to the rear tires so my tire pressure was low (55 psi) and I'm sure that didn't help.I've always just towed a open car hauler with a race car on it and never had this problem with that.I have towed an inclosed a few times but I geuss I was lucky enough to not have much wind.Any advise it would be great.Thanks!Bob

Bob,

Air pressure could be a factor. Also trailer loading. Some trailers are decidedly more sensitive to fore and aft weight distribution than others. If you have a properly adjusted Reese WD hitch with that company’s Dual Cam sway control you have a very good set up and should not be having problems. The stories you were told about friction brake-type sway control were not entirely accurate. Those systems are not the best, but you certainly don’t have to adjust them every time you go around a corner and only some people report having to release the friction device to back up. There is another friction based sway control hitch call an Equal-i-zer, made by Lindon. It is an excellent hitch and very easy to use. Aside from a fifth wheel, it is probably the quickest of all hitches to hook up and requires no adjustment once set up. In my experience it controls sway beautifully. My trailer is very close to yours in size and weight and I have had no troubles in any condition I’ve encountered so far, which includes heavy rain, blustery winds, heavy truck traffic, steep and twisty mountain terrain, pretty much everything but snow. Probably the best anti-sway hitch is the Hensely Arrow, which uses a clever, sophisticated linkage system to control trailer sway by projecting the hitch pivot point up to the rear axle of the tow vehicle as if your trailer were a fifth wheel. It’s very expensive, at nearly $3,000, though occasionally can be purchased of the used market. Another highly effective and somewhat less expensive hitch is the Pullrite. This hitch physically moves the pivot point up to a spot just behind the rear axle, again imitating the towing characteristics of a fifth wheel trailer. Like a fifth wheel, though the trailer will track more to the inside of a corner than it will with a bumper type hitch or the Hensley. This is an issue for some people. Hope this helps.

TC

I run the Reese Dual Cam setup and I have not had any dramatic swaying. You do have to make sure that the cams are seated in the load bars. Also make sure that the hitch, bars, and cams are adjusted for the load of the trailer and are level.

I had to adjust the cams and how many links I left dangling on the bars a couple of times until I got it the way I wanted it.

I the only thing I've seen close to swaying was a side-to-side rocking motion from high crosswinds while traveling on I-77 in VA. Other than that, it's been perfect.

I've been using the dual cam setup since 92. Last year I stepped up to a 5ver, but I took the dual cam setup off to use on my enclosed car trailer and would not have any other type.

When I towed a travel trailer, I had a Reese set up, with the cam sway control. Didn't get allot of towing in with the complete setup, before getting a fifth.

One problem I did have when I bought my 3/4 ton...... Hitch for towing TT was set high from my Dodge Dakota. Put the hitch into the 3/4 ton and it was too high. Had the weight distribution bars and the cam sway control hooked up. Stopped twice on the HWY to tighen up chains. 25' TT was moving the truck around quite a bit. Weighed about 4600 LBs.

Basically scared the stuffing out of me. Lowered the head and it was beautifull.

Let us know how things turn out.

Once you get the dual cam set up right for your rig you're gonna love it . Mine is 25' TT , 5000# and tracks better with trailer than without . Had a friction on also but stopped using it because it didn't seem to make any difference . Maybe with your 30' it might ,don't know .

Oh, something that I forgot that Max Owner just reminded me, if there is not enough tongue weight, the trailer will get squirrelly no matter what type of hitch you have.

And what he said is very true, you have to make sure the hitch height is correct for the trailer.

Thanks for the tips guys!I hope to go somewhere in the next week or so to try it out.I will just use the hp dual cam for now and see what happens.I will report back what I find.Thanks

I have the Hensley Arrow and love it. Had too many problems before I got the Arrow. Now I don't worry about tongue weight, trucks flying by, high winds, or anything, just fly down the road :)

I've had the older Reese DC and it does work well once setup, but can be touchy. I was going to go with the newer DC style that allows adjustment without moving the brackets when I bought my new Toyhauler, but the dealer talked me into the Equil-i-zer. While it is no Hensley, it does do a good job much to my surprise. There is zero sway setup other than establishing correct WD in the first place.

Anything over 30', I'd beg borrow or steal a Hensley.

I tow a 22 foot weekend warrior that can weigh as much as 11K. I bought this hitch and it works well for both load equalizing and sway. Try this link if you're interested:
http://www.equalizerhitch.com/

http://rvwholesalers.com/catalog/product.php?productid=268&cat=0 (http://rvwholesalers.com/catalog/product.php?productid=268&cat=0)

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The Equal-i-zer for $400.00 I went with the 12.000lb might be over kill but the price was the same as the 6000lb. I had the camper out 2 times with no problems. I had the dual came and sway bar before. <o:p></o:p>