I've always used my sway control bar while towing my rv as you can tighten as needed. now on my 13 f150 it has factory installed sway that you turn on or off with a button. My ? is do I use both? I have no idea. Anyone with experience with this?

 

I'd use both.


if the friction sway control is unable to mitigate the sway, the electronics in the truck can help by using the ABS and trailer brake controller (if using the integrated controller).


belt and suspenders - one need not preclude the use of the other.

 

I still use my friction sway control.

 

Always use both. Sway is bad, I want everything that can stop it to be in place.

 

The sway control that is through the trucks computer uses the ABS sensors and the TRB sensors to detect sway. I have heard that it can be effective at conbating serious sway conditions. My guess is that it can't detect or correct for minor sway.

I would use both without question.

That being said, my current setup has no friction sway control at all, and I don't find sway to be a significant. Setting up your trailer correctly with tongue weight is the first line of defense against sway, after that sway control on your hitch is second, and sway control through the truck is third.

 

A friend of mine drove my truck towing on a long trip we went on together. Even though he is a truck driver by trade (FedEx Freight towing Doubles) and an extremely good race car driver in the little amateur port we race in, he was un prepared for the movement feeling a 24' enclosed trailer can induce in a half ton pickup and over-reacted in the first 5 miles of trip.

The factory sway control engaged...I don't think it saved us from crashing, his inherent skills and lack of panic would have done that if needed...but my point here is that the factory sway control is like ABS. Nice to have in an emergency but if you need it, the stuff is flying towards the fan already.

Also to be noted, that was the first trip with this truck and the trailer loaded the way it was. I had towed it before with a slightly lighter car and with nothing else in it, but the few hundred extra pounds made the trailer tow differently. I tweaked the weight distribution and sway control setup, added air bags and made a few other tweaks which made the trailer behave perfectly behind the truck.

DaveW

 

I have a relative, who is a truck driver by profession, who was in a very serious wreck pulling a bumper pull cargo trailer.

The handling is totally different, and so are the rules for loading them. Experience with one doesn't make you any better at driving the other.

the Ford anti-sway controller could have saved him and his wife several days in the hospital. I wouldn't tow without it.

 

Agreed 100%. My point was that the Ford Anti Sway controller is an accident avoidance tool. A weight distribution hitch and sway control, along with a properly loaded trailer, are a tool to avoid getting to the point where you *need* an accident avoidance tool.

DaveW

 

Yes DaveW, sounds like you and I are on the same page.