sway bar options
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,667
Likes: 5
I dont know what benifit you will get out of larger diameter sway bar,with pulling a trailor,but I know from experiance that replacing swaybar bushings on rear axle and installing hellwig "1 1/2 dia. swaybar in the front made my f-350 lot safer to haul a 4000 lb slide in camper.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 362
Likes: 0
From: SF Bay, CA
What's "the rest" of the problem?
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 226
Likes: 0
Well I was surfing over on the towing page of this site and found threads describing my symptom Passing or getting passed on the interstate. Trailer gets sucked towards the other vehicle. It;s not only anoying but sometimes pretty scary.
Trailer is a 28 ft box Campmaster toy hauler about 8000 ish pounds. 225/75-15 D radials.
Anyway I found references to the friction sway control bars. Don't understand them. do I have to release them to back up and turn trailer into driveway?
Will look at rear bar bushings.
Car in my avatar had an 1 3/8 hollow NASCAR bar
Trailer is a 28 ft box Campmaster toy hauler about 8000 ish pounds. 225/75-15 D radials.
Anyway I found references to the friction sway control bars. Don't understand them. do I have to release them to back up and turn trailer into driveway?
Will look at rear bar bushings.
Car in my avatar had an 1 3/8 hollow NASCAR bar
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 547
Likes: 0
From: Tennessee
Your issue is common.
You will experience that 'sway' when towing, especially when a tractor trailer, etc. passes you. Obviously, you should not feel that when passing a Honda....
A semi moves a whole lot of air around, and it's natural that you'd feel it.
I would highly recommend that you invest in a sway control system, whether it's a friction control system (sort of works like a brake- it helps prevent that 'sway') or other system available on the market. There are several, in different price points.
That will help you more than anything. You'll still feel a tractor trailer's 'wake', but it won't be scary.
And yes, if you have a friction control sway setup, you'll want to take it off before you back the trailer up. No big deal, they're basically held on by pins, and come off in about 10 seconds.
Lots of good info on these setups on RV.net.
You will experience that 'sway' when towing, especially when a tractor trailer, etc. passes you. Obviously, you should not feel that when passing a Honda....
A semi moves a whole lot of air around, and it's natural that you'd feel it.
I would highly recommend that you invest in a sway control system, whether it's a friction control system (sort of works like a brake- it helps prevent that 'sway') or other system available on the market. There are several, in different price points.
That will help you more than anything. You'll still feel a tractor trailer's 'wake', but it won't be scary.
And yes, if you have a friction control sway setup, you'll want to take it off before you back the trailer up. No big deal, they're basically held on by pins, and come off in about 10 seconds.
Lots of good info on these setups on RV.net.
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Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,555
Likes: 9
From: Longview, TX
If that's the only symptom you are trying to correct, then I agree with Mike. My dad towed a travel trailer with a sway bar, and he rarely unhooked it to back up. To my knowlege it doesn't hurt anything, just noisy as heck. The style he had you could just release the pressure and didn't have to take it completely off...
My brother in law had an excursion with a 5.4, and it always felt like it was on a light duty suspension, and would barely tow a pop up safely in my opinion. I don't know if it was just on a light chassis, or if there was something wrong, but I hated it because of that. The best way I could describe it is it felt like the tires would stay put, but the body would move right and left about 6 inches. You may want to better describe your symptoms and the guys here can help diagnose what your problem really is...
My brother in law had an excursion with a 5.4, and it always felt like it was on a light duty suspension, and would barely tow a pop up safely in my opinion. I don't know if it was just on a light chassis, or if there was something wrong, but I hated it because of that. The best way I could describe it is it felt like the tires would stay put, but the body would move right and left about 6 inches. You may want to better describe your symptoms and the guys here can help diagnose what your problem really is...
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Elder User
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 609
Likes: 0
A sway bar will not help with the trailer problem you describe. It helps keep the truck level in turns at speed. Replacing bad bushings can fix this problem with the truck.
Get an anti-sway kit for the trailer as stated above.
Get an anti-sway kit for the trailer as stated above.
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