Saw this in the article section and thought it was pretty innovative.

Trailer-Equipped Sway Control versus Truck-Equipped Sway Control .: Articles

Stewart

 

Neat little gadget that appears to work as shown but I also questioned the truck's sway control system like they did at the very end of the video. I too thought the truck system applied trailer brakes when sway was detected, they said that that truck did not do that like other rigs they had driven have, makes me wonder if something was deactivated to enhance the featured product being marketed.

 

Idk, seems a bit too good to be true.

Think of how long it really takes for a electric brake to apply a stopping force.

I'd think the trailer would be swinging the other direction by the time the brakes applied to stop the sway...

Also, placement of that little box would be a big factor I'd think.

 

Seems pointless to me.... If the trailer starts swayin, just grab your controller and put a bit of trailer brakes on. The breaking it down into left and right brakes seems weird to me to, would basically require rewiring the trailer.

I guess I don't follow your statement about taking awhile for the brakes to start grabbing, don't have that problem myself, but then I again I did rewire my trailer with proper sized wiring.

 

Good point Dave, it seems like the little black box should be mounted at the rear of the trailer to detect the sway sooner.
I was witness to an out of control trailer sway incident on I-495 South in DE a few years ago that resulted in the destruction of a car and camper. I was pulling my boat with my Chevy 1500 at the time and was passed by a late 80's to early 90's Taurus pulling a large tandem axle (small fat tires) pop-up camper. I was running 55-60 MPH and I thought that the trailer looked a little big for the car as they passed me going maybe 5-10 MPH faster. As they were about 500' ahead of me they were in the center lane (3 Southbound lanes) and I was in the Right hand lane the sway started. As the trailer's tail began to sway side to side, 1' either way at first quickly increasing to 2', 3' 4' and more within seconds I got on my brakes as I sensed something bad was unfolding before me. It got bad fast, the trailer took control and had the car and trailer swinging across all 3 lanes for a cycle or two before all hell broke loose and the car and trailer spun completely around twice before slamming into the center divider hard and flat on the driver's side. The trailer had torn 2 tires off the rims and the car had lost air in 1 rear tire and dismounted the other rear tire. The pop-up was smashed beyond all hope of ever opening up properly and the car had the front clip offset about a foot along with a completely flattened driver's side. I stopped, dialed 911 and rendered aid to the car's driver who had bloodied his nose, lips, chin and hand. The highway was littlered with the trailer's tires and some contents as the entry door had been ripped off during the spins. The driver said he had no idea what had happened to start it and kept trying to correct it with the wheel, he didn't brake until the spins started.
I spent 30 years with a busy suburban Volunteer Fire/Rescue Company and have responded to literally thousands of auto wrecks but I think witnessing this one had the biggest impact on me. I had been towing for years, boats, utilities and car trailers and had always had decent hitches and never had any issues. But after seeing this happen up close and personal I have a whole new respect for trailer stability, I'm sure this experience factored into my getting a Hensley Arrow when we moved up to a big, heavy ToyHauler.

 

With the nature of electric trailer brakes, it's not as fast acting as the brakes on you vehicle for one.. The electrics use a magnet, the magnets strength depends on voltage, the magnet gets power, gets sucked against the drum, than the drum pulls the magnet, witch is on a lever that applys the brakes. I just can't see it activating them quick enough side to side to slow the trailer sway down. Expecially with the little box at the front of the trailer where the least amount of sway would be.

Now just applying the trailer brakes like you said does work, been there done that.


Exactly.