Trailer Sway Control
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 324
Likes: 106
From: SoCal
Trailer Sway Control
Been searching around and cannot find too much on this topic that isn't F150 related. I recently purchased a 2021 F250 6.7L, crew cab, short bed. First tow was this weekend. My Toy Hauler is a bumper tow, 34' long. On the trip out there were some fairly heavy cross winds and while I have towed this trailer with my old GMC 2500 (with zero fancy traction related features) I felt like I was fighting the truck. Figured it was just me getting used to the new truck. Then when I stopped for fuel there was an extreme hot brake smell coming from the truck. I figured it had to be sway control. Turned it off and for the rest of the drive it felt like what I was used to in cross winds. Interesting note, with sway control on the ride was not smooth, I could feel the movement from the brakes being activated way more than the wind. Major problem, this setting comes back on every time the key cycles.
Has anyone else noticed how intrusive (or sensitive) sway control is? Is there a way to make off the default? The last thing I need is my truck riding the brakes trying to keep something straight that I am doing just fine with on my own.
Related to this... I turned sway control off and after about 30 minutes of handling the vehicle myself in 50mph cross winds the truck gave an error for the advanced track system then one by one displayed a warning that hill decent, collision avoidance, etc were all disabled. Is this related to me disabling sway control? And yes the winds were bad and it took 10-15 degrees of steering input to keep the truck tracking straight. Error cleared itself an hour or so later, and yes I was no longer in the heavy wind area.
Has anyone else noticed how intrusive (or sensitive) sway control is? Is there a way to make off the default? The last thing I need is my truck riding the brakes trying to keep something straight that I am doing just fine with on my own.
Related to this... I turned sway control off and after about 30 minutes of handling the vehicle myself in 50mph cross winds the truck gave an error for the advanced track system then one by one displayed a warning that hill decent, collision avoidance, etc were all disabled. Is this related to me disabling sway control? And yes the winds were bad and it took 10-15 degrees of steering input to keep the truck tracking straight. Error cleared itself an hour or so later, and yes I was no longer in the heavy wind area.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 179
Likes: 6
From: Gretna, NE
Been searching around and cannot find too much on this topic that isn't F150 related. I recently purchased a 2021 F250 6.7L, crew cab, short bed. First tow was this weekend. My Toy Hauler is a bumper tow, 34' long. On the trip out there were some fairly heavy cross winds and while I have towed this trailer with my old GMC 2500 (with zero fancy traction related features) I felt like I was fighting the truck. Figured it was just me getting used to the new truck. Then when I stopped for fuel there was an extreme hot brake smell coming from the truck. I figured it had to be sway control. Turned it off and for the rest of the drive it felt like what I was used to in cross winds. Interesting note, with sway control on the ride was not smooth, I could feel the movement from the brakes being activated way more than the wind. Major problem, this setting comes back on every time the key cycles.
Has anyone else noticed how intrusive (or sensitive) sway control is? Is there a way to make off the default? The last thing I need is my truck riding the brakes trying to keep something straight that I am doing just fine with on my own.
Related to this... I turned sway control off and after about 30 minutes of handling the vehicle myself in 50mph cross winds the truck gave an error for the advanced track system then one by one displayed a warning that hill decent, collision avoidance, etc were all disabled. Is this related to me disabling sway control? And yes the winds were bad and it took 10-15 degrees of steering input to keep the truck tracking straight. Error cleared itself an hour or so later, and yes I was no longer in the heavy wind area.
Has anyone else noticed how intrusive (or sensitive) sway control is? Is there a way to make off the default? The last thing I need is my truck riding the brakes trying to keep something straight that I am doing just fine with on my own.
Related to this... I turned sway control off and after about 30 minutes of handling the vehicle myself in 50mph cross winds the truck gave an error for the advanced track system then one by one displayed a warning that hill decent, collision avoidance, etc were all disabled. Is this related to me disabling sway control? And yes the winds were bad and it took 10-15 degrees of steering input to keep the truck tracking straight. Error cleared itself an hour or so later, and yes I was no longer in the heavy wind area.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 324
Likes: 106
From: SoCal
Are you running a manual sway control on your hitch? If so, the two don't work well together. I always turn mine off when my sway control hitch is on it. Truck sway control is to react when there is sway, hitch sway control tries to prevent it. Now, if you weren't running sway control on the hitch, then it may have just been that windy!
Hopefully someone here knows how to change the default behavior with ForScan or can at least point me in the right direction and I can attempt it on my own.
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 19,687
Likes: 12,812
From: Wyoming
I never enabled sway control for my trailer in the setup. No problems. Trailer pulls well. You have to do a lot of setup to enable the electronic sway control. Did you really go through all that?
Maybe your hitch isn't configured quite right for the new truck?
Maybe your hitch isn't configured quite right for the new truck?
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 324
Likes: 106
From: SoCal
You bring up a good point, maybe I need to delete and recreate the trailer and not configure sway control. I walked through the setup only because I like the idea of it tracking the miles and remembering the gain settings for when I switch between other trailers.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 324
Likes: 106
From: SoCal
I do not have the stickers. But I need to go back through the trailer setup as I don't remember that being specifically enabled or disabled on setup. It appears enabled every time I choose the trailer or after a key cycle if I disable it in the option.
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Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 19,687
Likes: 12,812
From: Wyoming
If you don't have the stickers installed then the truck's electronic sway control is not enabled. That's my understanding. It needs the stickers to tell where the trailer is.
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Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 324
Likes: 106
From: SoCal
I was under the impression the stickers were for the trailer reverse aide (which I don't have). Checking the manual in case I missed something regarding trailer setup.
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 19,687
Likes: 12,812
From: Wyoming
I don't think my 2017 has trailer reverse aid. It came with the stickers, which I did not use.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 26,007
Likes: 575
From: Brentwood,CA
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 19,687
Likes: 12,812
From: Wyoming
The trailer sway control is active whenever a trailer is plugged in. This can be disabled in the menu but mist be done after each key start. The stickers are for trailer backing on 2020+ trucks. Even without a trailer attached the trucks built in yaw and pitch sensors give the rear brakes a workout. This is why there have been many complaints of the rear brakes wearing early.
More Turbo
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 710
Likes: 58
On my XL the sway control is on by default. I have to go into settings and turn it off if I choose to. I have often wondered as well how it performs when you already have a WD hitch with built in sway control. Is it a help or hindrance?
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 19,687
Likes: 12,812
From: Wyoming
Are you seeing the message, "TRAILER SWAY REDUCE SPEED" on the information display?
I was incorrect about the sticker being necessary for sway control. I revisited the manuals and only the trailer reverse guidance (which my truck DOES have) uses the sticker.
From the service manual...
I was incorrect about the sticker being necessary for sway control. I revisited the manuals and only the trailer reverse guidance (which my truck DOES have) uses the sticker.
From the service manual...
Trailer Sway Control
Trailer sway is the undesirable yaw force a trailer can apply to the towing vehicle. Trailer sway control is a unique function of the
stability control system that uses steering wheel angle information and yaw rate information to determine if a trailer sway event is
taking place. On vehicles without adaptive steering, the SCCM sends the steering wheel angle information to the ABS module over
the HS-CAN2. On vehicles with adaptive steering, steering angle information is sent by the SASM over the HS-CAN2. The RCM
sends yaw rate sensor and lateral accelerometer information to the ABS module also over the HS-CAN2. If the ABS module
determines from the inputs a trailer sway event is taking place, the ABS module modulates brake pressure to the appropriate brake
calipers by opening and closing the appropriate solenoid valves inside the HCU while the hydraulic pump motor is activated. At the
same time, the ABS module calculates how much engine torque reduction is required to eliminate the trailer sway and sends this
torque reduction message to the GWM over the HS-CAN2 which relays the message to the PCM over the HS-CAN1. The ABS
module also sends a trailer sway event message to the GWM over the HS-CAN2 which relays this message to the IPC over the HSCAN3.
When the PCM receives the torque reduction message, it adjusts engine timing and decreases fuel injector pulses to reduce
the engine torque to the requested level. When the IPC receives the vehicle stability event message, it flashes the stability-traction
control indicator (sliding car icon) and displays TRAILER SWAY REDUCE SPEED in the message center.
Once the trailer sway has been corrected, the ABS module returns the solenoid valves in the HCU to their normal position,
deactivates the hydraulic pump motor and stops sending the traction event and torque reduction messages. The PCM returns engine
timing and fuel injectors to normal operation and the IPC extinguishes the stability-traction control indicator (sliding car icon) and
stops displaying the trailer sway message in the message center. Trailer sway control only activates when vehicle speed is greater
than 65 km/h (40 mph). Any malfunction disabling RSC also disables trailer sway control.
The driver can enable and disable the trailer sway control feature using the message center and steering wheel controls. For
additional information, refer to the Owner's Literature.
Trailer sway is the undesirable yaw force a trailer can apply to the towing vehicle. Trailer sway control is a unique function of the
stability control system that uses steering wheel angle information and yaw rate information to determine if a trailer sway event is
taking place. On vehicles without adaptive steering, the SCCM sends the steering wheel angle information to the ABS module over
the HS-CAN2. On vehicles with adaptive steering, steering angle information is sent by the SASM over the HS-CAN2. The RCM
sends yaw rate sensor and lateral accelerometer information to the ABS module also over the HS-CAN2. If the ABS module
determines from the inputs a trailer sway event is taking place, the ABS module modulates brake pressure to the appropriate brake
calipers by opening and closing the appropriate solenoid valves inside the HCU while the hydraulic pump motor is activated. At the
same time, the ABS module calculates how much engine torque reduction is required to eliminate the trailer sway and sends this
torque reduction message to the GWM over the HS-CAN2 which relays the message to the PCM over the HS-CAN1. The ABS
module also sends a trailer sway event message to the GWM over the HS-CAN2 which relays this message to the IPC over the HSCAN3.
When the PCM receives the torque reduction message, it adjusts engine timing and decreases fuel injector pulses to reduce
the engine torque to the requested level. When the IPC receives the vehicle stability event message, it flashes the stability-traction
control indicator (sliding car icon) and displays TRAILER SWAY REDUCE SPEED in the message center.
Once the trailer sway has been corrected, the ABS module returns the solenoid valves in the HCU to their normal position,
deactivates the hydraulic pump motor and stops sending the traction event and torque reduction messages. The PCM returns engine
timing and fuel injectors to normal operation and the IPC extinguishes the stability-traction control indicator (sliding car icon) and
stops displaying the trailer sway message in the message center. Trailer sway control only activates when vehicle speed is greater
than 65 km/h (40 mph). Any malfunction disabling RSC also disables trailer sway control.
The driver can enable and disable the trailer sway control feature using the message center and steering wheel controls. For
additional information, refer to the Owner's Literature.