Sway control/Weight Distribution

[heathershach]

Hi. I have taken the camper on a few trips (2503 lbs). When the wind is not hitting me or I'm not driving straight into it, I have no problems with sway control. The weight distribution seems good. Everything looks nice and level when parked on a level surface. I need to correct the sway control though. I pull my Viking with a Jeep Commander so that part is fine. Need to conquer the sway though. My dad and uncle are farmers and have pulled everything imaginable. My uncle says this is overkill. My dad just wants me safe. The deal never mentioned any of this so they were just interested in their cash and not my peace of mind.
Question: Does anyone just have sway control on their light camper or do you have both? As I live in middle America, to get anywhere, I have to go over mountains, take interstates that have lots of trucks and large rigs whipping by me. I can feel the sway and a few of my kids were behind me and said it swayed a bit, the fast i went. Does anyone have any brand recommendations or advice as to what I should buy and what is overkill. Thank you.

[avalen]

sorry, I have no clue but Melissa is really up on this stuff, she'll probably respond

[Azusateach]

I would put sway control in anything over 15'.

I had 2 different 19' trailers and used sway control bars on both. I can't remember the name of them, but they were simple friction-type. They sat on a small ball on both ends of my hitch setup and I'd crank them down to set them.

Overkill can save your life in the right situation. However, you need to remember that sway bars won't keep your trailer from noticing a big rig when it passes or doing a little wagging in heavy winds. If you don't feel safe with the way your trailer is handling in certain situations the best thing to do is get off the road until that situation has changed.

Happy camping!

Laura

[Birdie]

I had only a sway bar that was installed by the Casita manufacturer for my Casita TT. It weighed more than your TT, so I believe a sway bar would be all that you would require. There is not enough weight to be a concern on distribution, I don't think. You will need to have the sway bar parts welded on to the hitch and tongue. It is super easy to put on and take off once it is installed.

Mitch pulls a TT and could give you some information, too. Melissa has the ability to provide you with much information as well as links for research.

Good luck and be safe.

[heathershach]

Thank you all. Kind of the way I thought the wind was blowing. I agree about overkill. I really don't think I need weight distribution but the sway bar could be very handy. I could go back to Pleasureland in St. Cloud Mn but probably could order it on Amazon and have my mechanic install the sway control.

[WickedLady]

I have weight dist. only for my 16' tt but have a long wheel base van that helps eliminate sway.

[MelissaD]

There are a couple of systems on the market. For some general information check this out http://www.etrailer.com/faq-weightdistribution.aspx

Once of the reasons I went with a 5er was to avoid the WDH and sway control systems. Not sure all what is on the market these days. That said, there are a couple of things to start with.

Speed: since most trailer tires are rated at 65 mph and sway is a function of speed, the 1st step is to limit your towing speed to about 60 mph.
Tongue weight: should be about 15% of loaded trailer weight. If you tongue weight is too light it can lead to sway issues.
Tow vehicle ride height. You need to measure before and after you hook up. A WDH should bring you back to level.
Ensure by measure or a level that the trailer is riding level to a very slight nose down. Nose up also leads to stability issues.

The 2,503# is that the dry weight or an actual loaded weight? You might want to go to a truck stop and weigh you Jeep and then weight your Jeep and trailer. The scale will tell you what's going on. The scale will give you a front axle, rear axle and trailer axle weights and a total weight.

Total weight - Jeep weight = trailer weight.
The change in Jeep axle weights will tell you if you are unloading the steer axle (a steering/control issue corrected with a WDH) or if you are overloading the Jeep and/or it's rear axle. Can also tell you the tongue or hitch weight of you trailer.

It is a "high profile vehicle" and subject to wind issues.

[heathershach]

The dry weight is 2503. I don't think I need the weight distribution but do need the sway control. I've checked etrailer. There are a few brands for sway control that keep popping up. Curt, to name one. I have a tough time keeping it around 60 but will need to do a better job at that. Today, I'm calling my local auto repair shop and have them get going on the sway control. It's cheaper to have them do it than Pleasureland. I was a bit disappointed there as they were just hurrying me out of the door that evening I picked it up.
I am in the process of planning a trip west from Minnesota and as I'm going to be driving into the wind and on interstates, I feel it might be a good idea to have the extra insurance, even though there is not as much sway.
My commander weights twice plus what the the Viking weights, dry. It has a V8, 5.7L engine and is pretty powerful. Both vehicles are high profile. I was hoping to bump into someone online here that is pulling a similar rig. This will be my 1st year out as my youngest of 4 sons is in his 3rd year of a 8 yr college stint and won't be coming home often. it seemed as if the other 3 stopped coming home that 3rd year and were more embroiled in their college experience.

[MelissaD]

A quick look the Commander has a 1.600# payload (depending on trim package) and a 7,200# tow capacity. Which on the surface looks great. Travel trailers due to their large frontal area are harder to tow than a boat trailer (in the fine print there is a limit on frontal surface area normally around 65 sqft). The engine has to work harder to pull that flat front through the wind. The higher profile of the Jeep helps it cut through the air. Dry weight on a trailer is what it weighed coming off the assembly line. Once you add propane, batteries, any deal added items and all your gear you have added 500 plus pounds. As an example we added almost 1,500# to our 5er before we were done. So your trailer is probably closer to 3,000-3,500#. This give you a tongue weigh around 450-525#. That leaves you about 1,000# for you, passengers and gear in the Jeep. Overall it looks like a good match from the numbers I have. I would caution you to actually weigh you Jeep and trailer to ensure you are not taking weight off your steering. If you lighten up the front end you could cause a control issue. A simple trip over the scale would confirm you did or didn't need a WDH. Many vehicle manufactures recommend a WDH when tongue weight exceeds 400#.

By the way the 7,000# tow capacity normally comes with a bunch of fine print so it is a bit of a magical number for the boys in advertising.

Heather, I hope I don't sound all doom and gloom, I just wish to see everyone tow as safely as possible. Many people have miss conceptions about towing. It's one thing to hook up a trailer and haul a bunch of stuff to recycling it's another to hook up and head across country. There are good vehicles for towing and not so good vehicles for towing. After 20 years of driving a semi, I've seen them littered across the highways of America. I can normally predict who I will find later in the ditch. I have driven a semi through all 48 contiguous states and all kinds of weather. So please don't just bless it off and take the extra step or two and keep yourself and others safe. Most people are ignorant about the capabilities of their vehicles and how much they are actually towing.

Melissa

[heathershach]

Hi Melissa. Thank you for all the information and what you said all makes sense. Those are pretty much the numbers I got too. I want to be safe. I don't have the same driving experience you do but I have always erred on the side of caution. I am going to be putting the Curt Sway control #17200 and the s c adapter bracket by Reese #26003.
The camper handles fine without but in windy situations, which are unavoidable I would feel safer with a bit extra insurance. If you have the time, could you look at this combination? I was looking at the Equilzer 4 point but was serious overkill. Thank you.

[MelissaD]

Why use the Reese adapter? For about the same money Curt offers Curt Ball Mount with Sway Control Bracket, 3/4" Rise or 2" Drop. Probable does not matter, but I'd personally prefer the welder version and sticking with the same company. Parts from the same company tend to play better with parts from the same company. The Equalizer 4 point looks like over kill for your trailer.

Still recommend a trip across the scale to see what you are actually dealing with. Scale costs about $10 and each trip back to adjust or change you combination (with or without trailer) is a $1 when done on the same day.

[heathershach]

Good morning All. Just a quick update to the Curt 17200 Sway Control. I have the adapter plate included welded onto the hitch. After reading and considering everything posted, I decided to have the part included welded on instead of buying the adapter piece. The sway control will go on today. All the reviews I have read makes me think this is the right one for my combination. I'll take it for a test run after I'm done.

[cmcdar]

I realize that I am late to the party but this may be of value to someone else.

heathershatch, looking at the photo you put up of your camper (I assume it is the current camper) the current hitchball is set too high. With the hitch ball set too high, it totally throws of the weight distribution of the camper.

When I bought my current camper, the dealer installed my hitch (a weight distribution hitch at that)at the wrong height and I swerved all the way home. Once I corrected the height it was just fine.

http://newcontent.westmarine.com/content/wm-img/WestAdvisor/articles/Trailer-Hitches-2.jpg

[gypsyrose1126]

I have a 14' TT and don't have a problem with sway unless I try to go close to 65, so I keep it at 60 mph. I did talk to the dealer who said that he has not seen much success with using a sway bar on a TT this size. He also suggested I carry a little more weight in the front of the TT, so next time I go camping, I am thinking of filling the fresh water tank to about 1/2 full and see how that works.