F150 owners!

[jcl]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

I guess it boils down to "each his own"; who do you want to believe....the Ford dealer says "disengage truck anti-sway" control when using anti-sway hitch; the hitch manufacturer BlueOx, says same...(called them again this morning to verify) I hope I am doing the right thing; and hope you are too! If you feel safe with it on...go for it!

I haven't towed with an F150 with this system, but I have had electronic trailer stability control on two vehicles that I have towed with. It never activated, even towing on snow covered roads. I was able to activate the vehicle stability control, and traction control, but I never got deep enough in trouble to get the vehicle to activate the trailer stability control mode.

Personally, I would never turn it off. There were early reports with the F150 that it caused a fuel consumption increase. If so, that would suggest that the vehicle brakes were being used to bring the combination back under control. The solution is to slow down, or improve trailer towing dynamics via hitch setup and load distribution, not to turn off the system, IMO. Different model years activated above different speeds, but that is where the 45 mph mentioned above comes from.

I think that the Ford dealer referenced above likely knows little about weight distributing hitches, and that the hitch supplier knows little about the Ford electronic system.

Ford themselves say not to turn it off. The F150 manual notes that there may be times when you want to turn it off (ie climbing a short steep hill with limited traction and wanting to maintain high speed to get up the hill) but that all other times, it should be on. I don't know if they have changed the recommendation more recently, but from an F150 manual that is a few years old:

Originally Posted by Ford F150 owner's manual

WARNING:

Turning off trailer sway control increases the risk of loss of vehicle control, serious injury, or death. Ford does not recommend disabling this feature except in situations where speed reduction may be detrimental (e.g., hill climbing), the driver has significant trailer towing experience, and can control trailer sway and maintain safe operation.

If there is a technical paper or documentation of why the systems fight each other, it would be great to see it.

Jeff

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by jcl

I haven't towed with an F150 with this system, but I have had electronic trailer stability control on two vehicles that I have towed with. It never activated, even towing on snow covered roads. I was able to activate the vehicle stability control, and traction control, but I never got deep enough in trouble to get the vehicle to activate the trailer stability control mode.

Personally, I would never turn it off. There were early reports with the F150 that it caused a fuel consumption increase. If so, that would suggest that the vehicle brakes were being used to bring the combination back under control. The solution is to slow down, or improve trailer towing dynamics via hitch setup and load distribution, not to turn off the system, IMO. Different model years activated above different speeds, but that is where the 45 mph mentioned above comes from.

I think that the Ford dealer referenced above likely knows little about weight distributing hitches, and that the hitch supplier knows little about the Ford electronic system.

Ford themselves say not to turn it off. The F150 manual notes that there may be times when you want to turn it off (ie climbing a short steep hill with limited traction and wanting to maintain high speed to get up the hill) but that all other times, it should be on. I don't know if they have changed the recommendation more recently, but from an F150 manual that is a few years old:

"If there is a technical paper or documentation of why the systems fight each other, it would be great to see it. "

Jeff

Indeed! I have been researching several threads today and no conclusive reason not to use both, from what I have read....perhaps the earlier comment about use before you "S...t your pants" is correct?

[SCOTTinNJ]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Indeed! I have been researching several threads today and no conclusive reason not to use both, from what I have read....perhaps the earlier comment about use before you "S...t your pants" is correct?

I feel vindicated!