Blue Ox Sway Pro

[TG Twinkie]

I have had zero problems with the BO WD system. I did notice on the initial setup that the rear tires on my tandem axle trailer were running hotter than the front. I reduced the tension by one link and all is well.
Using heavier bars than necessary would cause handling problems IMHO. Putting too much force and not enough flex would shift the weight to the front axle of the TV and rear axle of the coach. It would be akin to having the hitch height too high.


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[PKI]

AW - Talked to BO today and got a bit of info. Not sure I got all the answers right, but it's a start.

Is there any differential force multiplication for sway control built into the BOSP hitch design? Answer - the head has caster which helps prevent sway and movement of the trailer unloads one spring while increasing the load on the other spring to move the trailer back in line. As I understand it, there does not appear to be any significant force multiplication over what would be expected from additional spring rate displacement.

How should the bars weight be established? Answer - bars should be rated heavier than tongue weight. If tongue weight is more than bar rating, change to the next heavier size bar. There is no consideration with respect to the TV configuration.

How does the TV's weight relate to the torsion necessary to control sway? Answer - none - see previous answer.

So, are 750# bars the appropriate starting point for rigging a 6000# trailer with 600# tongue weight? Answer - yes

Under what conditions would a change in bar weight rating be necessary? Answer - when the tongue weight exceeds the rating of the bars.

Pat

[AWCHIEF]

Pat, I am not an engineer so I truly I have no idea what you are talking about with most of that post. But in my case it is not necessary to know how it works, as long as it does.

[DHart]

Originally Posted by PKI

AW - Talked to BO today and got a bit of info. Not sure I got all the answers right, but it's a start.

Is there any differential force multiplication for sway control built into the BOSP hitch design? Answer - the head has caster which helps prevent sway and movement of the trailer unloads one spring while increasing the load on the other spring to move the trailer back in line. As I understand it, there does not appear to be any significant force multiplication over what would be expected from additional spring rate displacement.

How should the bars weight be established? Answer - bars should be rated heavier than tongue weight. If tongue weight is more than bar rating, change to the next heavier size bar. There is no consideration with respect to the TV configuration.

How does the TV's weight relate to the torsion necessary to control sway? Answer - none - see previous answer.

So, are 750# bars the appropriate starting point for rigging a 6000# trailer with 600# tongue weight? Answer - yes

Under what conditions would a change in bar weight rating be necessary? Answer - when the tongue weight exceeds the rating of the bars.

Pat

Pat... thanks for the info.

We've been very happy with the performance of our Blue Ox SP, using the 1000# bars.

The next step up from 1000# bars is 1500# bars. It would be great if they offered an intermediate grade: 1250#.

[PKI]

AW - me thinks you shine a body on just a wee bit. Most cool! Pat

[PKI]

DHart - there was a fellow that posted somewhere that he reduced the physical size of his heavy bars to reduce the spring rate (mod 1500s to make them 1250s). But, from what folks have posted on the Reese thread, light bars might be best for AS. Pat

[PKI]

Weighed the rig yesterday. TV loaded - 2660 front and 3260 rear. TV with trailer - 2620 front, 3720 rear and 4840 trailer. Now we load the trailer to travel configuration and get another set of weights. Pat

[Caffeinated]

For what it's worth. We are on our first big road trip since purchasing our '15 FC FB and blue ox with 1k bars. We left Portland on Thursday, headed for Lincoln City, and then down the coast to Bullards Beach State Park for the first night. About a 4 to 5 hr drive, depending. Along the way, I was driving and checking out a RV resort for possible future stops when a hundred yards (give or take) ahead of me, a car decided to come to a stop in the only traffic lane so he could turn left. He didn't bother to signal, or to pull into the center two way left turn lane, but blocked the lane of travel. Meanwhile, I was looking at the Rv resort and not ahead of me. At 55 mph we closed the distance rapidly. I heard my wife gasp and looked up, and hit the brakes and turned hard to avoid a collision. We missed him, and the trailer and 2009 Silverado LT never felt out of control. The worst part aside from the panic and racing heart rate was listening to my wife berate me for the next half hour. Very happy with the Blue Ox System. By the way, I'm posting this from Pacifica CA, where we arrived safely this pm.

Mike

[KJRitchie]

Glad read you are safe but next time let the wife check out the campgrounds and you concentrate on the driving. These Nav systems and other electronic goodies are as bad as texting.

Blue Ox question. The instructions state to set your ball a couple of inches higher than the trailer's coupler. Don't you then have to jack the trailer pretty high up for the ball to clear when hitching. For me the ball would be 25"-26" and would mean jacking the trailer over 26".

Kelvin

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Glad read you are safe but next time let the wife check out the campgrounds and you concentrate on the driving. These Nav systems and other electronic goodies are as bad as texting.

Blue Ox question. The instructions state to set your ball a couple of inches higher than the trailer's coupler. Don't you then have to jack the trailer pretty high up for the ball to clear when hitching. For me the ball would be 25"-26" and would mean jacking the trailer over 26".

Kelvin

That's pretty typical for non-ppp, it works the same for my old EAZ-Lift, I think it would be similar for a Reese. You'll have some compression of the truck's suspension to take up the tongue weight that's not transferred back to the trailer's axles.

Raise tongue, back up under the coupler, drop trailer on the ball, lock the coupler, lift the assembly, tension the weight distro, retract the jack.

[PKI]

Trip East was informative. The BOSP worked well, except when we had significant wind. Without wind, speeds of 70 and passing at 75 was of no consequence. When the wind built up, slowing to 65 or 60 dampened the movement. We did have a few experiences where 55 was required. It was usually where both wind and road condition resulted in a negative influence on rig stability.

It seemed that impact from the wind was significantly changed by passing rigs. When there was no wind the impact of a big rig was minimal unless the passing speed was excessive and their aero was bad. Livestock big rigs are terrible on both counts. The direction of the wind was also a consideration. We had one area where the wind was on the passenger side quarter and the influence of passing rigs seemed to reverse sequence from normal. Interesting also was that in some wind we had a more stable tow along side a big rig as it sheltered us and more lateral movement when small vehicles disturbed or amplified the force. A very informative experience, but still significantly perplexing. We do not see the trailer swaying. We just feel the lateral movement of the rig.

Please, post your experiences with the BOSP. Your input is appreciated.

Pat,

[PKI]

AW - any chance you have recent experience with the BOSP that you would care to share? Pat

[khollister]

OK - just got home this afternoon with my new trailer and BOSP.

2016 30' Flying Cloud rear queen w 16" Michelin LTX tires
2014 Ram 2500 crew cab short bed diesel 4x4
longest BO stinger (forget the part number)

I have the hitch head one hole up from the bottom, link 9 on the chains, 1000 bars.

Considerable flex in the bars (good), trailer is level (good), truck is down about 2.5" in the rear with the bars tensioned (inconsequential given the weight of the diesel in the front IMHO).

The rig drove great - no sway and no push/pull except for a couple of cases where I was passing one truck (car hauler, no less), being passed by another semi and had another truck in front of me - turbulence city. There was minimal wind, so not sure how that would play. Speed ranged from 65-75 MPH.

The rig felt a bit different than the old trailer (a 25') with the same truck and a ProPride (that I sold with the old trailer). I didn't have 100% weight restoration there either due to the stiffness of the rear suspension. The truck did not get the shock/feedback from the trailer with the BOSP - this was also apparent in the appearance of the trailer interior when I stopped. Nothing moved - this is the softest riding hitch I have used (very good).

I know there has been a lot of angst over the performance of this hitch, but I have no concerns about the behavior on my truck and trailer. It was a very relaxed drive from Gulfport, MS to Orlando. At no point did I think "the ProPride wouldn't have done that".

I haven't checked the tongue weight yet (need to find my Sherline scale), but I'm guessing about 1000# based on the rear suspension compression without bars. The trailer was basically empty, but did have full propane cylinders and a full freshwater tank.

[PKI]

K&B Really interested in your experience as you tow with the BOSP. About 90% of why I like the BOSP is the softness of the ride, so I get it. So..... 1) how much weight is the BOSP shifting forward? At 9 links, maybe not much. 2) what is your impression of the BOSP in the wind? 3) how does it compare with the PP after you have a few miles and the opportunity to think about your experience? Welcome to the BOSP club. Pat

[khollister]

9 links from the free end of the chain - there is only 2 1/2 links showing below the bracket. It makes a significant difference in the ride height of the rear suspension so I'm sure weight transfer is taking place. There is no way I could go to 10, I would never get enough lift to get the chain to catch on the bracket. It is a real struggle with the 3k Atwood jack AS installed. I ordered the 4K version to replace it.

The suspensions on these HD trucks are too stiff to expect WD to work like on a softly sprung 1/2 ton SUV without making the bars so stiff that the trailer (and you) are beat to death.


Keith
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[PKI]

I would not be worried about increasing the weight transfer if you are happy with the way the rig handles. Additionally, I would be surprised if you needed more. Nine links from the loose end is a lot of jacking on 1000# springs. Interested to hear your experience after you have traveled a bit. Happy trails. Pat

[garybair]

We have an International 28 and tow with a 2014 Dodge Durango V8 Hemi, BOSP with 1000# springs (3 dots) on the 9th link from the free end. Dealer who set it up recommended the 8th link. TV seems to be a little more level with 9, so we've stuck with that. Haven't noticed much difference either way while driving.

Getting close to 5000 miles on it, in 9 western states so far - tows great.

[cajohnson]

It was suggested I weigh in on this post. I started a thread a year ago when, like a lot of newbies, I was figuring out which hitch to buy. Here's my take on the Blue Ox:

Well...It's been a year since my first post and we've wrapped up our first season. First of all, thanks to everyone who helped out with information. It was all consumed and it was all considered. Here are my thoughts after maybe 8 or 9-thousand miles of towing this summer.

First the tow vehicle. 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 8 cylinder gas Hemi. Very happy with the choice. Averaged about 14.5 - 15 mpg on the interstate doing about 65. After a couple of Lance Campers I can live with that. Some suggested the wheel base was a little short. I personally experienced zero problems with it. Get the backup camera.

The hitch. I ended up with the Blue Ox. Again, thanks everyone who weighed in. I can't prove the negative so I don't know if I would have sworn by the Hensley had I bought one. What I can tell you is that hitching up, particularly with the back-up camera, is very easy. Even without my wife helping it's a five minute job. Maybe ten. You get the idea. Once you have the system down it's very simple, relatively quick and very secure.

The longest trip of the summer was from Missoula, Montana to Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Missoula. Right around 56-hundred miles. We encountered torrential rains, winds of maybe 25-30 mph, dust storms, curvy mountain roads through the Ozarks and the Blue Ox was great. That's not to say there weren't times I was more than aware that I was towing a trailer in less than ideal conditions but I never felt I was out of control or over my head. Again, I tend not to travel over 65 mph. If you regularly do, my experience may be different from yours. I don't know what to tell you about that.

Love the Flying Cloud. A few little things to have the dealer fix this winter but all in all such high build quality as compared to the Lance Campers.

Again...Thanks for all your input and safe travels.

[PKI]

Thanks for adding your experience. Sounds lie you had a great trip. Safe ravels. Pat

[cajohnson]

I should mention, in answer to a question, that I'm towing a 19' Flying Cloud with my Blue Ox.