two sway bars

[ifly4cal]

Hi, I bought a 1975 Sovereign last summer and am learning how to tow! My trailer came with two sway bars. I have one sway ball on the right side of my ball mount.

Does anyone tow with two sway bars?

I talked with a parts guy from a local rv dealership and ask him if they made a ball mount for the main 2 5/16 and for two sway balls. He said they do make it but a quick fix was to buy a six inch metal bar with a hole for another sway ball mount and have it welded onto the mount on the left side to save money.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Tim

[Chaplain Kent]

Welcome to the forums. I clicked each of your links hoping to find a picture of what you were talking about but I think I may know. My suggestion is to stow away what came with the Sovereign and take yourself and the trailer down to a good hitch shop and get a Reese system installed. Please do not weld anything to try and save money when safety is involved. There are other systems available and I am certain others will chime in with their favorites.

[dwightdi]

Some people actually use 2 but unless you have a really unstable rig it is not necessary. You only have one place to connect so my suspision is the 2nd one is a replacement when he bent the first one by forgetting to disconnect it before he sis some parking manuvers one time.

[thecatsandi]

How big ( heavy and long) is going to determine how much sway control you will need. Your vehicle is a factor as well. You will get a lot of opinionins of whose syste mis the best. My conclusion is they all work. It is more of a factor how well it is set up. Mine wasinitially not set up correctly. I had problems. I had it looked at and adjusted. it works great now.
How large is your trailer? What is your tow vehicle?

[bhayden]

Originally Posted by ifly4cal

My trailer came with two sway bars. I have one sway ball on the right side of my ball mount.

Tim,
Are they both the Reese friction type device or did maybe the PO decide to upgrade to a different style. From what I've read in the instructions and what the dealer that sold me the hitch head said the friction setting shouldn't be very tight so it seems doubling up wouldn't be advised with this style of anti-sway device. I got one with my trailer but haven't used it yet; missing the little clips that hold it on the ball. From what other people have told me they don't use their's either 'cause they don't do much if you've already got a WD hitch correctly set-up.

Does anyone tow with two sway bars?

Good question. Do you have a ball on each side of the A frame on the trailer tongue for attachment?

[Mike Lewis]

The friction device your speaking of is basicly one that makes pivoting the trailer on the ball more difficult, thus keeping it in a straight line with the tow vehicle or in other words not swaying. Adding a second will increase this "resistance to turn" or bend. I have used one of these before and properly adjusted they do help "some". Keep in mind that it takes the same force to return to center once movement does occure and the two vehicles tend to remain "out of line" with each other.

[Foiled Again]

Hi, I had a friction sway on my 22 ft CCD, but went with the Reese dual cam - no friction sway - on the 25 ft FB SE..... It may just be my imagination, but I kinda sorta miss the friction bar. Of course it could be that the newer one is almost 4 feet longer (it's actually 25' 10") and weighs a good bit more. When they set up my new hitch, the drop bar was put in with too little drop. Hooking up pulled the back end of the 'burb way down and that contributed to instability. I readjusted the drop (golly it's fun to try to break loose big bolts that are torqued to 200 lbs.) and it does ride more evenly and feels more stable.

Paula Ford

[john hd]

the welding sounds good if you do not want to buy a new trunnion.

i know of a couple of people that use two.

john

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Chaplain Kent

Please do not weld anything to try and save money when safety is involved. There are other systems available and I am certain others will chime in with their favorites.

Chaplain Kent,
Welding the sway control tab on to the receiver is an aceptable installation. I like it a lot better than the one that goes on under the ball. I good weld is as strong or stronger than the steel. In reference to the orginal question The sway controls have a weight rating, and if you are right at the weight rating people will quite often add a second one. My two favorite WD and Sway control hitches are the Reese Dual Cam and the Lindon Equalizer. Both are a good value for the money. Also if you read the fine print on a friction sway control, they are supposed to be removed in bad weather, and if they get wet from road spray their sway control abilities are reduced.

Aaron

[scottanlily]

Most rv shops sell the sway control ball and weld on plate .Totally fine
but needs to be properly welded ,Mine is welded on the hitch head as
many are .I dont really like adding somthing under the ball itself as some
are made that way ,but then it will still work ok.your sway controll ,unless
jammed rigid, if installed when backing the trailer into a camp spot or your driveway can bend the plate or ball mount on the tongue ,thats why they
say take it off when backing your coach.Normal operation will not cause any weld to break unless its not welded correctly ,poor penetration of the weld
and so on .Get a pro to weld the plate.I think its ez lift sway control that
offers dual sway control ,a control for each side ,hassel for sure ,
The reese seems to be the better choice less to mess with .I think we are
all getting pretty good setting up our hitches ,loads and such ,these forums are a good place to be.

Scott

[ifly4cal]

thanks everyone for your time, concern and suggestions. I have two balls on the a-frame one on each side. the sway bars appear to be original and in good condition with no damage. my sovereign is 4900 dry and she is 31 ft and i tow with a chevy 1500 with a max tow weight of 6500lbs. the reason i posted this question is that i had a few woobles on my first trip to upstate ny and since there were two sway bars that came with the trailer, i got to thinking that this would solve the problem with swaying.

i appreciate all your help in this matter,

Tim(ifly4cal) 1975 sovereign of the road

[ALANSD]

the older Reese set up I inherited on my 78, has two small "cups" on the bottom of the ball hitch area, and a smaller ball also on one side. What do those cups do? I have no bars with this set up.
There are two "stirrups" on the tongue with chains.

[ALANSD]

here is what I am talking about on the tongue side.....forget the blue arrow, I found out that was a flag mount,,,,,the left photo shows the hitch and "cups" and ball. (Sounds like an athletic supporter)

[bhayden]

The cups are where the trunion bars insert. Sort of a slick setup in that you don't need any clearance below the hitch. Also makes greasing and cleaning much easier than on my old Ea-Z-Lift hitch head. The small ball to the side is where the friction anti-sway device attaches.

Not sure what you mean by stirups. The parts on the top are what you hook the chains from the load bars to. I think the parts hanging down are part of an older Reese anti-sway device sort of like the dual cam; not sure on that and don't know why they have chains attached. I'm sure someone else here knows exactly what they are.

[azflycaster]

I think the stirups are part of a dual cam setup.

[ALANSD]

I guess I am confused about the bars, do I need 1 500 ( or 750) or 2 ? And any Reese bars will fit?

[bhayden]

Not sure if "any" Reese bars will fit but I think what you have is called the "trunion" style head which I believe refers to the square style of bars of which there are various capacity. 750# is a good guess but if you talk to an experieced dealer and give them the tongue weight and TV they should be able to tell you exactly. You will need a pair of bars. Take the whole set-up (except what's bolted to the trailer) with you to the dealer. Might be helpfull to have the pictures too. Ask if you can bring it by when you've got it hooked up for them to check it out.

One thing I don't know is if the rating refers to the load transfering ability of one bar or if it's for the pair? I had assumed it was the amount of upward pull one bar is designed to have but they could be rating them completely different; like trying to match tongue weight or such.

[overlander64]

Greetings ALANSD!

Originally Posted by ALANSD

I guess I am confused about the bars, do I need 1 500 ( or 750) or 2 ? And any Reese bars will fit?

You definitely have a Reese Strait-Line Trailer hitch with Dual Cam Sway Control that is of the same era as your coach. I have a similar setup that I use to tow both my Overlander and Minuet. Modern Reese Weight distribution bars are comatible with your hitch -- it will be necessary to be careful when buying the weight distribution bars -- it is still possible to find dealers who have stocks of both the older style bars that require a steel saddle that is bolted to the end of the bar (replaces the chain on the bar) as well as the more recent design that has an extended notch on the end of th bar that performs the same function without requiring the additional parts.

Your hitch will require a matched pair of Trunion style weight distribution bars. Required capacity of the bars will be somewhat dependent upon two factors -- the tongue weight of the coach when it is loaded for a typical expedition, and the tow vehicle being utilized. A lighter bar is typically utilized with a stiffly sprung tow vehicle -- for instance:

With my '75 Cadillac Eldorado (soft boulevard-ride springing):

• • '78 Minuet 6.0 Metre -- 525 pound hitch weight -- 600 pound bars have proven to be near ideal.
  • '64 Overlander International -- 725 pound hitch weight -- 800 pound bars have proven to be near ideal.

With my '99 K2500 Suburban (3/4-ton SUV with 10,000 pound trailer towing package):

• • '78 Minuet 6.0 Metre -- 525 pound hitch weight -- 350 pound bars have proven ideal -- but I don't know what I will do if one breaks or wears out as these are no longer available -- they were part of an early Reese Weight Distributing hitch designed for the light weight trailers introduced in the late 1970s--early 1980s.
  • '64 Overlander International -- 725 pound hitch weight -- 600 pound bars a bit under-sized while the 800 pound bars are a good deal too heavy for good performance of the Dual Cam -- I am utilizing 600 pound bars, but would be much happier with 700 pound bars.

I would also suggest trying to find a local dealer who is familiar with the Reese equipment, particularly the Strait-Line hitches. If the dealer isn't familiar with or does not regularly sell hitches with Dual Cam Sway control, there is the potential of getting bars that aren't ideally suited to your particular towing combination.

Good luck with your hitch setup!

Kevin

I have attached a photo of my Minuet and Cadillac with the Strait-Line Hitch setup ready for travel. The weight distribution bars are of the older style with the bolt-on steel saddle that rests in the "stirrups" mounted on the trailer's tongue. The newer bars with the extneded "hooked" ends work just as well and you wouldn't need to purchase a pair of the "saddles" separately when purchasing your new bars.