Anti-sway Devices

[MURPHY4385]

We just purchased a 2002 28' Classic,and we are wondering what is the best anti-away device to buy.

[BillTex]

Hi Murphy-welcome!

"Best" will bring up a number of opinions.

We use an Equalizer and are very happy with it.
Many other swear by Hensley Arrow.

What do you have for a TV?
Do you have a WD hitch and just want to add anti-sway?
Or
Are you starting from scratch?

Do a search on hitches, the replies will keep you occupied for MANY hours...

Bill

[thecatsandi]

I've said this many times. What ever you get make sure it is set up properly. It took three tries to get mine right. Once they got it right it works beautifully. BTW I have a Reese Dual Cam with a 31 Classic

[moosetags]

There are Forums members happy with all the different brands of sway control/weight distribution systems.

We use the Hensley Arrow Hitch System, and are extremely satisfied after 15,000 miles of towing a 25' Safari with a Suburban 2500. Yes, the Hensley is pricey ($3000), but we would not tow with anything else. The Hensley works well even when not set-up perfectly. We just towed 1000 miles with an incorrectly sized tow bar and the sway control still worked perfectly. Now we have the correct drop tow bar, but don't really notice any difference in the sway control. That says a lot for the Hensley.

[moosetags]

Please excuse my rudeness for not first welcoming you to these Forums. I didn't notice that you were a new member until after I sent my response to your question. Some of us get so excited by someone asking a question that we actually have an answer for that we forget our manners.

Soooooooooo, WELCOME TO THE FORUMS. WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US.

[63air]

Really like my Equal-i-zer and I've towed 20,000+ miles with it. Easy to set up, easy to hook up, and very reasonable price. They have a very good web site you might want to visit.

[dwightdi]

If you have a marginal tow vehicle or new to towing or getting a little older and slower on the trigger, You will need the best available (Hensely or Pullrite)(also the most costly). If you have a more reasonable Tow vehicle to trailer weight ratio and an average wheel base, or tow experience or tow at a reasonable speed, you can save some money by buying a Twin Cam system. If you have long wheel base, heavy tow truck and less than 31 foot of trailer, you might get away with just frictional control like Equil-i-zer or Reese with just the frictional dampener. If you have less than a 21 foot trailer and 3/4 ton or more truck, you really do not need any w/d or frictional control. I do not use any with my one ton crew cab long box dually when pulling my old light 26 footer and I have put 20,000 miles on that combination.

[bhayden]

First off let's make sure we're talking the same language. There's a common practice to refer to weight distribution (WD) hitches and their torsion bars as sway control or "sway bars". In fact they are different animals but the picture is blurred by the fact some WD hitch systems incorporate sway control.

In broad terms a WD hitch will restore the proper load distribution on the tow vehicle (TV) by transfering some of the tongue weight to the front. A search will turn up some great explainations but suffice it to say that when you load the back of your with the hitch weight you also unweight the front wheels. Depending on your trailer and TV this can be a recipe for disaster (or not, in the case of a lighter trailer and a heavy duty truck). So, in a very real sense the WD is the first step in "sway control" by eliminating one of the conditions that can cause it.

As has been said, the key to any system is getting it set-up correctly. The closer the trailer is to the limits of your TV the more important this becomes. Any of the various WD hitches will do the same thing (redistribute the load). The choice becomes one of personal preference and economics. Is the trailer already set-up for one brand of torsion bar? Do you already have a WD hitch? All of the various options present there own menu of sway control; some are integral with the hitch and some an add on. The Hensley is unique in that it actually changes the pivot point at which the trailer interacts with the TV.