# Troubles Reversing With Sway Bar???



## Brad1 (Jan 21, 2007)

I am SOOOOOOO itching to get out in our new 23rs OB. I do remember though after we bought it and one of the service guys was going over the Sway Bar, Brake Controller, etc.... He had mentioned to not go in reverse with the sway bar. The exact reason I can't remember but something to do with the "pressure" it can put in the sway bar. Can some of you experienced OBers let me know. I am so excited I found this site.


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## nynethead (Sep 23, 2005)

Brad,

Do you have a sway bar or are you using a weight distribution setup?


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi Brad,

If you are using something like the Reese Friction anti sway control, then you are supposed to remove them before backing...we had this setup before we switched to the Equalizer. We were told to remove the friction bar before backing or it could get bent or broken.

Dawn


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

They say to remove before backing but actually when making sharp bends when backing such as when you are backing into a site. If you are backing up almost straight, it is not a problem. I could never understand what the difference was forward or reverse but I do know Camping479 bent 2 of them.

John


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## bill_pfaff (Mar 11, 2005)

Friction bars need to be taken off when backing because you stand the potential of pinching the bar and bending it if you turn too tightly.

You never make turns tight enough (actually it is impossible) when going forward to make bending the bar an issue but when you are backing it is easy to get into a "pinching" situation.


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## Brad1 (Jan 21, 2007)

I am a Newbie... going from a pop-up to this small apartment... so forgive me if I don't remember all of the Brands, etc. I do know for sure that we have the Weight Distribution and the sway bar. The weight distribution is that oversized hitch that's heavier than both of my kids put together... right?








And then I put the sway bar on the side.


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## bill_pfaff (Mar 11, 2005)

No problem being a Newbie , we all were Newbies once and depending on the subject some of us are still Newbies!

Given your statement "And then I put the sway bar on the side" I'd say you have a friction sway control. I would further qualify my assumption with the question, do you have to tighten a screw or bar on the sway control as part of the process? If you do you have a friction sway control and you should avoid backing with it on for the aforementioned reasons.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi Brad,

If you can tell us exactly which setup you have, then we can give you the correct answer. 
If you have the Equalizer system (which is very heavy) then yes, you can back with it.

If you have the single friction bar, then the answer is no...


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## justinsnow0 (Feb 5, 2007)

Brad,

I am going to guess that you bought from Holman in Batavia?

If you did then you have a husky friction sway bar. You should remove it when backing. The weight dist. with the 2 bars can stay on while you back.

Holman only sells one kind unless you know what your doing and ask for something different. But they sell the Husky sway and a Reese hitch.


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Well, you guys KNOW I'm gonna put my .02 in, so here goes:
I pulled/backed my 27RSDS with a friction anti-sway bar for over a year and the thing never bent appreciably. My chain-of-thought is that when you stop in the street to remove the bar, you're just LIKELY to get hit, and I'd much rather replace a friction anti-sway bar than cause an accident.








Darlene








PS On ANY weight-distributing/sway set up, be careful when making too tight of a turn, forward or backward, as, guess what?? The weight distributing bars WILL become dislocated from the hitch.........makes a nice noise dragging down the street until you can find somewhere to pull over.........kinda like a JACK HAMMER!!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Brad said:


> I am a Newbie... going from a pop-up to this small apartment... so forgive me if I don't remember all of the Brands, etc. I do know for sure that we have the Weight Distribution and the sway bar. The weight distribution is that oversized hitch that's heavier than both of my kids put together... right?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Here is what an Equalizer hitch looks like. Is this what you have?


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

sgalady said:


> On ANY weight-distributing/sway set up, be careful when making too tight of a turn, forward or backward, as, guess what?? The weight distributing bars WILL become dislocated from the hitch.


I've done 12,000-plus miles on the Outback, with lots of very tight corners especially backing up. We've never had a problem with dropping the weight distributing bars. Is this common (i.e. are we just lucky)?

We have a Reese Round Bar Weight Distributing with Dual Cam HP Sway Control.

Ed


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## pjb2cool (Apr 8, 2004)

skippershe said:


> Hi Brad,
> 
> If you are using something like the Reese Friction anti sway control, then you are supposed to remove them before backing...we had this setup before we switched to the Equalizer. We were told to remove the friction bar before backing or it could get bent or broken.
> 
> Dawn


 X2...So whenever we were 'checking in' at a campground, one of us would check-in, while the other one would REMOVE the friction sway bar- no speeding 55 mph in the campground, nor sway issues either. Now that we have a much bigger/longer/heavier camper, we upsized our sway control system as well - no more friction bar type- now we have the Reece dual cam system, which does not need to be unhooked while backing in. Good luck.


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## Above & Beyond (May 20, 2006)

The only bars that could drop out on tight turns is the Equalizer hitch bars IF NOT SET UP CORRECTLY! IF ANYONE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM GO BACK TO THE DIRECTIONS OR DEALER THAT INSTALLED IT!


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Above & Beyond said:


> The only bars that could drop out on tight turns is the Equalizer hitch bars IF NOT SET UP CORRECTLY! IF ANYONE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM GO BACK TO THE DIRECTIONS OR DEALER THAT INSTALLED IT!


uh, ok









why are you yelling?


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

skippershe said:


> The only bars that could drop out on tight turns is the Equalizer hitch bars IF NOT SET UP CORRECTLY! IF ANYONE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM GO BACK TO THE DIRECTIONS OR DEALER THAT INSTALLED IT!


uh, ok









why are you yelling?
[/quote]

Probly because it could possibly do some damage if they let loose, those bars are under a lot of tension when set up correctly.

Mike


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## Chief (Jan 31, 2006)

Disconnect the friction bar before backing up it will probably save you aggravation in the long run. PS I am a two year rookise and still learning. Good luck!!


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Above & Beyond said:


> The only bars that could drop out on tight turns is the Equalizer hitch bars IF NOT SET UP CORRECTLY! IF ANYONE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM GO BACK TO THE DIRECTIONS OR DEALER THAT INSTALLED IT!


Well, I don't have the "equalizer", I've got the Reese, and the stupid thing DID fall out on a tight turn, and, BTW, Reverie had the same problem. 
QUOTE(Reverie @ Nov 15 2006, 03:10 PM) *

Darleen,

I had the same thing happen to me back in the Spring. Lucky for me, it happened as I was swinging the trailer around in the cul-de-sac just before backig into the driveway. KD asked me why something was hanging down and sure enough, it was my left bar (I turned to the left in the circle). Nothing damaged but my pride.
(end quote)
IF you turn too tightly, the hitch bar and hitch bracket line up to where the notch the bar goes through will allow the bar to fall through. Been there, done that........it WAS installed correctly!!









Darlene


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## Brad1 (Jan 21, 2007)

mons02035 said:


> Brad,
> 
> I am going to guess that you bought from Holman in Batavia?
> 
> ...


I did buy from Holman and that is the set-up I have. I will do the smart thing and remove it. Thanks for all of the help and sorry for the delay in writing back.

By the way Mons, did I see a post that you are hitting the Natural Bridge somethime this summer? Maybe try to catch up with you.


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## Kenstand (Mar 25, 2004)

Brad,
Welcome to Outbackers!!









It is nice to have another Ohio member. The Southern Ohio / Northern Kentucky membership is slowly growing. Maybe I will see you around the campfire somewhere.


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## Brad1 (Jan 21, 2007)

Thanks Ken,

We hit a lot of the State Parks in Ohio and KY. Stonelick, Hueston, Paint, etc. Have Dillon Creek, Hocking & Alum Creek booked so far this Spring with hopefully many more to come. Any ideas on Private Campgrounds or KOA's that you have been to would be wonderful. We are looking to "branch out" to those and don't have any experience with any locally.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Having Quadrasteer in our Suburban I can quickly turn our Outback into tight places. I have never had any issues with our Equalizer setup. I never even thought about taking them off while backing in and probably never will.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

If a bar came out on a Equalizer or dual cam, you had to be at some serious angle, like almost hitting TT to TV


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