# Sway Issues



## camptails (Jan 18, 2005)

Hello everyone,

I towed our new 25 home to storage from the dealership today. I have a few questions about sway for some of you who are used to trailering. I have pulled boats and tent trailers for 30 years but nothing this big







. My dealer installed a Reese equalizer with the deal and said if I thought I needed it to come back for a sway bar....Anyway....I did feel a bit uncomfortable with sway from road ruts in the interstate, trucks and the like. Nothing serious but not a comfortable situation either. About half way home I let a link out on the bars and it did help but still.......I called the dealer and they said a friction bar would do the trick. (for some reason they are almost inststant that I go friction instead of cam???) I have read most of the posts on this subject and found that the dual cam is the way to go if you have the hitch wieght. Ours is 440# dry, I assume with 60# of propaine and 2 batteries that this would be much more than that. The TV is a Tahoe with Autoride so the air shocks are doing their job also. The dealer set the bars at 6 links and I let them out to 7...there is some tension but not a lot. I could use some advice on what to do.







. One thing is for sure I don't want to drive all day feeling like the next wind gust will put me out of control









Thanks

Camptails


----------



## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

By equalizer, I assume you are referring to a weight distributing hitch, and not the "Equal-i-zer" brand hitch. I have a DC HP, and insisted on it when I purchased the trailer, even when the salesperson at the dealership tried to push the friction bar.

Personally, I would go with the DC HP, since you already have the Reese WD setup. Set up should be fairly easy

Do the dealer give you the installation instructions for WD hitch? If so, read them through, and make sure things are set up correctly. 7 links sounds awful light to me. Are you counting from the u-bolt in the spring bar, or from the end of the chain? I don't have my instructions in front of me, but it seems I remember the recommended #of links to be 5 from the spring bar.

I would recommend trying to install the DC yourself, so you have a complete understanding of how to set it up, and adjust it as necessary. There are several of us here who have the DC, and could probably offer more specific advise if needed.

I think California Jim did a fairly complete self install/adjust guide, and posted it, but I can't seem to find it in a search right now. You might try a PM to him, if he doesn't post to this thread.

Tim


----------



## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

To add to what Tim has already said, having your weight distribution set up properly can make a huge difference in the way the trailer tows.

It can be tricky to set up properly with the autoride. Does your truck have the full autoride with autolevel?

Ours does and trial and error and weighing our truck and trailer is how I got ours set up properly. Weighing your setup will give you the most accurate read of whether the hitch system is doing it's job or not. Those air shocks in the autoride/autolevel system let air out as weight is put on them with the truck off, so measuring the four corners of the truck like the Reese directions say may not be completely accurate. With the truck on, the autoride/autolevel levels the truck, so measuring the four corners is completely inaccurate that way.

Did you check for correct air pressure in the tires? Also, the P rated tires on the tahoe can give you some wiggle in the rear end. Switching to LT tires made a big difference for our setup.

Good luck, it can be a little frustrating getting things set up, but the time and effort will be well worth it.

Mike


----------



## camptails (Jan 18, 2005)

hatcityhosehauler said:


> By equalizer, I assume you are referring to a weight distributing hitch, and not the "Equal-i-zer" brand hitch. I have a DC HP, and insisted on it when I purchased the trailer, even when the salesperson at the dealership tried to push the friction bar.
> 
> Personally, I would go with the DC HP, since you already have the Reese WD setup. Set up should be fairly easy
> 
> ...


I didn't get any instructiions just a verbal on how to adjust. The links are from the springbar. They set it at 6 links and said it looked pretty close??? Yes it is a Reese WD hitch and I will definately get a DC but I need to know if the hitch weight is enough for it to do the job. With the autoride system the trailer really does not press the rear down that much. The shocks inflate and bring up the back when the trailer is put on??


----------



## DANJOGAVINMO (Apr 17, 2004)

I dont' have autoride nor have ever used it, that said, this is my SWAG. The WD system transfers weight off the hitch and displaces forward onto the vehicle's front axle. So if you hook up the WD bars with enough tension in the first place, the autoride should have less to compensate for when the rig is turned on.

There are several threads on the forum about proper hitch adjustment. The key point is: Drop the notion that there are is a magic number of links needed. It all depends on the hitch head angle. Basically you need to bring the back of the truck nearly level to original ride height and keep the WD bars parallel to the ground while under tension. You do this by tweaking the hitch head tilt. You may have to then adjust the head up or down vertically on the hitch shank to then make the trailer level front to back. This is kind of a trial and error process to get the right head tilt. You should have signifcant tension on the bars. If you are throwing them up with the pipe with little effort, you likely don't have enough tension. You will be able to see this with the rig turned off (no autoride) that the back end is low. Of course if you turn autoride on, the shocks will try to bring back end up.

So onto sway control, I agree with other post, go straight to dual cam hp. Some folks are ok with friction bar, but I wasn't. I have 25rs-s and seem to have enough hitch weight to make the system effective. I don't think you would want much lighter though.

Danny


----------



## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Camptails

I used to pull with a Denali with auto everything. The TV does balance everything out with or without WD/Bars. I noticed that the ride is a bit less "bouncy" with wd/bars.

The sway control - I use a friction style set-up and it works well. I have towed with and without to see if I noticed a difference. The only time I do is when I am on the highway passing or being passed by an 18 wheeler. I do remove the friction bar when backing up. I get out of the TV and inspect the area before backing up so removing the bar is no big deal.

I recommend driving around a bit and experimenting with different set-ups and I think you will quickly get a feel what you are most comfortable with.

I did this and I could not get comfortable with my brake controller. This is the main reason why I went to a prodigy and have been happy ever since.

Thor


----------



## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

> The WD system transfers weight off the hitch and displaces forward onto the vehicle's front axle. So if you hook up the WD bars with enough tension in the first place, the autoride should have less to compensate for when the rig is turned on.


That's a good point that Dan makes. When our truck is hooked up and sits for a while, there is no sag in the rear end of the truck to speak of. Snapping up the bars should take a good deal of effort with the pipe.

The dual cam works well, like mentioned above though, it needs a fair amount of tongue weight to work well. If you load a lot of your gear up front to get the tongue weight up, it should work for you. I use a friction bar on our 21RS and it works great for my setup.


----------



## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Reese WD Installation Instructions

Reese Dual CamInstallation instructions

Previous posts


----------



## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Hi Camptails, I have almost the same set up as you except that I do not have autoride. The dealer set me up with friction sway controll at first and said it would be fine, it wasn't. If the dealer didn't have your Tahoe and Outback for at least 2-3 hours to do a proper setup then you need to redo it. With your setup and wheelbase you will be a lot happier with the dual cam, the difference is day and night compared to the friction sway controll. 
Cal Jim helped out a bunch. I found that the dealer used the default setings, such as the ball pitch was in the center postion and needed to be fully pithched forward. They also told me that 6 links would be enough again it wasn't. In order to tansfer weight forward and lower the front end I ended up having to use 3 links not counting the one that mounts to the bar. If you can lift the shackle easily into place you do not have a proper setup, the reese system puts a lot of presure on the chains in order to work right. 
Once the setup is correct with the dual cam your towing will be a breeze and you will not feel as if you are being driven by your outback, you will not feel big rigs passing and high winds will have little effect. Follow Calif. Jims instructions for setting up the hitch and purchase a dual cam setup. Good luck and congrats on the 25 rss, it's a great unit. Kirk


----------



## camptails (Jan 18, 2005)

aplvlykat said:


> Hi Camptails, I have almost the same set up as you except that I do not have autoride. The dealer set me up with friction sway controll at first and said it would be fine, it wasn't. If the dealer didn't have your Tahoe and Outback for at least 2-3 hours to do a proper setup then you need to redo it. With your setup and wheelbase you will be a lot happier with the dual cam, the difference is day and night compared to the friction sway controll.
> Cal Jim helped out a bunch. I found that the dealer used the default setings, such as the ball pitch was in the center postion and needed to be fully pithched forward. They also told me that 6 links would be enough again it wasn't. In order to tansfer weight forward and lower the front end I ended up having to use 3 links not counting the one that mounts to the bar. If you can lift the shackle easily into place you do not have a proper setup, the reese system puts a lot of presure on the chains in order to work right.
> Once the setup is correct with the dual cam your towing will be a breeze and you will not feel as if you are being driven by your outback, you will not feel big rigs passing and high winds will have little effect. Follow Calif. Jims instructions for setting up the hitch and purchase a dual cam setup. Good luck and congrats on the 25 rss, it's a great unit. Kirk
> [snapback]23514[/snapback]​


Thanks a bunch for your advice. I talked to them today and wanted to find out the difference between the DC HP and just the DC. Guess what... the parts folks had no clue. I will have them install but I have no faith in their knowledge. Pretty scarey for a large RV dealership..anyway what is the difference in the 2 DC models. Also I am glad to hear that your setup which is the same as mine does the job. I was begining to have doubts about the combination...

R Taylor


----------



## camptails (Jan 18, 2005)

hurricaneplumber said:


> Reese WD Installation Instructions
> 
> Reese Dual CamInstallation instructions
> 
> ...


Thank you very much for your info...I have lots to do

R Taylor


----------



## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Hi again Camptails, If I remember right there are several different style bars, round and truion type, in both cases the bar has to have a curved end on them. The difference between the dual cam hp and the dual cam setup is just that. If you have the curved end you want to go with the dc hp, it mounts directly to the frame of the tt and is fairly easy to install but you have to have a curved end on the tip of the bars. The other dc setup is for older stlye bars and uses U-bolts over the frame to mount but you don't have to have the curved end on the bar. Just guessing but as new as your unit is you want the dc hp set up. Do a search on dual cam units, there is a lot of info out there to look at. Kirk


----------



## camptails (Jan 18, 2005)

aplvlykat said:


> Hi again Camptails, If I remember right there are several different style bars, round and truion type, in both cases the bar has to have a curved end on them. The difference between the dual cam hp and the dual cam setup is just that. If you have the curved end you want to go with the dc hp, it mounts directly to the frame of the tt and is fairly easy to install but you have to have a curved end on the tip of the bars. The other dc setup is for older stlye bars and uses U-bolts over the frame to mount but you don't have to have the curved end on the bar. Just guessing but as new as your unit is you want the dc hp set up. Do a search on dual cam units, there is a lot of info out there to look at. Kirk
> [snapback]23533[/snapback]​


Thanks again, I have a new WD from Reese with the curved ends so the HP Cam is the one...With Outbacks 8" tube frame I don't think the u-bolts would work anyway??? Ray


----------



## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

The difference is actually in the construction of the cams themselves, as well as the u-bolts. The HP is of a heavier duty construction, and you can tell by looking at it. The HP is short for High Performance.

Look here for photos of the units side by side.

Reese Products

Just navigate to the products option, and look for Dual Cam Sway Control. The first product in that line they show is the HP, scroll down to see the older standard DC, and you will see the lighter contruction of the older model.

Tim


----------



## DANJOGAVINMO (Apr 17, 2004)

Camptails,

Honestly if the dealer is clueless, I would recommend that you *don't *have them even touch the hitch. Order the kit and do it yourself, everyone here who has given you input is spot on. Or go somewhere who knows what they are doing. We here have heard of too many terribly adjusted hitches from dealers.

I would estimate that if you take your time installing the cams and doing all the head pitch adjustments, etc. that you could get the whole deal done in 2-3 hours, maybe less if you have done it before. You just need BIG wrenches for the hitch head. Doing it once gives you the skill to do it again in the future, and much faster the 2nd time!

Danny


----------



## jallen58 (Oct 27, 2003)

Dealers don't like to take the time to do it right. After the dealer set mine up i went back and complained that the hitch wasn't set right because the back of my TV would squat to much they said it was the suspension on my TV and not the hitch and that they had it set right. Not convinced with there answer i got the install instructions and followed them to the tee. When finished I got 3/4" squat in front and 1" in the rear and TT level while towing so I would also suggest you do it yourself then you know it's right.

Jim


----------



## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

It all depends on the dealer. My dealerships service guys spent several hours, and had everything dialed in perfect. I even went over it after I got it home and need to make no adjustments.

Tim


----------



## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Sounds like you're on the right track now ordering the dual cam HP. It's a great system and once properly adjusted has been a "set it and forget it" deal for me.

Like the others have said, they are rarely adjusted correctly by the dealers due to the time involved to get them just right. Please adjust it yourself using the resources listed in this thread. Set-up correctly the dual cam will have you towing with a smile on your face and take all the white out of your knuckles


----------

