I've never towed with sway bars before and I had a question. In the upcoming weeks I'll be towing a 30' TT with sway bars. I was told by some here not to back up the trailer with the sway bars connected. Does this also mean that you cannot make sharp turns with the sway bars connected? I don't fully understand how they work, but if having them prevents me from making sharp turns then I may just have to tow without them. Any help??

 

Hoss, I think you are referring to the “load leveling hitch bars”. If so that is the same recommendation that was given to me. The dealer did not say anything about no sharp turns but did say that it was not recommended that I back up with the leveling bars and sway bar connected. This is due to the way the bars are set up to work but its no big deal to drop them when stopping for the night.
On another note, do your self-a favor if possible pick the trailer up a couple of days a head of time, or at least the day before you leave. Drive it to Denton or Gainesville and back. Give your self a little road time to get used to the way the truck is going to handle before you take off with the wife and baby.
I’m not trying to make you nervous but I had a 32’ that was absolutely the worst pulling trailer I ever had. I never felt safe with it. When trucks pass you be ready for the following, as the truck starts to pass the wind from it will push the rear of the trailer to the side. And due to the pressure on the hitch it will force you in the same direction, as the truck comes even with the axles of the trailer the wind will push the front of the trailer to the side. This will force you into the path of the truck.

Hopefully you will not have the same problem as I did. If I remember correctly, you have duel wheels, I did not at the time. If I can be of help setting the hitch up or helping you redo what the dealer did not do corectly let me know. I can run up there after work or on weekend. I may not be the best at it but have messed around with them some due to the last trailer I had. I will say I traded that trailer for a 5ver due to the safety concerns. If you are going to buy a trailer go with the 5ver it pulls very well and is easier to hook and unhook.

Hope you can make sense of my hen scratching if not give me a PM and I’ll send you my phone #.

 

i have the load levelers on three of my horse trailers and they are nice to have but a pain the butt if you turn sharp they will pop off. as for backing i have never had a problem. do your self a favor and keep a stack of 2x4s handy that way when you start to bring the bars up on the chain you can stack to were the bar is and grab another bite tell you get them were you want them and repet on the other side

 

No need for the 2x4. Just use the tongue jack.

1)Lower trailer on to the truck
2) hook bars and chains
3) raise the jack

If trailer is nose down, raise the truck by using the jack and rehook the bars.

 

I use the sway bars from E-quilizer on my 24 ft tt and I think they work great and have never had a problem with turning sharp or backing up. From my research, this brand is about the best out there. I have towed this tt with the sway bars and without. It is much nicer with the bars. Less sway, less bounce and much more stable in windy conditions/passing semis.

 

Bigfoot, thanks for your comments. They're very helpful.

I'm still not sure of the distinction between turning sharp while backing up and turning sharp while going forward, but maybe I'll figure it out when I see the setup.

I will be picking the trailer up in Sanger on Wednesday and driving it back to Lewisville. That's about a 45-50 minute drive. That should give me enough time to get accustomed to the feel of the trailer before heading out on Thursday night.

I do not have dual wheels, but I don't really anticipate that being a problem. I'm also not getting this from a dealer. I'm borrowing it from a guy I work with, so chances are that he'll go through the hitch setup procedure with me. I appreciate your offer.

If there is a trailer in my future I'll definitely go with a fiver. I like everything about them much better.

 

Everyone else.....thank you for your comments too. I was giving serious thought to towing this thing with no equalizer hitch at all......just a 10,000 lb drawbar and ball. Everyone seems to think that's a bad idea though.

 

Hoss be sure to take a ½” and 7/16 wrench with you. These are to readjust the sway bar when hooking up. Sometime not needed but sometimes it is. Also if the sway bar gets loose due to wear of the friction pads you can tighten it.

I think you’ll see what I mean when you see the set up. Good luck and enjoy.

 

Hoss, the biggest problem with backing up with the bars on is that it's very easy to maneuver the trailer into a tight spot by cranking it around tightly almost into a "jackknife" position. This puts a heck of a lot of stress on the bars and the chains and the chains will most likely stretch (as mine did when I forgot! )

Whereas when you're pulling the load forward it's just not possible (unless you're into an accident) to turn the trailer that sharply.

Confused yet? I think I am! Anyway, happy trailering!

 

I'm not so sure about that though. My little ole' truck will make a pretty tight turn.

 

Yeah, but your trailer will track behind proportianately.

 

Yeah, I guess that's true. So, basically, you can turn as sharp as you want while going forward, but if you try it going backwards you could mess something up.

 

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

Some sway bars use friction to control sway. The issue with backing up while having the sway bars attached relates to undue force being placed on the friction control. Forcing the sliding bar on the sway controller can lead to permanent damage to the bar. Since they run about $75 each, you might be a little annoyed if you damage one. There isn't any problem making tight forward turns with either the load levelers or sway bars. I never tow without both. However, as one the above postings stated, the load leveler bars do have a bad habit of popping out. When my wife and I spent a year RV'ing with our rig across the U.S. I got into the habit of slinging the leveler bars over the trailer tongue with a bungy cord. On more than one ocassion I discovered after a day of towing that the bungy cord had been the only thing keeping one of the load bars in place. The other thing I added to my leveler bars and sway bar was an extended hitch. It made tight backing and turning much safer and easier. The only danger in damaging my truck or trailer in a turn or backing was from an extreme jacknife. And It made "bat" turns with my rig much easier

 

I ve used load levelers for 15 years...two different sets....I would not tow a tag with out em. I never had a problem turning sharp or back ing up. I have gone to scales though on heavy loads, if your at all concerned or really want to see what they do you should go too) scale the front, then the rear seperate....and adjust your bars that way. Takes maybe 10 minutes on the scale....

Also like others said, take a wrench with you....to adjust the hook on the trailer....it is fairly important to get the chain in a verticle pull .