Need advice on reducing travel trailer sway

[JohnDar]

Re: Still swaying!

I'm a bit confused, perhaps because my hitch was different when we pulled a TT. You said you raised the position of both sway bars. On our TT rig, the two round bars, hung with chains from the tongue, were the weight distributing bars, not sway bars. The anti-sway device was a separate piece that connected to the hitch and the tongue of the trailer on small ball mounts. The anti-sway device was a flat bar that rode inside another section and worked on friction. It was adjustable by tightening the lever handle.

In regards to the axle, it seems a coincidence that that bend is almost centered on the damaged part of the label. Get under there and inspect it for marks that might indicate it was damaged.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Re: Still swaying!

Just checked the specs on the 30QOK. The dry tongue weight is only 459# against a dry TT weight of 5995#. That's very light, less than 8%. So that light tongue weight, a short wheelbase TV, and less than optimal fore-aft load balance wil give you guaranteed sway.

I agree 100%! And let's not forget the possibility of some bicycles hanging off a rack in the back....Don

 

[berky]

Re: Tires

Nathan, the others are correct about the axle sag. It should be arched up in the center.

I just checked the axles on my NT 26LRSS. There are about as straight as can be, maybe a 1/16" bend toward the top. Considering the normal axle load is at the outer ends of the axle tube, it would seem that the only ways the tube could be bent that much:
- a major manufacturing defect.
- one side of the trailer was pulled over a curb at, oh say ..... 60 MPH.
- the trailer was jacked up at the middle of the axle tube, and then for some unknown reason the axle was turned over???

In any case with that much bend a tire or bearing is going to fail prematurely.

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

Re: Still swaying!

I am not sure what I am talking about, but: with your last adjustment did you take even more tongue weight off your tow vehicle? I have always believed that the WD hitch was to make certain one would make sure there was enough weight on the hitch.

 

[pattihobe]

Re: Still swaying!

I think the purpose of the WD hitch is to evenly distribute the tounge weight to the tow vehicle, keeping the front and rear of it dropping the same distance.

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Still swaying!

I think the purpose of the WD hitch is to evenly distribute the tounge weight to the tow vehicle, keeping the front and rear of it dropping the same distance.

You are correct. The WDH is to distribute the some of the weight to the front tires of the TV by actually lifting the frame at the rear, so that everything rides level. Otherwise, you might be bothering sleeping squirrels if you tow at night, or praying for a stiff cross-breeze when you need to make a turn.

 

[Nathan]

Re: Still swaying!

Ok.. Sorry for it taking so long to answer this thread. I thought I had subscribed to it. Here are some of the questions that came up that I can anwer.
1) I never put bicycles on the back and in fact I took off the Grill attachement from the rear bumper to take even more weight off.
2) I put as much as in front as possible.
3) MY WDH hitch is a trunion E-2 Fastawy trailer hitch. If you look at the attached picture you can see that I simply moved the bolts up to make a seemingly "tighter" connection.

All of points 1,2,3 seemed to help a bit but the trailer has not been right. So there were some other issues with the trailer as well such as the heater didn't work, the lp gas detector didn't work, the electric portion of the water heater didn't work so it went in for service last week. Obvoiusly, I was dissapointed with all of the issues going on with the trailer as this is seemingly very not "Heartland" like. As soon as I pulled into the lot the service manager told me that the rear axle on the trailer was junk. I suspect that it was installed improperly at the factory but I will find that out later. This also put strain on the "good" axle which will also have to be replaced. The rear axle tires he described as "pigeon toed". The top of the tires were pointed inward due to the axle being faulty. This will most certainly cause the trailer to sway.
So what did I do? I have previously been communicating with my Service Manager at my dealership in regards to the on going issues. I sent those emails along with another detailed email to Heartland to explain what has been going on with my trailer. Since then, I have spoken with both Heartland and my Service Center and they are both assuring me that all of my issues will be taken care of. Both Heartland and my Service Center said that they were "on it". I took this as they were working together to aggressively solve my on going and current issues with the coach. I will post once I get my trailer back in regards to how the trailer is towing the coach after it is set up as it is designed. I have a trip scheduled for mid next week so I am really hoping that it is fixed by then.
At this point even though my coach has had issues I am still satisfied that both my dealership and Heartland are working together to resolve the problems.

I also wanted to sincerely thank all of you that have taken the time to respond to try to help a fellow Heartland Owner out. This forum is great! Thank you again.

 

[traveler44]

Re: Still swaying!

When I had a pull trailer I pulled it with a PULL-RITE hitch and sometimes I would forget the trailer was back there. The pull-rite hitch is designed to pull the sway out because the pull point is on a swivel at a point under the truck. Almost like a pivot point for the fifth wheel. I have a fifth wheel hitch on the top and the pull rite hitch mounted underneath right now. Tom

 

[ThomasG]

Re: Still swaying!

Looking at the specs for your vehicle and your camper i think your over the limits of the towing vehicle and if your suspension and front end is not in perfect shape this can easy cause some serious sway. I'm new to camping but i have hauled a lot of vehicles around on trailers and i have some bad experiences with sway.

 

[Nathan]

Re: Still swaying!

My truck will pull 7700 pounds. I am near the limit but definately not over it. I would like to purchase a new vehicle but that is still at least a year away. The wheel base is short but if you have been reading this thread it is absolutely the axles which are both bad that have caused the trailer sway. I should be getting the rig back soon and I will report on how the trailer is pulling.

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

Re: Still swaying!

You are correct. The WDH is to distribute the some of the weight to the front tires of the TV by actually lifting the frame at the rear, so that everything rides level. Otherwise, you might be bothering sleeping squirrels if you tow at night, or praying for a stiff cross-breeze when you need to make a turn.

I guess that is my point. If one takes the weight and moves it from the rear axle to the front axle the whole set up becomes squirrel-y. Perhaps an anti-sway break or device needs to be added to your rig. Here is a link to a white paper you can receive via email. Let me know what y'all think.
http://blog.hensleymfg.com/google-ad-trailer-sway-b?gclid=CIfK1YSW7LECFQUUKgodjyEA5w