Another reason for trailer sway — camper not level with tow vehicle

Verna

Just food for thought about a learning experience with a sway bar...

A friend visited this weekend and moochdocked in my driveway. She asked me to help her decide if her Some Other Brand of camper was level with the hitch with her truck. She had a terrible time with sway.  It sure didn’t look level, but I measured to be sure and the camper was going downward at the front 6” lower than the rear. 

She unhitched and I checked my hitch inventory. I found a 3” rise and she was using a 2” drop. That’s as close to 6” that we could get. And try as we might, we could not get the ball off the draw bar so we could not install her sway bar plate on the draw bar. If worse came to worse, she could stop at a UHaul or RV dealer and we were sure she could find someone to loosen the ball from the draw bar with their pneumatic tools. 

So, we put everything back together, measured and it was under 1” difference in level. When she left here, I took a photo and it sure isn’t noticeable. Her trip to her next destination was the best she has ever towed her camper with her Ram truck. Absolutely no sway, and she didn’t have to travel at 55 mph, although I didn’t ask what speed. Hopefully her gas mileage increases.  She will keep her sway bar, just in case those higher winds in the Southwest cause some sway. 

Moral of the story: if your camper sways, there may be more than one reason to investigate further. 

Denny16

Excellent point Verna, also having the front hitch too high will cause sway, more so than having it too low.  The trailer needs to be within one inch or so of being level for best towing experience.
cheers

bergger

It drives me crazy when I see people towing with un-level trailers!  It's not safe and it's irresponsible to the other people on the road.  And it's really not that hard to correct, especially if weight distribution is not needed.  

Verna

@bergger, my friend had been towing for over a year with her new tow vehicle, a Ram truck and none of our friends said anything.  This is only the second time I’ve seen her camper.  But, we’re used to our own brand names and her camper does “sit” differently than our T@B’s. Only when she mentioned it and I started taking a tape measure to the front and rear did I realize how far out of level she was. Sometimes owners are too close to their own rigs and friends aren’t familiar with other brands. 

My advice, if it looks out of level, tactfully ask if you can help with the possibly leveling the camper.  You would be paying it forward to those who helped you when you were new. 

pthomas745

Score another for having a Forum with a long "corporate" memory that remembers all this stuff.

LizAnn

How does one "measure" to determine if Tab is level with TV?  Our Tab looks slightly higher than TV but it would be great to know for sure.  Thanks.

Verna

@LizAnn, seriously, use a tape measure to measure from the ground to the bottom of the ball on the hitch, when unhitched. Then level up your T@B and measure to the bottom of the tongue that goes over the ball. Are the measurements the same, within an inch or so? 

 How much did the rear of your tow vehicle go down when the weight of the T@B was lowered onto the ball?  Measure to see how much. You may need a different drawbar to compensate for the “sag” when hitched. The tape measure will tell you the difference. 

LizAnn

Thanks.  I will measure according to your instructions!

3DogHouse

Here's another example of dealer incompetence!  I measured both my vehicle and the T@B 400 (I also go the specs online).  I said to the dealer (when I bought both my new T@B and a sway bar) that I needed a 2 inch rise for a level setup.  When they installed, they gave me a 2 inch drop - which has lead to a 4 inch drop and a lot of weight on the tongue - and a lot of bucking.

Sharon_is_SAM

Can you flip the ball mount?  Not sure if they gave you the wrong one or did not mount it correctly.

bergger

Yes you should be able to flip it.  But that usually only gives you about a 1" rise on a 2" drop.

Denny16

That that might work.  Measure the ground to bottom of coupler mount while hooked up to the TV (tow vehicle) and then disconnect the TaB coupler  and raise the TaB until it is level, re-measure to ground to bottom of hitch again, and the difference is how much you need to move the ball.  If you get 3-inches, than flipping the two bar to a 1-inch rise (plus the 2-inch drop) will do the job.  If you get 4-inches, you will need a new 2-inch rise tow bar.  

This is how I worked out the change in draw/tow bar I needed after getting a Boondock axle installed on our trailer.  Did the preliminary math like you did 3DogHouse, but I was off by one inch, and ended up needing a different drop than I had thought I would need.  The dealer had the correct draw bar, and we just swapped it out.
cheers