Visible Sway of Tab 320, but no TV Sway

JabGopher

Today was a day of towing with many firsts. First time towing with a body on frame vehicle. First time towing with some decent crosswinds. First time towing with a nice V8

Tab 320S loaded with most of the trailer loaded forward of the axle, including full main tub and side tubs. 
TV: Ram 1500, Crew cab, Short bed ... weighing about 6200 lbs or so.

What I noticed today was interesting. First the body on frame meant the tow felt solid and I certainly felt less of the trailer through the body of the vehicle, like it was on my Volvo. Next, when going above 60mph or so and the crosswinds hit, I could see the trailer swaying a bit before the gusts would die and the trailer would settle down. Expectedly, there was zero drama in the truck and if I hadn't been watching the side mirrors, I wouldn't have known of the sway. This is of course expected with the wheelbase and the weight ratios of the TV and Tab.

That said, I was curious as to whether a sway bar would help calm things down in these cases? I'm assuming of course that the trailer had proper tongue weight- there was no sway when the crosswinds were calm. The one downside that I foresee is losing my adjustable hitch setup that I have dialed in.

MuttonChops

Check your TV owners manual, etc.  Believe the 2021 RAM (like other pick-ups) has Trailer Sway Control included it the 'Electronic Stability Control' feature.

My experience with the GM version of the feature is that it works well and I only notice trailer sway under very rare and abnormal conditions.

Have not heard of very many owners with Stability Control Trailer Sway Control feature adding a sway bar to the trailer.

JabGopher

Thanks! I believe it does have the electronic sway control, but I suppose that's mainly for the TV itself and does nothing to the trailer. I sensed no sway in the truck but seeing the trailer swaying a bit here and there was certainly a bit unnerving.

MuttonChops

JabGopher said:

. . . believe it does have the electronic sway control, but I suppose that's mainly for the TV itself and does nothing to the trailer.

My understanding of Trailer Sway Control is that the TV Computer senses the trailer trying to move the TV rear side-2-side.  Then based on an array of vehicle data like MPH, road grade, engine RPM, etc the computer adjusts the TV brakes (individually) and engine RPM to reduce then stop the swaying.

Am sure there are limits but for typical highway and typical cross-wind conditions the Engineers came up with a neat and reliable system.

Grumpy_G

No. The little T@b is getting buffeted around in the wake of the tow vehicle and the wind. Compared to my previous Northwood Nash travel trailer the T@b is more "nervous" but it doesn't affect the tow vehicle at all because of the low weight. 

Curious though how your 1500 is 6200 lbs. My Ram 2500 is 6300 lbs empty.... 

JabGopher

Grumpy_G said:

No. The little T@b is getting buffeted around in the wake of the tow vehicle and the wind. Compared to my previous Northwood Nash travel trailer the T@b is more "nervous" but it doesn't affect the tow vehicle at all because of the low weight. 

Curious though how your 1500 is 6200 lbs. My Ram 2500 is 6300 lbs empty.... 

I suppose I should clarify. For yesterday’s trip, I was estimating we were weighing about 6200 lbs. My trips to the county dump means I was on their scale as recent as last week. “Empty”weight with just me and usual everyday gear was 6,050lbs or so. This includes a fiberglass camper shell. Come to think of it, I probably forgot another 30-50lbs of gear including the weight of the draw bar. 

Yesterday’s tow was not for camping. We’re moving so I was towing my tab with wife and kid to a friend’s place so didn’t have any camping gear to add weight. 

Dutch061

MuttonChops said:

Have not heard of very many owners with Stability Control Trailer Sway Control feature adding a sway bar to the trailer.

FMC recommends (and others too I am sure) that if you are going to use any type of anti-sway device that you turn off the trailer sway control in the vehicle.

Brad

P.S our 2020 400 BDL does the same behind our 2017 F-150. Yes, I know that my signature shows a 3/4 ton diesel that was supposed to be delivered 2 months ago now.

William_Keever

@JabGopher We have a 2021 Ram 1500 as well for our tow vehicle. This summer we traveled 4500 miles, and our experience seems to be the same as yours. If it weren’t for the mirrors, I would not have known the Tab had a slight sway to it on occasion. One thing that seem to help for us was to tow with a full tank of water. 

Ron

Most important is 10-12 % tongue weight.  My 2016 was very light on the tongue when I got it.  “That didn’t last though”. 
You also need to to have the Tab level or slightly nose down.  Towing nose up can lead to sway problems.  I tow with a 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, so the drop of the hitch is fairly long to get the Tab level.  Mine does not sway at all.

WilliamA

Something many folks who struggle with trailer sway don't think about is trailer "toe". There are lots of YouTube videos about checking toe and it's not hard to do. One obvious sign of trailer toe issues is weird tire wear patterns on the trailer. If you've got too much toe (toe-in) you'll be able to feel/see the tire wear as knife-edge little rubber ridges pointing to one side of the tire. If you have trailer "toe-out", it'll be in the opposite direction. Trailer toe-out, even a little bit, will cause lots of trailer sway. 

WilliamA

[Deleted User]

William_Keever said:

@JabGopher We have a 2021 Ram 1500 as well for our tow vehicle. This summer we traveled 4500 miles, and our experience seems to be the same as yours. If it weren’t for the mirrors, I would not have known the Tab had a slight sway to it on occasion. One thing that seem to help for us was to tow with a full tank of water. 

Brand new owners here, and this comment is exactly why I'm here. Our 2021 320/S Boondock is going on its first trip tomorrow. Owner's manual suggests that you should travel with an empty fresh water tank to reduce sway, but how does that make sense if we're dry camping?  I know this is a basic question, but we have to start somewhere, right?

William_Keever

@Ping, I called NuCamp and asked them about this. They said it’s okay to travel with a full tank. 

manyman297

I had some sway in the trailer when I went above 65 towing our 400 back from the dealership (about 400 miles). Installed a sway friction control and it definitely helped control that sway.

[Deleted User]

Thanks William.  I was inclined to ignore what I read, but you hate to mess up first time out!  In your opinion, is full better than a partial tank because there's less shifting in a full than partially-full?

webers3

I have a 320, without sway bars, without weight distribution, traveling with full tanks until I get to a place where I can dump them, between 60-65mph, never experienced any sway, what am I doing wrong?

AirBoss

Sense is there are soooo many variables at play when it comes to towing. Some in our control (TV, load distrubution, anti-sway, tank status, on and on) and some outside our control (weather, winds, road surface, traffic, etc). 

I found it best to experiment a bit and what works best for me is: load TV with heavier gear on or in front of rear axle (except the large Bison cooler...gotta have quick acces to that!); use friction anti-sway; fill H2O tank (full...otherwise it will slosh from side to side); holding tanks empty (except perhaps when attempting to "clean" the black tank while travelling); max speed 60mph. Seems to work...Otto tracks like a hound-dog on a scent.

I do wonder if and to what degree an deflector mounted on the front of the TV roof rack would do any good. Concern there would be vibration and wind noise in the TV. 

Anyone?  

William_Keever

@ping, A lot of people do suggest full is better than partial, and that’s probably true. I’ve watched other vehicles travel down the road that have big tanks for pressure washing (etc) and noticed that partial tanks do slosh a lot more. 

[Deleted User]

webers3 said:

I have a 320, without sway bars, without weight distribution, traveling with full tanks until I get to a place where I can dump them, between 60-65mph, never experienced any sway, what am I doing wrong?

you're my hero - and if that's the result, we'll hope to be the same level of "wrong" as you!

Slackers

We're right there with @webers3  with our TV 320 CSS combo experience.  The TV has a towing package (so electronic sway control is built-in).  On a recent epic trip we traveled across windy plains, mountain passes, and occasionally (but briefly) exceeded 65 MPH without any noticeable sway problems.  Fresh water and sometimes grey tanks were usually holding liquids. As with all things towing your experience may be different but hoping yours is similar to ours.

jtalarek

For what it's worth, everything I have read about trailer sway recommends a safe towing speed of 55 mph.  I find I am usually OK at 55-60 but I do experience issues much over 60 mph.  Also, I removed the spare tire from under the back of my 2019 320 T@B and carry it under the sofa for weekend trips or in the TV if I need the storage for longer trips.

johnfconway

As desert dwellers we're rue to waste water. Finally have it down to number of gallons needed in fresh water tank based on number of nights dispersed camping. Often it's 18 gallons in 30 gallon tank. Like @webers3 we experience no sway. If we're "side-sloshing", you would not know it. Also not worth it to be hauling the extra 100+ pounds of excess water.