Question about sway control

Viajero · March 2022

(Title edited for search purposes. Moderator)

Hi all. We are all dewinterized and ready to roll for the season. Quickl question. We never felt the need to get one of those sway control thingies. Trailer feels nice, feels solid and we are not experiencing any issues. But a number of folks have been surprised that we don’t use sway control. Those who are using them.

1. Did you install them because you had a problem.
2. Did you install them as a precautionary measure?
3. How are your results?

Here are a couple snaps of the combo. Geometry is good and the SUV outweighs the trailer by about 1000 pounds.

Thanks all for your input.

Horigan · March 2022

I bought a WDH with sway control for my tow vehicle only because the TV manual says sway control is required when towing above 2000 lbs. I've towed my 400 comfortably for two years without the WDH with no issues, but bought the hitch only for liability coverage. I haven't installed it yet.

Does your Tesla manual have any sway control requirements?

Viajero · March 2022

Horigan said:

I bought a WDH with sway control for my tow vehicle only because the TV manual says sway control is required when towing above 2000 lbs. I've towed my 400 comfortably for two years without the WDH with no issues, but bought the hitch only for liability coverage. I haven't installed it yet.

Does your Tesla manual have any sway control requirements?

Yes. They recommend against them. I was thinking more along the lines of the slidey friction thingy. 😊

[Deleted User] · March 2022

I will not tow without the sway bar (aka sliding friction thingy) It's one of those things that you don't know you need it until you need it and don't have it. All it will take is a big rig to blow past you or a strong gust of wind or you don't have your load distributed properly and before you can think about it you are fish tailing.

My opinion, get a sway bar.

Viajero · March 2022

TabbyShack said:

I will not tow without the sway bar (aka sliding friction thingy) It's one of those things that you don't know you need it until you need it and don't have it. All it will take is a big rig to blow past you or a strong gust of wind or you don't have your load distributed properly and before you can think about it you are fish tailing.

My opinion, get a sway bar.

Thanks Tabby.

bergger · March 2022

It probably could not hurt to get a sway bar but it just depends on your vehicle and trailer combination. It sounds like your vehicle tows the trailer very well without one. Does it have built in sway control? We tow our 400 with a full size truck that weighs a lot more than our trailer. It also has electronic sway control and tows like a champ. So we do not use an auxiliary sway control. I guess it is not an easy question to answer. With our combination I would never use a sway control. With our last combination, a toyota tacoma, I would also not use one. How does the trailer feel in windy conditions, when an 18 wheeler passes you? I don't think it could hurt having one but I'm also for not buying and having things in the equation unless I need them. Tow at safe speeds and in different conditions and then decide if you want one or not. My answer probably did not help you much!

Slackers · March 2022

We find our combo in the no-sway camp. Our Ranger has built-in electronic sway control. It had no issues pulling our 320 a few thousand miles near cross-country last summer. There were no problems with passing trucks or wind gusts.

pthomas745 · March 2022

I find it very interesting that in the last five years ( and I have the threads to prove it from this group) the idea of sway bars has gone from "definitely not needed" to "needed" for "peace of mind."

Not criticizing if you have them/want them/use them.

Grumpy_G · March 2022

My take is that friction anti-sway devices tend to cover up issues with the setup. I used to tow a regular 21ft travel trailer with a full-size truck and never had any trailer sway. The same trailer behind a mid-size SUV might behave differently but adding a friction damper is giving a false sense of security. The anti-sway in modern vehicles works better anyways as it uses gyro input.
The OP's Tesla Model 3 Y is comparatively heavy and much heavier than the trailer. No surprise it tows well. Just compare the setup with half-ton trucks with 7000 lbs GVWR towing humongous 10000 lbs trailers. That's when things get iffy....

Sharon_is_SAM · March 2022

I agree with Grumpy_G @pthomas745. Either there are more first time trailer owners with the 400 and/or they are using less than ideal TVs.

RMo · March 2022

We “inherited” our WDH with sway bars when we bought the 400, but it‘s use is recommended by Toyota and when I tow without it the camper just doesn’t follow as well or feel as “tight,” especially in corners. I’ve don’t go without it on any extended trips. It rides very well on the highway. The only time I notice the camper is there is when passing a semi pulling an auto carrier - for some reason the aerodynamics buffet the camper a little.

Viajero · March 2022

bergger said:

It probably could not hurt to get a sway bar but it just depends on your vehicle and trailer combination. It sounds like your vehicle tows the trailer very well without one. Does it have built in sway control? We tow our 400 with a full size truck that weighs a lot more than our trailer. It also has electronic sway control and tows like a champ. So we do not use an auxiliary sway control. I guess it is not an easy question to answer. With our combination I would never use a sway control. With our last combination, a toyota tacoma, I would also not use one. How does the trailer feel in windy conditions, when an 18 wheeler passes you? I don't think it could hurt having one but I'm also for not buying and having things in the equation unless I need them. Tow at safe speeds and in different conditions and then decide if you want one or not. My answer probably did not help you much!

Thankyou Bergger. Yes the Tesla model Y has built in sway control when in trailer towing mode which comes on as soon as something is plugged into the 7 pin.

I can feel it when a semi goes by but nothing drastic happens. Just a big chunk of air. Honestly we have never driven in strong cross winds with this combo so don’t know how that is. We keep it at 90 kmh or under so I’m sure that helps. We are experienced towers and compared to other combos we have towed this feels as good or better than any. It’s also the smallest. But the reason I brought it up was I have always used a weight distribution hitch which is not an option with this combo.

Thank you for your input.

John.

Viajero · March 2022

Grumpy_G said:

My take is that friction anti-sway devices tend to cover up issues with the setup. I used to tow a regular 21ft travel trailer with a full-size truck and never had any trailer sway. The same trailer behind a mid-size SUV might behave differently but adding a friction damper is giving a false sense of security. The anti-sway in modern vehicles works better anyways as it uses gyro input.
The OP's Tesla Model 3 Y is comparatively heavy and much heavier than the trailer. No surprise it tows well. Just compare the setup with half-ton trucks with 7000 lbs GVWR towing humongous 10000 lbs trailers. That's when things get iffy....

thanks for that insight grumpy. Cheers.

Tabulating · March 2022

We installed a Tuson Electronic Sway Control to the underframe of our 400.

1. Did you install them because you had a problem.
2. Did you install them as a precautionary measure?
3. How are your results?

We installed it the week we bought it. We have towed with a 4 dr Wrangler and a Grand Cherokee. Neither has had sway issues. We installed it as a preventative measure.

It is designed to only trigger in cases of bad sway while allowing little ones to occur and self-damp. We decided on this option because it should allow the trailer to give us feedback and tell us if we are loaded incorrectly. However, towing with the Wrangler put us near limits, so I bought a good scale and weighed about everything we put in the camper or vehicle.

And because I did lots of reading on the causes of sway, we drive at 60 mph. If you look for cases of sway-caused accidents, there are small rigs towing loads they never should have hooked-on or big rigs pulling their campers way too fast. Speed has a huge affect on sway.

We have never had any issues.

Viajero · March 2022

Tabulating said:

We installed a Tuson Electronic Sway Control to the underframe of our 400.

1. Did you install them because you had a problem.
2. Did you install them as a precautionary measure?
3. How are your results?

We installed it the week we bought it. We have towed with a 4 dr Wrangler and a Grand Cherokee. Neither has had sway issues. We installed it as a preventative measure.

It is designed to only trigger in cases of bad sway while allowing little ones to occur and self-damp. We decided on this option because it should allow the trailer to give us feedback and tell us if we are loaded incorrectly. However, towing with the Wrangler put us near limits, so I bought a good scale and weighed about everything we put in the camper or vehicle.

And because I did lots of reading on the causes of sway, we drive at 60 mph. If you look for cases of sway-caused accidents, there are small rigs towing loads they never should have hooked-on or big rigs pulling their campers way too fast. Speed has a huge affect on sway.

We have never had any issues.

Thanks for taking the time to relay your experience. Good info. Two thumbs up on the speed thing. Yep. Keep it in the right lane and slow down.

jkjenn · March 2022

Sharon_is_SAM said:

I agree with Grumpy_G @pthomas745. Either there are more first time trailer owners with the 400 and/or they are using less than ideal TVs.

I have also noticed an uptick with the 320, as well, and I hear, "better safe than sorry", which I think assumes a lot.

After 10's of thousands of miles towing, sometimes in significant winds across the western plains, I have never felt the need for sway bars. My current vehicle has some sway dampening built in but having the proper vehicle, loading it and distributing cargo weight properly, maintaining proper speed, proper hitch height, and safe driving are the best remedies to trailer sway control. There comes a point, where regardless of how your vehicle is equipped, it's time to pull over and hunker down due to high winds. You probably are getting pretty lousey mileage when winds hit this point, anyway.

Conversely, by introducing another device, you also introduce a new risk factor to the equation in the event it breaks or it is not installed properly.

AnOldUR · March 2022

A lot of the same type of excuses for not using a sway bar we’re used by people when seatbelts were first introduced. My friction sway bar is one of many things I do to improve safety for myself and those around me. It adds less than a minute to the time it takes to hitch up and cost me about fifty bucks to install. My choice is to always use it.

qhumberd · March 2022

This may be something everyone knows but as a new trailer owner I ran across an older publication from the RV consumer group that was pretty well laid out on towing, sway and considerations related to the physics of the TV and trailer when sway begins. I will attach here but what I learned was the the 400 axle is located far enough to the rear behind the ball, and that the wheelbase of the tow vehicle is the best predictor of how the combo will be able to recover in a sway situation. So with that I decide to go a bit more than the minimum 100 inch wheelbase that was recommended and thus got a full size truck. That has worked for me as a novice and provides some piece of mind. My worry was that anything with the proper towing power can pull the 400 if all is going well, but when something unexpected happens, then the laws of physics take over.

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