Curious what my best sway prevention solution would be

[TNRamGuy]

Haha. Very true about the tongue weights. Make sure that's there first.

But crap, now I want some sliders

 

[TNRamGuy]

And, never an excuse for too little junk in the truck. My goal is usually drop it level, so I am about 200 #(if I figure out how to get those sliders, maybe 205) if I stand on my bumper it doesn't do much. 500# drops about an inch. 1000# about 2",
rubber stops...drive slowly

 

[RRSBighorn]

I have shared use of an R-Pod single axle travel trailer that I use 4-5 times a a year and currently pull with a standard ball hitch with stock truck and no weigh distribution or sway bars on hitch. The dry weight of trailer is 2,535lbs and fully loaded it is at most 3,800lbs (approx 400lbs hitch weight) plus additional weight in the bed of the truck. Long story short well within capacities. The truck pulls this trailer fine but occasionally there is more sway than I would like in wind etc. Given that I am not pulling real heavy or real frequent I am curious what folks think my best options are for reducing that occasional sway without a big investment in a $600 WDH etc. Would it be good to start with the Hellwig sway bar? Are the lower cost WDH with sway bars good enough? I realize there are likely a million opinions but am curious on other's thoughts.

Towing vehicles and trailers have so many variables, so sometimes it can be hard to get the right answer. My opinion is your trailer shouldn't need wt distribution at the weight your at, but the friction sway control shown in the second post maybe fix the problem. I pull a travel trailer and have had issues since I bought My Ram from day 1. Here's a link to my first impression of towing the same trailer I had for 20 years with 2 different vehicles before the Ram.
https://5thgenrams.com/community/th...railer-sway-tire-load-index-and-rating.14333/
I never followed through here, I posted most of what I went through on my TT forum. But I wanted to point out one observation that may be part or all of your problem, and it's your tires. I had lengthy conversations on my TT website and many have come to the same conclusion that tires do make a difference in what I would call more of a tail waggle then sway. If you have a 4x4 with All Terrain tires, you are probably less prone to this problem because those tires are usually using the old Tire Ply equivalent Load Range instead of Load index. Most All terrain tires are equivalent to a C-E (6-10ply) side walls because they need to be heavier duty construction and have higher pressure ratings for the rough terrain. I think you probably have the same tires I do, 275/55R20 113T. These All season tires are made for highway driving with low noise , good handling in different conditions, and last along time. But the sidewalls are very soft and pliable to reduce noise and improve comfort. They can handle the pickup loads, but are not very good at controlling side movement that you can get from a trailer with side winds. I didn't want to install All Terrain tires because I drive 98% of the time on the road and this is my everyday vehicle. I just replaced my Bridgestone's with Continental TerrainContact Ht's. If you read the description on their website, you will see the 275/55R20 117H XL that were designed for heavier loads and trailering on 1/2 ton pickups and larger SUV's with a heavier constructed sidewall. I haven't trailered yet will in April, but the tires are very quiet, ride nice and only require 1 psi more than on posted on truck (37 instead of 36). Obviously I will pressure them up with trailer, but probably will try 40 psi to start with. The max pressure on these goes from 44 on Bridgestone (113 LI) to 51psi on Continental (117 LI).

FYI, I replaced my rear swaybar with a Hellwig, it may have helped a little, but wasn't the answer to problem,

Sorry if you already know about this, but I thought it may help someone new who's having issues and doesn't know much about how tires can affect the handling when towing.

 

[millerbjm]

Towing vehicles and trailers have so many variables, so sometimes it can be hard to get the right answer. My opinion is your trailer shouldn't need wt distribution at the weight your at, but the friction sway control shown in the second post maybe fix the problem. I pull a travel trailer and have had issues since I bought My Ram from day 1. Here's a link to my first impression of towing the same trailer I had for 20 years with 2 different vehicles before the Ram.
https://5thgenrams.com/community/th...railer-sway-tire-load-index-and-rating.14333/
I never followed through here, I posted most of what I went through on my TT forum. But I wanted to point out one observation that may be part or all of your problem, and it's your tires. I had lengthy conversations on my TT website and many have come to the same conclusion that tires do make a difference in what I would call more of a tail waggle then sway. If you have a 4x4 with All Terrain tires, you are probably less prone to this problem because those tires are usually using the old Tire Ply equivalent Load Range instead of Load index. Most All terrain tires are equivalent to a C-E (6-10ply) side walls because they need to be heavier duty construction and have higher pressure ratings for the rough terrain. I think you probably have the same tires I do, 275/55R20 113T. These All season tires are made for highway driving with low noise , good handling in different conditions, and last along time. But the sidewalls are very soft and pliable to reduce noise and improve comfort. They can handle the pickup loads, but are not very good at controlling side movement that you can get from a trailer with side winds. I didn't want to install All Terrain tires because I drive 98% of the time on the road and this is my everyday vehicle. I just replaced my Bridgestone's with Continental TerrainContact Ht's. If you read the description on their website, you will see the 275/55R20 117H XL that were designed for heavier loads and trailering on 1/2 ton pickups and larger SUV's with a heavier constructed sidewall. I haven't trailered yet will in April, but the tires are very quiet, ride nice and only require 1 psi more than on posted on truck (37 instead of 36). Obviously I will pressure them up with trailer, but probably will try 40 psi to start with. The max pressure on these goes from 44 on Bridgestone (113 LI) to 51psi on Continental (117 LI).

FYI, I replaced my rear swaybar with a Hellwig, it may have helped a little, but wasn't the answer to problem,

Sorry if you already know about this, but I thought it may help someone new who's having issues and doesn't know much about how tires can affect the handling when towing.

Appreciate the info - I am actually running Falken Wildpeak AT3 117T XL in stock size so likely very similar to your new setup. Going to have to try the friction bar idea.

 

[RRSBighorn]

Appreciate the info - I am actually running Falken Wildpeak AT3 117T XL in stock size so likely very similar to your new setup. Going to have to try the friction bar idea.

I think someone already said this, but I'd try more tongue wt., closer to 15% instead of 10%. The friction bar will probably do the most, but it wouldn't hurt to have the Hellwig sway bar. One thing that helped me with my stock 113 SL Bridgestones was to pressure the tires up more just when trailering. My trailer is a lot heavier than yours, the load sticker calls for 36 psi, but I used 44 psi in the rear, and 40-42 in the front. Just the added air pressure helped in most situations, and I definitely could drive faster and felt more stable. I also added trailer tires that went from a load C to D, and added more tire pressure, that also helped.

This device is a bit expensive, but if you tow trailers enough it's worth while owning one. I bought one 15-20 years ago, I don't use it all the time now because I know how to load my trailer, but it's easier than trying to find trailer truck scales. Obviously would still need the truck scale to determine if you've overloaded the rear axle. Watch the Video.
https://www.sherline.com/product/sherline-trailer-tongue-weight-scale/

Since you are already running XL tires, makes me wonder if I'll even notice any difference. On my travel trailer forum, there's a retired tire design engineer, and the moderator is a retired mechanical engineer that rebuilds TT for a hobby. We've had much discussion on the subject of tire sidewall stability. The mechanical guy always likes to go to load range E rated LT truck tire and said there is a very noticeable improvement, but some tires manufacturers are better than others. I didn't want to go to that extreme as I want to maintain as much of the quiet comfortable ride as possible for when I'm not trailering. I'm also trying to slow down my speeds, with some of my other trucks I pulled this trailer with over the last 20 years, I'd go 80+mph trying to get to my destination as quick as possible to save work vacation days. Now that I'm retired, trying to slow down and keep my anxiety down, not be in such a rush. If I can go 65-75 mph, not that big of deal. Slower speeds, less problem with trailer tail waggle.

 

[Booch]

I 2nd, 3rd, 4th... more tongue weight, more weight in front of the trailer axle.

 

[drydocked]

Towing vehicles and trailers have so many variables, so sometimes it can be hard to get the right answer. My opinion is your trailer shouldn't need wt distribution at the weight your at, but the friction sway control shown in the second post maybe fix the problem. I pull a travel trailer and have had issues since I bought My Ram from day 1. Here's a link to my first impression of towing the same trailer I had for 20 years with 2 different vehicles before the Ram.
https://5thgenrams.com/community/th...railer-sway-tire-load-index-and-rating.14333/
I never followed through here, I posted most of what I went through on my TT forum. But I wanted to point out one observation that may be part or all of your problem, and it's your tires. I had lengthy conversations on my TT website and many have come to the same conclusion that tires do make a difference in what I would call more of a tail waggle then sway. If you have a 4x4 with All Terrain tires, you are probably less prone to this problem because those tires are usually using the old Tire Ply equivalent Load Range instead of Load index. Most All terrain tires are equivalent to a C-E (6-10ply) side walls because they need to be heavier duty construction and have higher pressure ratings for the rough terrain. I think you probably have the same tires I do, 275/55R20 113T. These All season tires are made for highway driving with low noise , good handling in different conditions, and last along time. But the sidewalls are very soft and pliable to reduce noise and improve comfort. They can handle the pickup loads, but are not very good at controlling side movement that you can get from a trailer with side winds. I didn't want to install All Terrain tires because I drive 98% of the time on the road and this is my everyday vehicle. I just replaced my Bridgestone's with Continental TerrainContact Ht's. If you read the description on their website, you will see the 275/55R20 117H XL that were designed for heavier loads and trailering on 1/2 ton pickups and larger SUV's with a heavier constructed sidewall. I haven't trailered yet will in April, but the tires are very quiet, ride nice and only require 1 psi more than on posted on truck (37 instead of 36). Obviously I will pressure them up with trailer, but probably will try 40 psi to start with. The max pressure on these goes from 44 on Bridgestone (113 LI) to 51psi on Continental (117 LI).

FYI, I replaced my rear swaybar with a Hellwig, it may have helped a little, but wasn't the answer to problem,

Sorry if you already know about this, but I thought it may help someone new who's having issues and doesn't know much about how tires can affect the handling when towing.

Let us know how the Continentals do towing. That's the exact tire I'm planning on replacing my original Bridgestone's with.