New truck sway or not to sway that is the question

esmoglo · 02-08-2016, 04:38 AM

Well I figured I’d ask those who have far more experience than I do in reference to Tow & Sway control. I had been pulling my 2016 Keystone passport ultralight with my 2011 Ford expedition EL. The expedition is rated to tow 9600 LBS however I have found it to be slightly less than relaxing while going on long trips I think a lot of that has to do with the vehicles independent rear suspension. Side note my particular Expedition EL is limited to 6000 pounds and 600-pound tongue weight because I don’t have the heavy duty trans cooler and radiator installed that’s the reason why I purchased the passport due to its light weight so I would not kill the Expedition.
Needless to say I made up my mind that I would be buying a new truck, looking at some of the half ton trucks quite frankly I had gotten sticker shock. Long story short I wound up with absolutely smoking deal on a 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD. The trucks brand-new and I guess was the 2015 left over sticker was 53K wound up paying 38.5 for the truck that is a smoking deal in my books.

Now here’s the question on the expedition I had to install the husky sway and distribution system because it was needed for the expedition to tow well and not kill the rear suspension. Now the Silverado 2500 HD has an integrated brake controller with integrated electronic sway control. Seeing that the passport is only 5100 pounds in approximately 600-pound tongue weight per my calculations I no longer need the husky sway control because the three-quarter ton truck is not going to squat much if at all and it also has electronic sway control.

I have friends that tow with their Fords and don’t use anything but the vehicles sway system, only thing I was told is that I need to get the height correct on the ball so the trailer is level.

I just want to say thank you for those of you who take time to respond I appreciate your experience in this matter. I plan on using the truck this year and taking the passport from Florida to the Grand Canyon so my hopes are this truck will tow like there’s nothing back there.

bsmith0404 · 02-08-2016, 05:58 AM

Do you NEED it? Probably not, but when it comes to sway control, more is always better. The sway control is part of the hitch so if you already had it set up for the Expedition, it only takes an extra couple minutes to hook up your WDH. I used to just hook up smaller trailers without the WD bars with my dually, obviously I didn't need them with a 1 ton, but I tried using them once just to see how much difference they made and liked the results. If I were you, I'd hook it all up. Additionally, keep in mind that your WDH is rated for much less tongue weight without the bars than it is with them.

x96mnn · 02-08-2016, 06:51 AM

Agree with Bsmith, you would not need it and probably never use it but more is always better.

BUT.....is it the husky straight line hitch? If it is I can understand you not wanting to hook it up, thing makes a ton of noise and can be hard to engage and disengage. I will state it is one of the better ones I have used that reduces sway and most likely be my choice if I needed one. My friend has that hitch and he needs it for his trailer truck combo, when I haul his camper with my 3500 I do not use it.

Mike484 · 02-08-2016, 06:55 AM

If you have it, use it, especially on your cross country trip. Even if its not needed, I'm sure it will make towing better.

cw3jason · 02-08-2016, 07:00 AM

The vehicle sway control is just sensors in the truck that can sense when the truck is loosing control. it will automatically apply the trailer brakes to get the trailer back in line. This does not occur until the trailer really starts to move the truck. The WDH with sway control is still a good idea to use and will hopefully keep you from entering that kind of white knuckle situation where the truck would have to activate its own sway control.

TallEddie · 02-08-2016, 08:00 AM

The hitch on your truck will have two ratings, Weight Carrying (WC) and Weight Distribution (WD). As long as the weight of the trailer is less than the WC rating, you do not need the bars. If it is over then you will. Your right, the truck will probably not squat at all, but you need to know what the hitch is rated to handle, that is the determining factor.

I would still use the bars, travel trailers have a lot of surface area, don't want to get in a bad situation.

Ken / Claudia · 02-08-2016, 09:13 AM

Rethink the bars. See what I have. Yes, I do not need them towing in normal conditions. I use them always. Whats is not normal, remember the 18 wheeler passing you at speeds 15mph faster than you. Or a unknown heavy side wind. It is going to make your towing safer and take you a few more mins to put on/off.
Here we have the Columbia River Gorge with head, tail and high cross winds daily for miles on I-84. Last RV wreck I went out on was a 3/4 Dodge towing A TT about 30-32 ft. without bars because he did not need them. He likely was speeding over the 65mph limit. Around a curve down a small grade and He said the trailer swayed and flipped over along with his truck. We could say other things helped flip his vehicles like, what was his reaction to the sway. Just saying, it is safer with them than without. I have been hit with unsuspecting hard cross winds, I guess until you have at highway speeds, at that moment you will want all you can have to prevent it. When 1 minute earlier you would say it was not needed.

TonyCO · 02-08-2016, 11:08 AM

The truck sway control is a built in safety feature. It only engages as a last resort. Even though your new truck is probably rated to tow that trailer without a WDH with sway control I would still use it. I have a F150 and tow about a 6500lb TT and have never had the truck sway control kick in. That's a good thing in my book!

BlueThunder34 · 02-08-2016, 12:15 PM

I agree with all the above, the factory sway control is designed to engage once significant sway is occurring. Think of it as a last ditch effort for the truck to regain control before a very bad day occurs, I don't think they were designed to be the only source of sway control. So many odd things occur out on the highway from cross winds, passing semis, blowouts, grooved pavement, etc. that you just can't predict until you're going through it at 60mph with 3+ tons in tow, I think its best to prepare as much in advance as possible to reduce potential problems.

GaryWT · 02-08-2016, 12:55 PM

First off, congrats, looks nice.

When I upgraded to a 350 with sway, I continued to use my Equil I zer hitch which includes sway. I tuned in the wdh to bring the front end of the truck down a 1/2 inch since it went up an inch when hooked up. All runs nice so that is what we do each time.

As noted, check the weight on the hitch receiver itself and it will tell you if wd is needed.

**sourdough** · 02-08-2016, 01:18 PM

Install the WDH/sway. The new truck would probably be OK most of the time but you are planning on crossing the SW where sudden heavy gusts of wind and crosswinds of 40+mph are common. HD truck or not, the right combo of those winds, semis passing you at 80mph plus etc. can turn a normal day into a life changing event. Just err on the side of safety. As far as the factory sway control, as others have said, it means nothing in the normal scheme of things until you are starting to get crossways in the highway.

Tbos · 02-08-2016, 03:54 PM

Nice new truck. Use the WD and sway control. Better safe and comfortable than sorry. Enjoy that 2500. Wish I had one.

esmoglo · 02-09-2016, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tbos

Nice new truck. Use the WD and sway control. Better safe and comfortable than sorry. Enjoy that 2500. Wish I had one.

Thanks...Yea the deal was good I could not pass it up plus I like the color combo. Dealership said if the truck was white it they could have sold it 10X over however because it was sliver nobody wanted it...guess silver is not a popular truck color? I like it so its good for me!

Thank you very much for all the replies I appreciate and value everyone’s opinion as many of you I’m sure have a lot more experience than I do.

My vehicle and has a class for hitch with trailer tow package upgrade, tongue weight max 1500 pounds for trailers for the GM book.

Now this morning I see with the conventional trailer Max trailer weight is 13,000 pounds and for a fifth wheel is 14,000 pounds.
I also was reading the manual and it does refer to weight distributing hitches and more or less per the GM manual it says in essence more is better like everyone here said. Per the manual “a weight distributing hitch may be useful with some trailers”.

Weight distributing hitch I have is the husky centerline hitch I purchased a new in October with my travel trailer that was transported from Michigan to Florida however the gentleman who towed it down with a F250 super crew didn’t actually use it he said it wasn’t necessary but I guess that’s his opinion.

Having paid $500 for the system one thing I can say it’s a bit of a pain to adjusted some of the bolts require almost 500 pounds of torque. I will adjust the sway system in next few weeks when I have time.

In regards the truck I guess I purchased more vehicle than I actually needed however I really like how high it is, and the capability of the 4WD drive system especially because we have hurricanes here in South Florida.

Now one more question my truck has a class 4 hitch and inside the vehicle there's a sleeve for class III hitch attachments that slides in to step it down these attachments work fine I should have any issues?

bsmith0404 · 02-09-2016, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esmoglo

Thanks...Yea the deal was good I could not pass it up plus I like the color combo. Dealership said if the truck was white it they could have sold it 10X over however because it was sliver nobody wanted it...guess silver is not a popular truck color? I like it so its good for me!

Thank you very much for all the replies I appreciate and value everyone’s opinion as many of you I’m sure have a lot more experience than I do.

My vehicle and has a class for hitch with trailer tow package upgrade, tongue weight max 1500 pounds for trailers for the GM book.

Now this morning I see with the conventional trailer Max trailer weight is 13,000 pounds and for a fifth wheel is 14,000 pounds.
I also was reading the manual and it does refer to weight distributing hitches and more or less per the GM manual it says in essence more is better like everyone here said. Per the manual “a weight distributing hitch may be useful with some trailers”.

Weight distributing hitch I have is the husky centerline hitch I purchased a new in October with my travel trailer that was transported from Michigan to Florida however the gentleman who towed it down with a F250 super crew didn’t actually use it he said it wasn’t necessary but I guess that’s his opinion.

Having paid $500 for the system one thing I can say it’s a bit of a pain to adjusted some of the bolts require almost 500 pounds of torque. I will adjust the sway system in next few weeks when I have time.

In regards the truck I guess I purchased more vehicle than I actually needed however I really like how high it is, and the capability of the 4WD drive system especially because we have hurricanes here in South Florida.

Now one more question my truck has a class 4 hitch and inside the vehicle there was a sleeve for class III hitch attachments that slides in to step it down these attachments work fine I should have any issues?

You won't have any issues with the class III sleeve other than the fact that they can create a little extra noise.

As for transporters not using the WD hitch, that's pretty normal. Many of them don't want to take the extra time to hook up the bars. I didn't many times, but in the end I started using them on every trailer. They can't use the sway systems for the hitches, so the only benefit they get is from the weight distribution, which I discovered gives some benefit for sway as well.

As mentioned before, check the specs on your hitch, the husky not the truck, it will have different tongue weight specs for with and without the bars. Typically it's about 1,000 lbs different. For example, my WDH has 500 lb tongue weight rating without the bars and 1,500 lb with.

CaptnJohn · 02-09-2016, 06:51 AM

Use it, just like the 9mm I carry ~~ better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

**JRTJH** · 02-09-2016, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esmoglo

Thanks...

My vehicle and has a class for hitch with trailer tow package upgrade, tongue weight max 1500 pounds for trailers for the GM book.

Now one more question my truck has a class 4 hitch and inside the vehicle there's a sleeve for class III hitch attachments that slides in to step it down these attachments work fine I should have any issues?

I've highlighted a part of your post and want to clarify that for you. Your "owner's manual" is not specific about which hitch is installed by GM on your truck. That statement indicates the "MAXIMUM" tongue weight available on any GM truck of that build, not specifically your truck.

You will find a decal on the hitch receiver mounted on your truck. DO NOT use the values in the owner's manual, but defer to the actual sticker on YOUR HITCH !!! You'll find three values on the sticker. One will be the maximum allowed weight (probably 15000 to 19000 pounds for a class 4 hitch). Then you will find two "max tongue weights". One (the smaller) will be the maximum tongue weight WITHOUT a weight distribution system and the other (the larger) will be the maximum tongue weight WITH a weight distribution system. On my F250 class 4 hitch, the numbers are: Maximum trailer 19000, maximum WD 1900 and maximum tongue weight 900. These weights are for the HITCH, the truck is rated "significantly" less, so the "smaller value" (truck rating) is the limitation.

Your hitch will have the decal that determines your limits. IT'S NOT THE TRUCK LIMITS THAT MATTER (although they do for other purposes) BUT IT'S THE RECEIVER MOUNTED UNDER THE TRUCK THAT LIMITS MAX TONGUE WEIGHT (both with and without weight distribution). Check that decal and go by what it says, and remember that you also must follow the limits of the truck. Whichever is smaller is the "rule to follow"...... Congratulations on your new tow vehicle !!!

As for the sleeve, it's an "adapter" used to reduce the 2.5" square tube down to a 2" square tube so you can use "lighter weight hitch heads"... It must be used with a 2" hitch, which is probably what you have on your "old hitch"... It may rattle some, but otherwise the sleeve makes your new truck receiver "functionally" a 2" receiver. Make sure the pin you use is rated as high as the load you'll be carrying and is the same size as the hole in the sleeve and receiver. If you use a smaller pin, (possibly to fit the hole in the hitch head) it will reduce your maximum load to the smaller pin size. "complicated" but hopefully it'll make sense to you...... If your Husky hitch head has a "small pin hole" you may want to consider having it redrilled to accommodate the larger pin that's on your truck's receiver... It'll make things "standard" for the receiver, sleeve and hitch head...........

Pmedic4 · 02-09-2016, 02:13 PM

I wasn't really going to comment about using the WDH or not, but guess I'll say, yes it would be best if you did.

However, I was more interested in your story about towing your Passport with a Large SUV, and as you noted, your setup was in the vehicle weight limits, yet About 15 years ago, we had a GMC Yukon, and it had a towing rating of 6500 pounds, and I was careful to not buy a travel trailer that pushed that weight limit. We found a 28 ft TT, probably much like yours but this was before the push to lower weights we see currently. While they slideouts were available in 2000, the ones I saw added too much weight, and that again was something I was avoiding. So we happily bought the TT, thinking we were good.

How did you say it, "I have found it to be slightly less than relaxing", and that's what made me hate that trailer from day one, it was terrible to tow. On highways, when a big truck would go by, or pass me, the trailer felt like it swung into the other lane, and I was a nervous wreck with that thing. Started with WDH, then added Sway bars, but no relief from the unwanted movement. More than any other reason, I think the issue was the shorter wheelbase of our Yukon, and probably your Expedition - even though both were XL models with about 110 inch wheelbase. Our current truck has a wheelbase of 140 inches, and that additional length makes a great deal of difference when towing. So, a longer truck is definitely a good answer!

If anything, suprised by you saying Silver wasn't a popular color. I got a great deal on my RAM 2500, too, so very pleased getting that as a 2015 leftover, but the only color they had was 'black'. I would of loved to have a Silver, White, Purple, but got Black. Oh well, maybe next year.... right

esmoglo · 02-10-2016, 05:35 PM

Just looked tonight the hitch decal states 1500LBS just like what is says in the GM manual so that numbers correct unless I'm missing something? I hooked up that the travel trailer today lowering the ball as low as possible which unfortunately is not low enough because this truck is pretty tall being a four-wheel-drive and a three-quarter ton. Truck only went down one inch I would imagine that it would be less if I had the correct height. Anyways I must say this truck tows like an animal I could hardly even feel the trailer back there. This will wind up being a much more relaxing experience for sure.

Tbos · 02-10-2016, 06:03 PM

Looks nice.

**sourdough** · 02-10-2016, 06:34 PM

Have you got the trailer loaded for travel? Full propane, water, all items loaded toward the front that go there? If so, you may have to get a longer shank on the hitch. When I went from 1/2 to 3/4 4x4 I had to purchase a longer shank for my equalizer to get the height right.

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