Rear sway bar

[Brantlyj]

The 2020 F-350 I just bought did not have the camper package, which is basically just a sway bar added.

Would it be worth the $700 to add an aftermarket sway bar?
If it matters I’ll be towing a 14,000lb gross weight 5th wheel.

[sourdough]

Brant I am assuming you have a different trailer now from the Hideout? I would try the combo before adding the anti sway - a 1 ton truck is pretty stout. The sway bar is after all an "add on" and can be done any time.

My trailer is approx. 14k gvwr on my 1 ton truck albeit a Ram and I have zero issues. I don't recall if it had a HD sway bar or what on it and that documentation is back at the house in TX. It is 4x4 and you didn't mention what yours is. I wouldn't worry about it until you put a few miles on the setup to see...I bet it will be OK.

[Brantlyj]

Yea, I need to update my sig. the truck is a 2020 F-350 CCLB. And I bought an Arcadia 5th wheel that is 39 ft OAL

Originally Posted by sourdough

Brant I am assuming you have a different trailer now from the Hideout? I would try the combo before adding the anti sway - a 1 ton truck is pretty stout. The sway bar is after all an "add on" and can be done any time.

My trailer is approx. 14k gvwr on my 1 ton truck albeit a Ram and I have zero issues. I don't recall if it had a HD sway bar or what on it and that documentation is back at the house in TX. It is 4x4 and you didn't mention what yours is. I wouldn't worry about it until you put a few miles on the setup to see...I bet it will be OK.

[chuckster57]

I have had 4 fivers and 2 different trucks. First was a 1984 F250 extended cab long bed. It didn’t have any “package” on it and it hauled my ‘97 Jayco 323RKS without any sway.

You will find that hauling a fiver is much different from a bumper pull. I agree with Danny, don’t spend the money unless you encounter it, which I doubt you will

[dutchmensport]

Maybe I'm confused here, but I've never heard of installing a sway bar for towing a Fifth Wheel? Am I missing something here?

[fjr vfr]

I believe the camper package is for owners installing a truck camper over their bed. The sway bar is to counter the higher center of gravity. It doesn't apply to pulling a 5th wheel trailer.

[Brantlyj]

Sounds like a plan. It was nothing I was seriously considering. Just a thought that came into my head last night and thought I’d see what others with with more experience in 5th wheels thought.

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I have had 4 fivers and 2 different trucks. First was a 1984 F250 extended cab long bed. It didn’t have any “package” on it and it hauled my ‘97 Jayco 323RKS without any sway.

You will find that hauling a fiver is much different from a bumper pull. I agree with Danny, don’t spend the money unless you encounter it, which I doubt you will

[Brantlyj]

Nope, just seeking opinions from people with more experience than myself. Sounds like it’s not worth my money.

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

Maybe I'm confused here, but I've never heard of installing a sway bar for towing a Fifth Wheel? Am I missing something here?

[gearhead]

I have the somewhat heavy (17,000+#) 5th in my signature and a relatively heavy (4,000) cabover camper and the 3500 dually Ram. I bought a Hellwig "Bigwig" sway bar when I had a SRW. It needed it. I transferred that same sway bar to my dually. I can back off 2 nuts on the sway bar to disable it. I always have it disabled when just driving around town. I reconnect it when carrying the cabover. I never have towed the 5th with it connected. All the pin weight of the 5th being centered over the gooseneck ball creates no "polar moment of inertia" to induce sway to the truck.
Save your money.

[NH_Bulldog]

There is no need to add a sway bar with a 5th wheel. It is intended to address body roll under certain conditions like a slide-in camper unit or maybe a big bumper pull with weight distribution. Neither is a factor with a conventional 5th wheel hitch or goose ball.

[zalewskim]

I added a Hellwig sway bar to tthe rear axle of my 2003 F250 SD 4x4. $345.55 in 2017; worth it.

[Whitty]

A rear sway bar is a game changer for hauling the 13’6” tall 5th wheels you see on the road. You will never feel the effects of a crosswind or the wind rush of a semi on a two lane hwy again. I installed sway bars on my last two trucks. I wouldnt have a truck without one. My current truck is a GMC SRW 3500HD.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by Whitty

A rear sway bar is a game changer for hauling the 13’6” tall 5th wheels you see on the road. You will never feel the effects of a crosswind or the wind rush of a semi on a two lane hwy again. I installed sway bars on my last two trucks. I wouldnt have a truck without one. My current truck is a GMC SRW 3500HD.

My Ram dually pulling our 18,000# Landmark that is 13'3" tall, with the Hellwig BigWig disconnected is rock steady. No truck gusts. Only way I can tell if the wind is blowing is looking at the trees.
Difference between a dually and a SRW.

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by Whitty

A rear sway bar is a game changer for hauling the 13’6” tall 5th wheels you see on the road. You will never feel the effects of a crosswind or the wind rush of a semi on a two lane hwy again. I installed sway bars on my last two trucks. I wouldnt have a truck without one. My current truck is a GMC SRW 3500HD.

I am STILL confused and completely lost on this. I have never heard of a sway bar for use when towing a fifth wheel. Are you talking about a conventional pick-up truck and a conventional RV fifth wheel? If so.... where is a "sway bar" attached and what does it look like? Please share.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

I am STILL confused and completely lost on this. I have never heard of a sway bar for use when towing a fifth wheel. Are you talking about a conventional pick-up truck and a conventional RV fifth wheel? If so.... where is a "sway bar" attached and what does it look like? Please share.

This is on a Ram but basically the same thing on all the trucks. I've added them previously to Rams;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umyVDgiQhvY

[notanlines]

From www.crossroadstrailers.com:
“ Fifth-wheels do not need sway bars. One of the major benefits of a fifth wheel is the way it pulls from over the axle it is much more stable. Travel trailers however can benefit greatly from a sway control hitch.”
I know of no one in our towing history who installed a sway bar to tow a fifth wheel.

[NH_Bulldog]

The item being discussed is an anti-sway bar or anti-roll bar. It is a torsion type bar installed between the rear axle of the truck and the frame of the truck. In trucks, the idea is to prevent body roll when a high center of gravity load is carried in the bed of the truck, such as a slide-in camper shell. It could also have a small benefit in situations where a bumper-pull trailer is being towed using a weight distribution hitch with or without its own sway control.

This anti-roll bar has almost no benefit to a truck pulling a 5th wheel or gooseneck since the connection pivots by design and the weight transfer point is directly over the rear axle. Take a look at the biggest and heaviest 5th wheels out there ……an 18 wheeler. Do they have an anti-sway bar? Do they sway uncontrollably down the highway? No and no.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

I am STILL confused and completely lost on this. I have never heard of a sway bar for use when towing a fifth wheel. Are you talking about a conventional pick-up truck and a conventional RV fifth wheel? If so.... where is a "sway bar" attached and what does it look like? Please share.

A sway bar, or more correctly, an anti sway bar, connects each frame rail to the rear axle. This locks the frame to the axle. The bar itself has some torsional twist and resistance to twist depending on its diameter.
You can sometimes see the bar hanging down under the rear differential.