Sway Control and What to Do About it

If you are planning on taking a trip that requires having some sort of trailer or RV or something attached to the back of your vehicle, the main thing that you need to consider is trailer sway control. What is trailer sway control, you ask? Well, in order to know what is trailer sway control, you must know what trailer sway is at all.

What is Trailer Sway?
It’s the number one cause of traveling trailer accidents, that’s what it is. There’s a lot of types of trailer sway. It basically involved, the attached trailer acting in an uncontrolled manner because of drifting off to one side or the other. This could be anything from side swiping a railing or another vehicle to causing itself and the vehicle carrying it to roll over. Trailer swaying is a real problem that people don’t consider when they are buying an RV or a motor home. Now, how can it be avoided? Trailer sway control is an important factor that you should invest in along with the trailer itself.

What is Trailer Sway Control?
Being able to control the amount of give that the trailer has in order to keep the vehicle in front and itself safe is important. There has to be a balance between enough stiffness to keep it in line and enough give to allow for it not to cause tipping during movement. People will spend plenty of money on the RV itself but not think about the connection or how to make it safe, especially first time buyers. Sellers don’t want to scare buyers away by talking about the dangers of control sway, so they don’t give them too much information about it.

What is Trailer Sway Control, Specifically?
The devices that are sold in order to assist in sway control are called sway control hitches. These are the connection from the towing vehicle to the trailer. They are various types of friction and cam system that work to control sway. However, the hitches that the salesmen ‘throw in’ are not of high enough quality to make it impossible for the trailer to sway. You can tell by the price whether or not you are getting a good hitch; more about that in the next point. Another way that sway can be controlled is by a trailer brake controller. These nifty gadgets can be used from the towing vehicle in order to cause the trailer to brake should you know it beginning to sway. However, your best bet is to stop swaying before it even starts.

How Much is Sway Control?
Okay, so like mentioned- if the dealer throws in a free hitch and claims that it is a sway control hitch you can pretty much guarantee that you have a cheap, low quality hitch. This is especially true if the hitch has no warranty. The best hitch on the market can go up to $2,000 which a 100 percent guarantee and warranty of several years. An average quality hitch will be around $200-$300 and they range anywhere between those prices.

Won’t the Hitch it Comes With Suffice?
The hitch that an RV comes with is not usually tried and tested for sway control. While it may connect the vehicles together and allow for safe, short distance towing, if you are going to be travelling cross country or doing any high speed driving, like on freeways, you want to make sure you have that extra safety feature.
Staying safe is more important than any amount of money that you spend. If you are still unsure about whether or not you should invest in a sway control hitch, just talk to an RV expert and ask them for statistics and information on swaying. If you want to ask the dealer you are buying from about it, be sure to inform them that the sale is final and you are definitely buying, but you just want to know about swaying and hitches and how to control the sway. This way you can guarantee that you get correct information without the seller fearing that he is losing his sale. You could even save your questions for after the sale is finalized. Although, you may get a better price if you buy all together.