Two anti-sway bars?

[d49woods]

Is there any advantage to using two anti-sway bars instead of one? Found myself with an extra one and I've been tempted to install it on the other side but I won't go to the trouble if there's no benefit. Thoughts?

[LJowdy]

The other side of what? Anti sway bars are useful but too much of a good thing is bad. If you're mounting the bar on the rear drive axle of a vehicle and it keeps you from leaning, it could cause an oversteer condition. In other words the back end will lose traction and tend to swap ends with the front. If the anti sway bar is on the front steering axle and it's too stiff, the front end will lose traction and plow or 'understeer'. If it too soft the back end will oversteer (lose traction)

When setting up a race car or other high performance vehicle if the back end is too stiff
from an anti sway bar, you'll get oversteer, if the back end is to loose then the front will plow or, understeer.

[60sumtin]

Hi and welcome to iRV2.

I'm assuming you mean the friction type anti-sway bars. Yes there is a benefit IF one needs one. Two are generally recommended for trailers over 25 feet or so. You'll know it when you need a second one. I don't know if you are aware or not but there are right side bars and left side bars.

[petrel]

We installed an extra on our old travel trailer. I think it helped some. Being meticulous about how we balance the weight in the trailer helped more.

[allenb12]

On our previous travel trailer we had two it made a difference. With the newer trailer I changed to a Blue Ox Sway Pro. So much faster to hook up and disconnect.

[SmokeyWren]

Hi, d49woods, and

Originally Posted by d49woods

Is there any advantage to using two anti-sway bars instead of one? Found myself with an extra one and I've been tempted to install it on the other side but I won't go to the trouble if there's no benefit. Thoughts?

Two is better than one, regardless of trailer length or weight. But friction-based anti-sway bars indicates a cheap WD hitch. I will not tow a travel trailer with a cheap WD hitch. Instead, I want a WD hitch with built-in sway control/prevention, such as
Equal-I-Zer
Blue Ox SwayPro
Husky Centerline HD 31390
Reese Strait-Line trunnion complete with adjustable shank.

Yeah, the good hitches cost more than the cheap hitches. Welcome to the world.

Originally Posted by 60sumtin

I don't know if you are aware or not but there are right side bars and left side bars.

Right. If your one sway bar is on the right side of the tongue, the second one (including the mounting bracket) should be designed for the left side of the tongue. And the draw bar (ball mount) must have two of those itty bitty balls to connect both sway bars to the hitch head.

[60sumtin]

What you want to spend and others want to spend on a hitch is simply a matter of personal choice. Now if you want to buy all of us premium hitches I'll gladly send you my shipping address.

[aether_one]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

cut........ WD hitch with built-in sway control/prevention, such as
Equal-I-Zer
Blue Ox SwayPro
Husky Centerline HD 31390
Reese Strait-Line trunnion complete with adjustable shank.

Correct answer. The friction sway control bars are crap. Why would you want 2 pieces of crap?

Craigs list your crap and upgrade your sway control.

This Reese dual-cam upgrade kit will upgrade your current WD hitch. Best thing I ever did when I was towing TTs.

Reese - Sway Control - Dual Cam

[d49woods]

Thank you.....
A) for the information and
B) for your service in both the Air Force and law enforcement

[d49woods]

Thanks to all. I've decided to forget the sway bars and get a Husky Centerline TS hitch to replace the old one

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by 60sumtin

What you want to spend and others want to spend on a hitch is simply a matter of personal choice.

Cheap WD hitches have either no sway control or inadequate sway control. Any WD hitch that uses fiction-based sway bars may have decent weight distribution, but is only about 90% effective for sway control/prevention. IOW, they will overcome about 90% of all sway-causing conditions. The good hitches I listed earlier raise that to around 99% of all sway-causing conditions. The very expensive Hensley ProPride and the older Hensley Arrow are as good as it gets with about 99.9% effectiveness.

So anyone that chooses a cheap WD hitch is gambling they will never encounter one or more of those sway-causing conditions that can result in uncontrollable trailer sway and an upside down rig on the side of the road.

I'm not willing to gamble on the safety of my family and others on the road with me, so I choose to tow my TT with a ProPride. I don't expect everyone to invest in a ProPride or Hensley Arrow, but if they can afford a TT and a tow vehicle, they can afford a good sway-control hitch such as a Blue Ox SwayPro with which to tow the trailer.

[60sumtin]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

Cheap WD hitches have either no sway control or inadequate sway control. Any WD hitch that uses fiction-based sway bars may have decent weight distribution, but is only about 90% effective for sway control/prevention. IOW, they will overcome about 90% of all sway-causing conditions. The good hitches I listed earlier raise that to around 99% of all sway-causing conditions. The very expensive Hensley ProPride and the older Hensley Arrow are as good as it gets with about 99.9% effectiveness.

So anyone that chooses a cheap WD hitch is gambling they will never encounter one or more of those sway-causing conditions that can result in uncontrollable trailer sway and an upside down rig on the side of the road.

I'm not willing to gamble on the safety of my family and others on the road with me, so I choose to tow my TT with a ProPride. I don't expect everyone to invest in a ProPride or Hensley Arrow, but if they can afford a TT and a tow vehicle, they can afford a good sway-control hitch such as a Blue Ox SwayPro with which to tow the trailer.

I've been using such setups for 40 years and driven thousands of miles with them in all kinds of conditions. Like any piece of equipment when set up properly they do what their supposed to do so despite your speculation and opinion I'll stay with them.