SCOPE TESTS THE EAZ-LIFT SWAY CONTROL
TO SWAY OR NOT TO SWAY...That is the question?
Whether it's a small nineteen foot travel trailer or a huge thirty footer
'tis better to oust the evil that takes you off the beaten path!
By Harold Merton
Towing a travel trailer can be an enjoyable experience as long as one
has the proper equipment. Of course a weight distribution hitch is a must
in my opinion for any size travel trailer because of the control one regains
when an equalizing hitch system is put into place. You don't have to have
a lot of experience to understand that if you put a three or four thousand
pound trailer on the back of your car or pickup truck
you will be totally changing the road handling characteristics of your
vehicle.
because your trailer has wheels and a suspension system to take up some of that load, but even adding a few hundred pounds hitch weight to the rear of the tow vehicle causes a lift in the front end which effects steering and control of the vehicle. The job of the weight distributing hitch is to do just as its name suggests - distribute the weight over the entire tow vehicle rather than just on the rear.
One of the most respected names in towing products is Eaz-Lift, the
world's largest manufacturer of trailer hitches with a factory right here
in
London, Ontario. Back in 1952 M.H. Mathisen, the company founder, developed
the first Eaz Lift weight distributing hitch and in the early 1960's he
invented the sway control, a necessary item to stop fishtailing in the
larger self-contained, tandem axle trailers that were then entering the
RV market.
In 1969, four years after Scope began publication, Eaz-Lift announced
that they were coming to Canada and built a factory in London. That plant
continues today. Their Sway Control system is the subject of this article.
As you tow your trailer down the highway, your connection between the
tow vehicle and the trailer is the pivotal point where your trailer's
tongue
coupler clamps onto the ball of the trailer hitch which is attached to
your
tow vehicle. It is obvious that any strong pressure from either side against
the trailer could cause the trailer to move or sway to one side or the
other. This side pressure can come from a variety of sources including
strong gusts of wind or air pressure from passing trucks or buses. If
you have never experienced what can happen when a sudden gust pushes your
trailer to the side, consider it a situation that you do not need to experience
in life. It can be frightening and can lead to disaster if not handled
properly.
I vividly remember the first time it happen to me! I was towing a sixteen
foot travel trailer along the highway at about 50 miles per hour when
I left a stretch of trees that lined both sides of the highway. I was
also descending down a slight grade and for this reason I probably let
off on the gas pedal pressure a little bit. Once I passed out of the trees
a strong wind hit the side of my trailer and pushed it sideways. It was
a horrible experience because the movement of the trailer caused the front
end of my tow vehicle to move as well. By slowing down slightly just before
I left the trees I had unknowingly made conditions ideal for this to happen.
When the trailer reached its limit to one side it then traversed back
to
the other side and again repeated itself. This is fishtailing! One of
the worst things one can do in this situation is to apply the brakes on
the tow vehicle and fortunately I knew enough to step on the gas rather
than the brake. By stepping on the gas I put pulling pressure on my hitch
system. I then gingerly applied only the trailer brakes slightly. This
pulled the trailer back into line with my tow car. I was then able to
slowly decrease my speed until I felt I had things under control. I had
a close friend who experienced the same problem but they were either unable
to speed up or applied the brakes. Their trailer leaned over so
severely each time it hit its limit that the road surface sanded a couple
of inches off each side as it went back and forth. This continued until
they were able to stop without the trailer flipping over. A flip over
is a common result of severe fishtailing that is not handled correctly.
It did so much damage in this case that the trailer was a total
write-off. Not only were a few inches ground off each side of the bottom
of the trailer but appliances and the contents in the trailer were thrown
about doing severe interior damage as well. This is why Ontario and a
great many other jurisdictions do not allow anyone to ride in a travel
trailer while in tow. Can you imagine what kind of shape a person would
be in being struck with the things that flew about in this case.
Fortunately no one was hurt but it could have been a disaster if the driver
had not handled the situation in the way they did. What we do in a moment
of emergency is directly related to what we have learned while training
and in my case I was fortunate that I knew not to brake but rather to
speed up. A modern day sway control system could have prevent this problem
but it took place in the early 1960 just about the time sway controls
were coming into use.
When we decided to return to trailering about two years ago a good
equalizing hitch and a pair of sway controls was a must because we planned
to tow a trailer that measured almost 30 feet in length and weighed about
5,000 lbs. Our tow vehicle was a Lincoln Aviator and even though the vehicle
was a hefty one the trailer was longer than the tow vehicle. EazLift's
Sway Control system is mounted on the trailer tongue by a qualified RV
service technician. Ours was installed by Scott at TrailerMart in London,
the dealership that supplied the trailer. Our hitch was installed by the
folks at Trailer Hitch Center in London who have done all our hitch work
for the past thirty plus years. A small ball similar to the hitch ball
is mounted on the hitch assembly to the side of the main ball. If you
opt as we did for dual sway controls (one of each side of the tongue)
then a small ball is mounted on both sides of the hitch.
At our RV dealership Scott attached the plates for the other end of the
sway controls to each side of the trailer tongue. The sway control is
basically a brake pad system that does not allow the shaft that is fastened
to the trailer tongue to move. When pressure from the side pushes the
trailer, the shaft on the sway control binds against the pad
and does not move. If the trailer can't move to the side direction it
stays
where it is - straight behind the tow vehicle. As we travelled on a 7,000
mile plus trip last winter through the southern United States and into
Texas we were thankful many times that the sway control system was in
place. Drivers in that area don't have the same consideration for vehicles
towing RVs as at home and many times we found ourselves having to brake
quickly and hang on to the wheel because a transport or large bus had
blown by us at 60 or 70 miles per hour pushing a ton of air against the
side of the trailer. As an example of how close some of them drive in
Texas one truck took off my driver's side trailer mirror at 55 miles per
hour. He was cutting from lane to lane and fortunately missed the trailer
but misjudged when he came to the tow vehicle with the protruding mirror.
No he didn't stop to offer to cover any damage but rather cut over another
three lanes so he could exit and be out of our sight. Fortunately damage
was limited to the trailer mirror and a
replacement was purchased the next day.
Time and time again the Eaz-Lift sway controls did their job and kept
our 30 foot trailer in line behind our tow vehicle no matter what buzzed
by us. It was interesting to note that on one very windy day another trailer
tower pulled into a rest area behind us and the driver came over to ask
a question. "How long is your trailer?' was the first question followed
by "how come your trailer doesn't wag back and forth like mine does?"
I simply pointed out the sway controls on my rig then reached into my
vehicle and handed both other drivers a copy of Scope opened to the page
with the Eaz-Lift Canada ad inside suggesting they might like to invest
in what I consider a very inexpensive insurance policy - the sway controls.
One decided immediately that he was heading for Camping World to get a
set. With the sway controls on the vehicle the sway is stopped almost
as soon as it begins. You still notice the push from the air of the big
vehicles but it is a pleasant experience knowing that those two sway controls
are keeping the trailer from moving.
This is one trailer accessory that I would not be without and I ecommend
anyone purchasing a hitch should be buying sway controls as well.
For further information contact:
Eaz-Lift Spring Corporation,
80 Bessemer Road,
London, ON N6E 1R1
Telephone 519.681.1410 or
toll free 877.646.7305
You can also visit their new Canadian website at www.eazlift.ca