Sing4Mi
Fresno
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Joined: 11/28/2002
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I'm afraid this will sound really stupid but, if it was a friction sway control, was it tight enough.
I discovered at one point that, although I had tightened the handle of the sway control quite well, I was still getting sucked into the trucks and busses. By accident I noticed that the bottom bolt was loose and no matter how tight the top was, it wasn't opperating correctly.
After tightening the bottom bolt it worked much better.
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HuntingSteve
Peoria, Il
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Joined: 08/14/2003
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down,
When you say "Equal-i-zer", were you using a regular weight distribuing hitch with a single friction bar or the Equal-i-zer Brand?
Steve and family
Looking for a new travel trailer and tow vehicle as soon as insurance check comes in.
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hit_escape
Helena, MT
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Joined: 07/13/2003
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[quote] The trailer had a hitch weight of 380 lb., and the heaviest cargo I was carrying was a full tank of fresh water (water tank was at the rear of the trailer). Up front, the heaviest cargo was 40 lb. of LP gas (two full 20 lb. bottles) and two marine batteries... nothing that would have caused the tongue weight to exceed 10-15% of the total trailer weight, as recommended by GMC.
quote]
It seems odd they placed the water tank at the rear of the trailer because it would reduce the tongue weight when full. I put a 5 gallon jug of water in the back of my trailer and experienced extreme sway on flat road with almost no wind. That was only 45 lbs of leverage against the tongue. You could easily have had over 150 lbs of weight lifting the tongue. Normally my rig is pretty steady with no sway control. These things happen, but if you really want to take a hard look at something, I would look at reduced tongue weight because of the water. I don't think the problem was exceeding the tongue weight, rather, it was very likely too light.
BTW, I get a dual cam sway control installed on Tuesday.
Note: Due to invalid formatting, all formatting has been ignored.
,Bill
Lovely wife of 30 years.
2009 5.7l Tundra Double Cab, OEM Tow Package, 6,200 lbs loaded
EU3000 Generator
Equal-i-zer
Hayes Brake Controller
2003 26' Trail-Lite 8263s Slide Out, 3,900 lbs dry weight.
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down but not out
Gunnison, Colorado, USA
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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The Envoy came with a factory installed weight distributing hitch receptacle. My actual hitch was an Equal-i-zer brand bolt-style hitch. Sway bars ran from two sockets on the hitch head (where the ball was) to brackets mounted on the outside of the trailer tongue. Each bar was held in place on its tongue bracket by an L pin. The pin was an inverted L whose short section hooked over the bar and whose long section went down through a hole in the tongue bracket. A clip through a hole in the L pin held the L pin in place on the tongue bracket.
If the Equal-i-zer sway control system utilizes friction, where does the friction occur? Between the sockets and the hitch head on the car or between the bars and the tongue brackets on the trailer?
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down but not out
Gunnison, Colorado, USA
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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Found my brake controller info. I had a Voyager controller, made by Tekonsha. It was an inertia-activated proportional braking system.
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RogerC
Winchester, VA
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Joined: 02/20/2002
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Quote: My trailer weighed in well under 5000, loaded as it was at the time of the accident. I don't know what the tongue weight was that day. The trailer had a hitch weight of 380 lb.
At 5000lbs loaded, hitch weight needed to be 500lbs minimum. I'll assume that you're calculating the 380 lbs from dry weight on a 199DB Captiva, and not that you were running at that weight.
Regardless, based on that trailer's design, much storage, and the tanks are aft of the axles. You've already said your water was full, so there's 32gallons at 8lbs/gal taking weight off your tongue. It's entirely possible that you were way too light on tongue weight.
Couple that with what you've described as a wind shear, and it's more than probable that you exceeded the vehicles ability to control. A sway device by nature will minimize/negate sway, but is not the catch all/cure all that will make it never happen. Were this to go to a product liability court, I'd venture that the case would get chewed up and spit out.
Reality is that you were running a short wheelbase tow vehicle on a soft suspension, most likely with P rated passenger tires, with a high profile sail dragging behind it and were caught by a wind that overcame the rig's ability to control. I'm not saying that the Envoy won't tow it, or that you're out of limits, but I think that blaming the sway control is a bit of a reach. There are other factors at work here from a mechanical standpoint, not even factoring in whether driver error in not manually applying the brake controller or improperly steering etc. was involved.
That said, thank goodness that you're OK. Vehicles can be replaced easily.. people can't.
Roger and Teresa Crawford
Winchester, VA
2003 Ford Exploder NBX
2004 Jeep Rubicon (Dads's Toy)
2005 Surveyor 236ST
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jimbozamboni
West Michigan
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Joined: 03/04/2003
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Did one of your Equal-i-zer load bars snap in half? Your first statement about a "catastrophic anti-sway bar failure" makes it sound that way.
IMHO, you were too light on the tongue. I have a 2363 Sunline with a rear 34 gallon water tank. If I attempt to travel with it full, it is extremely unstable. The simple act of draining my tank down to 1/3 makes all the difference in the world. It has nothing to do with my hitch and has everything to do with my tongue weight.
 Life's a beach... Let's go camp on it!
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dtum_44201
Atwater, OH, USA
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Joined: 03/06/2002
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I think I'm going to repeat what some otehrs have said, but we used to pull with an Astro and had a bad problem with sway. First, it sounds like your tongue weight is too light. It doesn't say stay under 15%, it means you should be at least, say 12%. Our TT tongue is under 400 lbs. Way to light for our 5,000 TT. Second, watch that short wheel base. It's a killer. Our Astro has a short wheel base too. Doesn't matter if the GVWR is right, the short wheel base means your trailer is actually controling your tow vehicle. Like a long tail wagging the dog. We finally decided it was unsafe to tow with the Astro and got our truck. What a difference. Like day and night.
Pat & Debbie
2002 2500HD Chevy; Short Bed; Duramax/Allison
2004 24E29 Titanium 5th Wheel; MorRyde Pin Box; 18K SuperGlide
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Sportsman2505qss
Winter Springs, Fl USA
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Joined: 05/03/2002
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I am not sure if this is correct but I was told that trucks had a stiffer suspension they say SUV's which are made more for comfort and are better for towing because of this. That is why we went for a truck.
2002 KZ Sportsmen 2505qss bought in 2001 1999F-150
Gamble Rogers
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jason_rving
North Georgia
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Joined: 04/18/2003
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If your loaded weight was apx 5000lbs, you need to have about 10% on the tongue or about 500 lbs. A light tongue can induce sway.
Do you know for certain that your hitch was adjusted properly. THe friction occurs between the bars and L brackets on the trailer. If it was adjussted correctly, you should have had to have jacked up your trailer tongue significantly before you would have been able to put the bars on the L brackets on the trailer, then let the jack down to put pressure on the bars which forces weight to the front of your tow vehicle.
Was this the case?
Jason and family
2004 Cedar Creek 31LBHBS
2004 2500HD Silverado CC LT LLY Duramax/Allison 4x4
48 Gal Aux Fuel Tank - 74 total gal cap.
Husky 16K, Kipor 3500ti Generator
Prodigy, Timbrens, 285 Goodyears, Rhino Lined,
Cobra 75WXST with Firestik
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