Sway control problem

[AZ Bob]

I have a 07 Titan KC with towing package. I only have 1000 miles on it. I installed Prodigy brake controller and a Reese dual cam sway control hitch. I have a 7500 GVW travel trailer and I'm having BIG problems controlling the sway. In fact my wife almost lost it last week. Good thing I was with her and hit the trailer brakes hard and got it back under control.
I have set up the hitch per Reese recommendations. In fact I set it tongue heavy, tongue was 1 1/2 inches lower in the front. trailer was not loaded estimated weight about 5000# I bought trailer used and towed it with Ford F350 using same Reese hitch, no problems very stable.
Get my wonderful Titan and have problems from the 1st day I hooked up the trailer. My wife will not drive or ride in it until I can show her it is safe.
Sway comes on very quickly, we were going down a small hill (freeway overpass) and she may have let up on the gas. She did not use truck brakes.
Any help

[Eric Warner]

Do you have tow package or big tow package from the factory? I have the big tow and last summer I towed a 26' tailer over 700 miles and never noticed any sway, in fact I didn't have a sway bar even installed. Are you sure it's not the trailer? Also if you tighten up your sway bar as tight as you can get it that should stop the sway even if you are in severe side winds.

[Steamguy]

There are some trailers where it's very difficult to get a substantial tongue weight on them. This may be one of those cases. (I had a Prowler trailer once that was just AWFUL this way. It had the galley in the very back, and all the water storage was back there, so the tongue was always light.) So where your fresh water tank is will make a difference. If it's in front of the wheels, you're golden. Keep it filled.

Just because the tongue is lower doesn't mean it's heavier. You need to measure its weight at a truck scale. For a rule of thumb, if your trailer weighs 5,000# and your manual jack is easy to crank, that's a pretty good sign there's not enough tongue weight.

Also you're coming from a 1-ton truck to the Titan. There will be some major differences in the way you need to set up the hitch. I came from a Dodge 1-ton dually to the Titan, and wow-hey, did I have to set it up differently. The Dodge would practically tow the trailer without the load equalization hitch...

I'm troubleshooting from a distance, but let me cover all the standard bases that you hit when you have really bad sway. (I'm first of all assuming you have checked your tire pressures, and also checked for the correct rating for your spring bars, which are usually the first places to check when changing trailers and you have sway.) You may have done these already, but let's go through them anyway:

First thing you need to do is set the hitch up correctly. Truck and trailer must be on level ground for this, and unhooked to start.

• Measure to the bottom of the trailer frame between the tires and get a figure. Match that same figure up front by running the jack up and down and measuring to the bottom of the frame in the front.
• Now measure to the top of the hitch ball on the trailer.
• Set the top of the hitch ball on the pickup using the adjustments on the hitch to match the top of the hitch ball on the trailer.
• Measure the distance from the top of the curve on all four fenders to the ground on the truck. Write this down somewhere.
• Hook up and take up the spring bars. Since you're coming from a 1-ton, take up about two links more than you did before.
• Measure the distance from the top of the curve on all four fenders to the ground on the truck, and compare these measurements to the ones you took previously. They should have sunk by pretty much equal amounts. If there's more 'sink' in the back, (as I suspect there will be) then take up a link or two on the spring bars.

I'll bet you have some surprises when comparing your spring bar settings on the Titan versus the 1-ton. For me, I had to take up three links more than I needed on the 1-ton, to make the trailer handle and track correctly.

Try this stuff, and let us know how it works for you. Let us help you have a good experience. There's a lot of brainpower here, we're glad to help.

[Helinut1970]

Your F350 is alot heavier than the Titan. If I read right you said you didnt have anything in the trailer at the time. And if your tanks are empty I would have to say the trailer is rear heavy. You might want to set it to a lite toungue weight. Or try to put more weight on the front. Remember to keep 70% of the weight on and in front of the axles. 30% behind them. I have a same size TT and my Titan towed it with no sway at any speed up or down hills with just the friction sway control and air bags on the Titan.

[Vector]

I have a car trailer that I tow, along with the weight of the car it weighs about 5000lbs. I had a lot of trouble towing it when I would go to slow down and turn through a corner. My back end would wallow on me. I installed a Hellwig rear sway bar and the truck no longer has an issue with the trailer pushing it around. I have a load leveling hitch on the truck, and even that would not prevent the trailer from wagging the truck around. I highly recommend the Hellwig rear sway bar.

[Nissanloyalist]

I installed the stillen front and rear sway bars and it is a completely different truck. If money is tight get the front at least it made the biggest difference and very easy to install. I also have the firestone airbags and there is virtualy no sway when I had a 29' TT at 8100# with a 1050# hitch wieght.

[95rioredvert]

I get ALOt of sway from my Titan towing my enclosed work trailer, 16' approx 6500lbs with all my stuff in it. Of course I have no sway control on it but at 16' it not like towing camper.

The one time I towed a camper it was a 27' keystone cougar approx 6850lbs empty, had equalizer hitch and sway control bar, it swayed pretty good still, relaxed equalizer one chain loop and it towed much better!

These truck need a bit more tounge weight seems like.
My brothers 04 F-150 really never sways with either trailer, of course it is also nearly 500lb heavier truck.

One you get the tounge load figured out you prob be just fine.