Engine temps.

[408F150]

Anti-Sway has saved me many, many time. With how tall toy haulers are (I think mine is 11' 6"?), wind and semi truck gusts will whip you like crazy. It also saved me one time when one of my 4 ratcheting straps I had my quads tied down with snapped. I had 2 400# quads sliding around the trailer and assumed it was the wind. I could feel the anti-sway fighting it, I don't even want to know how squirrelly it would have been without it.

[Jackpine]

I think anti-sway is important insurance too, especially if you're towing a high profile trailer. That's a huge wind sail back there and it doesn't take too much in the way of sudden crosswinds to have it push you all over the place.

- Jack

[TXWolf]

A question about the anti-sway bars ... When I pulled my new trailer from the RV dealer to the house, I'm assuming that the loud creaking sound that was going on was from the anti-sway bars? Is there any reason why I shouldn't put a little lithium grease on the bars, to cut down on the friction/noise?

[soutthpaw]

Originally Posted by TXWolf

A question about the anti-sway bars ... When I pulled my new trailer from the RV dealer to the house, I'm assuming that the loud creaking sound that was going on was from the anti-sway bars? Is there any reason why I shouldn't put a little lithium grease on the bars, to cut down on the friction/noise?

don't grease the anti sway bar as (most) use friction to control sway,

[zeuss]

My equalizer bars would creak and there was a hole at the top for oil to be added, but like said before, sway control usually works off friction. The ones I had were Reese, but I think nowadays they are incorporating equalizer and sway in one setup. So be careful where you lube. Maybe talk to manufacturer.

[Jackpine]

My Equil-i-zer brand hitch says it's OK to grease the friction surfaces. It says doing this is "optional" and will not diminish the sway control properties, and, it might quiet the hitch.

If you notice the pressure that's exerted on the brackets, I think that's what does the most for sway control.

But the noise IS kind of nerve wracking at first. Sounds like something is breaking, doesn't it?

- Jack

[408F150]

Depending on what type of anti-sway it is, the creaking will be normal. If it's a dual-cam anti-sway, it shouldn't be groaning too loudly. If it's a friction type anti sway (which 90% are), the groaning is the result of metal parts and friction pads under high tension sliding on each other. You can grease the sockets in your yoke that the bars rest in, but anything from the ball back can't be greased too heavily. If you over-lube any of the anti-sway stuff you're just de-frictioning your friction activated anti sway. There's 2 types of friction, static (grip when stationary) and kinetic (grip when moving). The friction the anti-sway relies on is kinetic friction. The part of the groaning that can eliminated comes from reducing the intensity of the force unleashed when switching from static to kinetic mode by lightly greasing the resting points of your sway system (where parts sit when going in a straight line). This gets them from resting to moving more smoothly but doesn't make the amount of grip on the surfaces suffer too much

[Jackpine]

Originally Posted by 408F150

Depending on what type of anti-sway it is, the creaking will be normal. If it's a dual-cam anti-sway, it shouldn't be groaning too loudly. If it's a friction type anti sway (which 90% are), the groaning is the result of metal parts and friction pads under high tension sliding on each other. You can grease the sockets in your yoke that the bars rest in, but anything from the ball back can't be greased too heavily. If you over-lube any of the anti-sway stuff you're just de-frictioning your friction activated anti sway. There's 2 types of friction, static (grip when stationary) and kinetic (grip when moving). The friction the anti-sway relies on is kinetic friction. The part of the groaning that can eliminated comes from reducing the intensity of the force unleashed when switching from static to kinetic mode by lightly greasing the resting points of your sway system (where parts sit when going in a straight line). This gets them from resting to moving more smoothly but doesn't make the amount of grip on the surfaces suffer too much

Right! Sounds like you have a fair grasp of Physics! Lubrication has to decrease the coefficient of friction, but I suspect the "force" component overshadows that by a great deal. (I would not want to have my finger between the bar and the "brackets". I think my finger would simply become "grease". )

- Jack