Towing

[Shorrsteve]

I have a 2014 Yukon with air shocks, and am towing about 6000lbs. I started with a 15,000lb weight distribution hitch. This hitch came with brackets bars for anti sway. Still lots of sway!
I was high on the ball but both SUV and camper are now level. New lower shank. I added a curt anti sway bar and have locked the shank to the car receiver. I still get lots of sway. Is anyone else towing this much weight and what is your experiences?

 

[Miami-Dade]

@Shorrsteve Moved you here from 2021+section.

 

[Geotrash]

I have a 2014 Yukon with air shocks, and am towing about 6000lbs. I started with a 15,000lb weight distribution hitch. This hitch came with brackets bars for anti sway. Still lots of sway!
I was high on the ball but both SUV and camper are now level. New lower shank. I added a curt anti sway bar and have locked the shank to the car receiver. I still get lots of sway. Is anyone else towing this much weight and what is your experiences?

Hi Steve, I tow a 7500 lb camper with a 2012 Yukon XL Denali. I use a Camco Recurve R3 hitch with friction-based sway control. I get some mild-moderate sway in high winds and when being passed by a truck on the highway, but it's quite manageable and has never had me white-knuckling it.

I find that how much sway people are comfortable with is a subjective thing based on experience and comfort level. I've been towing everything from industrial equipment to campers all over the western and eastern US for 30 years, so nothing much fazes me any more.

That said, the shorter the wheelbase, the more pronounced the sway will be. The shorter wheelbase of the Tahoe/standard-length Yukon will have a negative effect on sway. My suggestions would be: 1/ Make sure you're running XL rated tires on your rig and running max pressure in them. I'm running Continental Terrain Contacts in the XL version. 2/ Make sure your tongue weight is 15% of the trailer weight or more. 3/ Consider a different hitch. 4/ Make sure your Yukon's sway bars and bushings are in good condition.

One more thing: does your Yukon have the factory trailer brake controller? If so, it will use the trailer brakes to help stop sway when it happens, if it's moderate to heavy. You'll know if it's engaging because you'll hear it and feel it. REALLY nice safety feature.

 

[15burban]

Is the 3rd picture with the "new lower shank"? If it is the camper looks a little nose high. It could just be the angle of the picture, but if it is nose high that will also induce sway.

 

[petethepug]

Is it time for Hellwigs? Beefing up the sway bars would increase the comfort in the vehicle and ride quality when towing.

Good looking truck & trailer.

 

[Shorrsteve]

Hi Steve, I tow a 7500 lb camper with a 2012 Yukon XL Denali. I use a Camco Recurve R3 hitch with friction-based sway control. I get some mild-moderate sway in high winds and when being passed by a truck on the highway, but it's quite manageable and has never had me white-knuckling it.

I find that how much sway people are comfortable with is a subjective thing based on experience and comfort level. I've been towing everything from industrial equipment to campers all over the western and eastern US for 30 years, so nothing much fazes me any more.

That said, the shorter the wheelbase, the more pronounced the sway will be. The shorter wheelbase of the Tahoe/standard-length Yukon will have a negative effect on sway. My suggestions would be: 1/ Make sure you're running XL rated tires on your rig and running max pressure in them. I'm running Continental Terrain Contacts in the XL version. 2/ Make sure your tongue weight is 15% of the trailer weight or more. 3/ Consider a different hitch. 4/ Make sure your Yukon's sway bars and bushings are in good condition.

One more thing: does your Yukon have the factory trailer brake controller? If so, it will use the trailer brakes to help stop sway when it happens, if it's moderate to heavy. You'll know if it's engaging because you'll hear it and feel it. REALLY nice safety feature.

View attachment 427332

You have a nice setup there. You spoke about tires. I put on Cooper Discoverer they are 85lbs of pressure and are over 3000lbs per tire.
Looks like you have a generator off your back bumper. I have my generator up front along with a full truck tool box that stores my batteries and in front of this are the 2 propane tanks. Our 43 gallon water tank is up front and we usually drive with it full. She has to have her soft water.

 

[Shorrsteve]

Is the 3rd picture with the "new lower shank"? If it is the camper looks a little nose high. It could just be the angle of the picture, but if it is nose high that will also induce sway.

We are almost perfect level after I installed the new shank. This photo is on a small hill lifting the back of the Yukon up.

 

[Shorrsteve]

Is it time for Hellwigs? Beefing up the sway bars would increase the comfort in the vehicle and ride quality when towing.

Good looking truck & trailer.

I think you are right. Great idea. We are getting ready for a 5000 mile trip. Leaving May 12th. I have 12 days to get this done. Wonder if Rock Auto has beefed up sway bars.

 

[Geotrash]

I think you are right. Great idea. We are getting ready for a 5000 mile trip. Leaving May 12th. I have 12 days to get this done. Wonder if Rock Auto has beefed up sway bars.

I agree - good idea. eTrailer.com sells them for the Yukon.

 

[Foggy]

What you are referring to as "sway bars" are not.. They are weight distribution
bars. If you are using 15K WDH (weight dist hitch) for a 6K trailer, you
prob will never get it in the sweet spot. You could sell that set and go to
a 7500 or 10,000 lb system and be way better off... Then you can decide
if you want to get a system that has the "sway" component built into it or
add it separately. Up to you on that.
I really like my set up as it has the sway and WD hitch all in one. But it was
pretty pricey.. I did the 10K system and it was like $700 a few years ago.
Equal-I-Zer is the name brand. American built.. Good stuff.
You order it by the tongue weight of your trailer. I expect the tonque weight
of your rig to around 600-800 lbs.
https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Equal-i-zer/EQ90-00-1000.html
this is a link to the 1000/10,000 System. You can prob find one from a diff mfr
in the 800/8,000 for a bit cheaper. But I know this works.
My camper is 9500 lbs w 900 tongue weight going down the road.
I have made mods to accomodate this at it's way over the rating on my Yuk

 

[intheburbs]

Back off on the bars. If you have them cranked too much, it will cause more sway.
More tongue weight = less sway

Just make sure you're not overloading your rear axle. Check yourself at CAT scales.

Here's a video that illustrates it. Tightening your bars too much is the same as moving the load to the rear of the trailer.

Here's my rig - no WD, no sway control, rock solid. Trailer puts 1600 lbs on my rear axle. That's why I bought a 2500 10 years ago.

 

[Foggy]

https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Fastway/FA94-00-1061.html

Here is a fastway that's cheaper . Make sure you get the new ball as they only
work with the specific system. You prob don't need the 4 point sway with
that camper. The 2 point sway is prob just fine
I only did etrailer as it's easy to search and paste. You may find this stuff
cheaper somewhere else

 

[swathdiver]

I have a 2014 Yukon with air shocks, and am towing about 6000lbs. I started with a 15,000lb weight distribution hitch. This hitch came with brackets bars for anti sway. Still lots of sway!
I was high on the ball but both SUV and camper are now level. New lower shank. I added a curt anti sway bar and have locked the shank to the car receiver. I still get lots of sway. Is anyone else towing this much weight and what is your experiences?

There is still too much weight behind the trailer's axles compared with up front, even with the WDH. It can only cover up for so much.

Take the rig to your local CAT scale and weigh the trailer on two scales and then hooked up as if on a trip. Download the CAT Scale APP, so you don't have to go inside or get harangued by the truck stop employees.

 

[Shorrsteve]

What you are referring to as "sway bars" are not.. They are weight distribution
bars. If you are using 15K WDH (weight dist hitch) for a 6K trailer, you
prob will never get it in the sweet spot. You could sell that set and go to
a 7500 or 10,000 lb system and be way better off... Then you can decide
if you want to get a system that has the "sway" component built into it or
add it separately. Up to you on that.
I really like my set up as it has the sway and WD hitch all in one. But it was
pretty pricey.. I did the 10K system and it was like $700 a few years ago.
Equal-I-Zer is the name brand. American built.. Good stuff.
You order it by the tongue weight of your trailer. I expect the tonque weight
of your rig to around 600-800 lbs.
https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Equal-i-zer/EQ90-00-1000.html
this is a link to the 1000/10,000 System. You can prob find one from a diff mfr
in the 800/8,000 for a bit cheaper. But I know this works.
My camper is 9500 lbs w 900 tongue weight going down the road.
I have made mods to accomodate this at it's way over the rating on my Yuk

Hey Foggy.
I do have anti sway, WD hitch. And it's an Equal-l!izer. I can adjust the pressure applied to the bars by either changing the height of the brackets that hold the bars, or change the angle of the head to tighten or loosen. I don't think changing out my hitch will do anything, as I can change the pitch of my bars from overkill to zero pressure.
But. I will check this out. Thanks!

 

[Geotrash]

I'll add my name to the list of folks suggesting that you probably have too much hitch for that trailer. If it's helpful, this is the hitch I have (with the same 1000 lb. bars). The sway control is under the ball and you tighten the Allen bolt in the picture, which clamps down on the swivel with brake friction material, to get however much sway control you want. The advantage to this design is that it's fairly light weight, doesn't require drilling the trailer's A-Frame, and you don't have to disconnect or release the sway control to back up, as with some designs. I like the designs Foggy mentioned as well, so just wanted to share what's working well for me. This one has been a set it and forget it solution. I've seen a lot of them around and so far everyone else has been happy with their R3, too.

I'll also second James' suggestion of going to a CAT scale to get the weights. I measured mine 3 ways: 1/ Just the Yukon 2/ Yukon with the hitch and trailer connected for towing, including the WDH bars. 3/ With the hitch and trailer connected for towing, but without the WDH bars installed. That gives you everything you need to know exactly how much weight you're redistributing with the hitch.

 

[Shorrsteve]

That's an interesting set up. Not seen that before. I'm trying to figure out how the bars move on the bracket.

 

[Geotrash]

That's an interesting set up. Not seen that before. I'm trying to figure out how the bars move on the bracket.

That's the thing - they don't need to because where the front of the bars mount beside the hitch ball pivots, allowing the bars to stay in fixed positions on the A-frame. The sway control acts on that pivot point. It's pretty slick.

 

[Shorrsteve]

That's the thing - they don't need to because where the front of the bars mount beside the hitch ball pivots, allowing the bars to stay in fixed positions on the A-frame. The sway control acts on that pivot point. It's pretty slick.

I like this. I wish I knew about this before I spent the $500 to make my old hitch work better.

 

[Foggy]

Hey Foggy.
I do have anti sway, WD hitch. And it's an Equal-l!izer. I can adjust the pressure applied to the bars by either changing the height of the brackets that hold the bars, or change the angle of the head to tighten or loosen. I don't think changing out my hitch will do anything, as I can change the pitch of my bars from overkill to zero pressure.
But. I will check this out. Thanks!

OK.. I guess i missed that...
So you really just need to get it adjusted correctly. It takes some time and
experimentation.. But if it's "overrated" for your app it may be difficult to
dial it in correctly.

 

[petethepug]

Wasn’t paying attention. I thought I saw a standard
length truck and then it’s an XL with a trailer that didn’t look that big in the first pic.