How I Adjusted My Blue Ox SwayPro Weight Distribution Hitch
Does trailer sway scare you as it does me? Did you buy a Blue Ox SwayPro as a recommendation? As a beginner RVer, understanding how to safely tow a trailer can seem like a daunting challenge. There is no shortage of acronyms that I still don’t fully understand. GVWR. GCVW. GAWR. UVW. Hitch weight. Tongue weight. Seriously WTF! I have a day job.
If you came looking for definitions of all that, you’re in the wrong place. I’m not going to claim to be an expert on all that (yet). I’ll do a future blog post on it. In the meantime, you’ll need to do your research. Here are a few links that I found beneficial.
My Blue Ox SwayPro Hitch
I purchased the Blue Ox hitch from the original RV dealer of our first travel trailer. I’ll honestly say that I didn’t even fully understand what it was or why I needed it. I was nervous about towing the 18-foot Winnie Drop with a Traverse, so I agreed. I’m glad I did.
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As an RV newbie, I let the dealer set up everything about the hitch and trailer. I had so many questions about towing with a Blue Ox SwayPro. They did a great job. As of this writing, 6/18/2020, I have no affiliation with them, besides being a customer for both my travel trailers. Here is their website in case you live in the Cincinnati, OH area.
When we decided to upgrade from the 18-foot Winnie Drop to a 33-foot Salem, I’m glad I already had that hitch. Knowing the Traverse couldn’t tow much more, I had already upgraded the Jeep we had to an F-150 with all the towing bells and whistles. After purchasing it, we were ready for our first trip.
White Knuckle Driving
In route to our first destination, we ran into a wind gust of 40+ MPH. Not good. I was well within my tow capacity for the truck and within the tongue weight. Forty miles per hour wind guest, when you have a 33-foot sail on your vehicle can make you rethink your life decisions. We decided to get off the interstate and take some back roads home, time to regroup.
In our next trips, we purposely avoided highways. It took longer but made for less white knuckle driving. We always hooked up the Blue Ox hitch. I wasn’t sure why I still saw some sway. I continued to research the issue.
The Breakthrough
The turning point hit when I posted a video about how weight distribution hitched are supposed to work. See that blog post here. I continued to research because I wasn’t happy with my initial experience. After posting a video about the hitch, a viewer reached out via email to me. He said he was having sway issues after changing tow vehicle, but keeping the same trailer, and he had upgraded from an SUV to an F-150.
We discussed a variety of possibilities, but he felt that raising the ball on his hitch an inch or two was the solution. He tried his solution and generously followed up with me to let me know it helped him. Thank you, Rich.
I decided to try the same. The YouTube video outlines the experience I had. It worked well for me. While the sway, or lack thereof, doesn’t always show well on camera, the driving experience if very noticeable. I think the issue I was having was due to the original hitch configuration. It was set up for the Traverse and the Winnie Drop, not an F-150 with a 33-foot Salem.
If you use a Blue Ox SwayPro, and are still experiencing excessive sway, and are within all of your vehicle weight and towing guidelines, take a look at where the hitch ball is in relation to the trailer. Maybe raising it an inch or two will help.
It helped me.
Don’t forget to check out our Recommended RV Equipment list!
Get a FREE copy of the Go Together Go Far Travel Trailer Hookup and Disconnect Checklist when you sign up for the Go Together Go Far Newsletter!
