Sway Bars

[Frederick L. Simson]

There are two separate situations being addressed in this one topic. I am pretty sure that [b]Victor is well aware of his need to increase his Fiber Stream's tongue weight. The manufacturer of Fiber Stream tried to pull every trick in the book in order to build a 16' trailer that towed like a 13' trailer. The stock that the Fiber Stream's frame is made out of is half the size (and therefor half the weight) of the stock of a Casita's frame. This flimsy frame was compensated for by going from a single axle to a double axle. Most factory original Fiber Streams have only a 7% tongue weight, due to the placement of the axles in relation to the distance from the hitch ball. This was done to get the tongue weight low enough for the small cars of the 1970's (Audi, Toyota, Datsun, Volvo, or VW Rabbit according to the original sales brochure that I have.). [b]I think we all know better today. I haul a LOT of camping gear around, loaded toward the front of my Fiber Stream because I would rather weigh my tongue down with usable stuff than dead-weight steel.

I plan to tow a [b]17' Casita Liberty Deluxe with my 2000 Honda Odyssey. Rather than a WDH, I plan to install air bags in the rear coil springs for the necessary lift-and-leveling.

There seems to be some disagreement about whether I will need a sway bar with this combination. And, the possibility of noise and grinding in rainy weather leads me to wonder if it is desirable to install a sway bar. Please let me know what your experience has been in a rig like this. Thanks. h

[b]Henry OTOH, revived the discussion but his situation is quite the opposite of Victor's. My experience weighing trailers at FGRV rallies show me that 17' Casitas tend to be tongue heavy. 400+ Pounds is a quite common tongue weight on the average 17' Casita. Victor was towing with a rear-wheel-drive Toyota 4-Runner. Henry is towing with a front-wheel-drive Odyssey. Instead of redistributing the whole rig's weight balance (with WDH), he just wants to lift the back of the tow vehicle (with air bags). Apples and Oranges in my book.

To add a sway bar, or not to add a sway bar, that is Henry's question.

I say Henry doesn't need a sway bar, due to his much heavier tongue. But he DOES need a WDH.