Sway Bar recommendations

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Getting the Astro outfitted with hitch and brake controller next week in prep for our trip to MN to pick up the 96 Scamp 16' SD. Should I get a sway bar now (and have the ball welded on the hitch while in the shop) or wait until we've experienced pulling the trailer from MN to WA? Will I need one? Any brand recommendations, Please? Also wondering if I should get aftermarket tranny cooler installed. 1997 Astro is 4.3L w/3.73 axle, rear WD, automatic, gently used at 67K miles.

Jan - newbie RV/camper
1997 Astro, soon to hitch up w/96 Scamp 16' SD
got title transferred and WA license plate yesterday!

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Hi Jan
I would get Trany Cooler on a automatic.The Anti sway bar I would also put on now.I think its a good safety device .Have fun and enjoy.:wave

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When we bought our 2000 Scamp16 (side dinette, front bath, roof a/c), I figured it did not need a sway bar. I was sort of right. The trailer tows fine at speeds up to about 60-65 mph. Above that, under certain hard to figure out conditions, the trailer will start to sway back and forth ever so gently. This is quite annoying and can be dangerous. After buying a sway bar the trailer has been rock-solid under all conditions. The sway control bar we bought is made by Reese, and cost about $100. The adaptor unit for the hitch cost about $30.

-- Dan Meyer

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I tow a 17' Casita with a *very* heavy pickup. I use the sway bar. It pulls fine without it, and tracks very well, too. But the sway bar always keeps it dead-steady under any conditions of side wind, semis in cattle-chutes, etc. I guess I don't really need it, but I feel much better with it on. I'd say get it, especially with your tow rig.

Get the cooler. Don't leave home without it!-- like they say in the commercial. Cheap insurance.

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Hi Jan!

I'll bet you can't wait to get your new baby!

Sway bar -- in my opinion, a sway bar is cheap insurance. However, to install a sway bar (Reese makes one for about $100), you'll need to have a little sway bar platform and ball installed on your hitch ... but also have a little sway bar ball welded on the trailer.

It's best to have the sway bar and two balls measured, welded and installed at the same time.

As others have already pointed out ... sway really isn't a problem with most tiny molded fiberglass rv's ... so I think as long as you drive home slowly and carefully, you could have the whole set-up installed at the same time, after you bring home your new trailer.

Transmission cooler --- Your Astro van is a towing machine ... but like a sway bar, an aftermarket transmission cooler is cheap insurance against an overheated transmission. I'd get one installed ASAP ... but then again, it doesn't have to be on your first trip.

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Hi Jan:

We tow a Bigfoot 19' with a 97 Astro Van with the same specification as yours. We use a Reese adjustable hitch with #750 spring bars and a Reese straight line sway control. The trailer tows like dream.

We think our trailer ready to roll with all supplies turns the scale at about 4,500 lbs. The Chevrolet dealer assured us the Astro already has adequate transmission cooling and would not need an additional axillary cooler.

I was very dubious about this advice but we have been towing this trailer ever since we bought the Astro new without a add on transmission cooler and have never had a problem, despite lots of mountain and desert towing.

One other thing, The Astro owners manual said to tow in overdrive, which is something I have never done before, but it has worked out just fine. Perhaps G.M. knows best !!.

Colin

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This is the sway control I will go with. The whole thing can be attached with no welding. I have a class II hitch and reese offers this handy adaptor plate (held on by the ball) which will save a welding job. It is pictured below the sway control on the web site........ http://www.reese-hitches.com/sway_controls.htm

I really don't have much of a sway problem, unless I under or over estimate a curve on the intestate and steer too quickly. It always seems to happen when a semi is neck and neck with me. Better to be safe than eggless!

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3eb648536c83eweight2.jpg/>
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3eb6485e03cb5wd_sway_26005.jpg/>

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Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. I'm going w/the tranny cooler. Eastern WA has a 12 mile uphill from Columbia River to foothills we call the "Vantage Death Climb" which has eaten many a transmission. Decided I didn't want to be one of those. The hitch will wait - I really appreciate the pics and explanations. Will keep everyone posted - 7 weeks til we meet our new toy.

Jan

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Sounds like a plan, Jan!

Adrian ... even if you use the adapter plate on the draw bar for one of the sway balls, you will still have to weld the second ball and plate on the trailer (or drill 6 holes in the frame, which I wouldn't recommend).

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:wave Folks, The welding of the sway bar bracket or bolting it on amounts to 6 of one or a half dozen of the other, the hole drilling will take some strength out of the frame, and the welding heat also does the same thing. (annealing the metal) If you bolt it on which is a diy job you may want to reinforce it with a 2nd plate the same size as the ball mount plate on the inside of the trailer frame. If you know somebody that can weld than that would be the way to go. Also it does not hurt your auto tranny to leave it in overdrive, thats what automatics do is know when to shift and when to hold. If it not capable of moving it in overdrive it just stays in a lower gear all by its own, good luck and don't sweat the small stuff.

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Bill:

So long as we can agree to disagree in a friendly manner: :)

Which transmission are you talking about that "it won't hurt to tow in overdrive"?

Cause it's not what a lot of us are using!

======

Sway bar brackets...weld em on!

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Do I need a transmission cooler on my standard transimission?

Kitty :wave

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Not likely Kitty, I have only seen two or three standard transmissions with coolers, and they were specialty jobs with a pump kit. FYI automatic transmissions need clean cool oil to function properly, as the tranny uses the fluid as a coupling to drive the output shafts(very simplifed), while a standard transmission relies on gears and a clutch disc. So it needs oil , but not in the same way as the oil is more for lubrication than direct operation

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Thanks, Joe!

Doug and I looked at each other and said, "Wot's a transmission cooler?" Glad we don't need one.

Kitty :wave

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Also, the cooler you keep your tranny fluid, the longer it lasts. Even if you keep it 5 degrees cooler that is conciderable life of fluid. Personally I think if you only have $100 to spend on a trans, you are way money ahead to change your fluid and replace it with a good synthetic (no mixes) than to add a cooler but thats just me. Make sure to get a "full" fluid change too, not just a drop of the pan and away you go.

If you have the money, do both, of course but chances are you need a fluid change anyway so upgrade to the good stuff. For those with a deeper pocket: full fluid change, www.redlineoil.com, and a trans cooler.

Rich

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I'm not sure how this would do, but it may be an answer to the drill vs weld question. The only thing it says is that it is not to be used with surge brakes. Best I can figure out is that surge brakes are the ones that do not use controllers..Like UHaul uses on the larger utility trailers.

Adapter Kit

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:wave I tow with a Toyota tundra that so far I haven't had to take out of overdrive, the astro is one other that can tow in overdrive, Now let me clarify my statement. Any vehicle should be able to tow in overdrive until it gets to:O hunting where it should be,:sad then by all means take it out until you are on safe ground, if you've owned & towed with your vehicle for any length of time you will know from experience when to down shift.:r My tundra has a 4.7 V8 in it which is very close to a Ford 289 and altho I have not towed in the Rockies yet and that will probably be when I have to eat crow,:red but rest assured I will be ready to push the button. I'm not trying to be disagreeable at all but if you are driving a standard shift you certainly know by experience when to downshift and so with auto's. I own a sway bar but haven't seen the need to use it as yet. On a lighter tow vehicle I would as would I the dwh which to this point I haven't used

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A sway bar is kinda like wearing a life vest in a boat...when the time comes that ya KNOW ya need it, it's too late.

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It seems that all the sway bars are designed to go on the passenger side. I have noticed that some say either side, but handle would be upside down.

Has anyone installed theirs on the driver's side, what kind was it, and are there any problems with doing that?

Thanks.

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Indeed, surge brakes are the kind used on UHaul and boat trailers, and a sway control (not sway bar, BTW everybody, those are bars on the front and rear of your truck/SUV that keep the chassis flatter during turns by transferring weight between wheels) would interfere with surge brake operation.

Remember, *before* putting on a sway control, be sure your trailer is properly balanced with enuf (not too much) tongue weight and the tow vehicle can handle the weight, otherwise you are only applying a bandaid to cover the problem and it will resurface dramatically (and expensively) at higher speeds. A sway control is not a Silver Bullet for a bad setup...

Pete and Rats

PS For the forces involved on these Eggs, the bolt-on stuf is sufficient. Best way to do the tongue ball would be to design a pair of plates that would go *around* the tongue, with the ball plate bolted to it, to avoid welding or drilling altogether. I've used one of the ball mounts that mounts on the hitch ball shank with a heavier trailer and it worked fine.