How Do I Hook Up a Travel Trailer to an Anti-sway Bar?

A sway bar reduces the back and forth motion of a trailer while driving.

When you tow a travel trailer, passing traffic, wind and other conditions can cause the trailer to sway, making it more difficult to control. An experienced trailer driver can often handle this sway with minimal effort, but for those who are not used to driving with a trailer, control can become difficult. Sway bars help reduce the amount of sway present while you are driving and can make driving with a trailer much easier.

Things You'll Need

• L-shaped panel
• Link plates
• Bolts
• Snap-up Lever
• Sway bars
• L-shaped brackets
• Pins

Instructions

1. Attach the L-shaped panels and link plates to the trailer tongue using the included heavy bolts to hold it securely in place. The L-shaped panels allow you to attach the sway bars to the trailer.

2. Secure the trailer tongue to the ball receiver on your towing vehicle.

3. Set the curved end of the snap-up lever into the hole at the bottom of the L-shaped panel with the dip towards the ground and the sway bar resting in that dip.

4. Pull up on the snap-up lever to raise the sway bar and drop it onto the flat portion of the L-shaped panel. Lift up on the snap-up lever until the sway bar rests fully in the corner of the L-shaped panel. Remove the snap-up lever when the sway bar is in position.

5. Place the L-shaped bracket into the hole where you placed the snap-up lever so the bracket holds the sway bar in place.

6. Secure the L-shaped bracket underneath the hole with a locking pin.

7. Repeat this process for the other side of the trailer tongue.

Tips & Warnings

• Raising the trailer tongue takes some of the pressure off the sway bars and helps you move them into position more easily.

References

• MrTruck.com: Weight Distributing Hitches for "Safe" Controlled Towing