Troubleshooting Trailer Sway When Using Blue Ox Sway Pro Weight Distribution System BXW0750  

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Expert Reply:

Sonic 21-foot travel trailers like their SN170VBH, which is 21-feet long with a GVWR of 4000-lbs, is certainly heavy enough relative to the Armada's weight of 5500 to 5900-lbs that a weight distribution system is called for. If you find that your anti-sway performance with your Blue Ox Sway Pro system # BXW0750 is unsatisfactory I recommend confirming that your specific system's spring bars are rated correctly for the actual loaded trailer tongue weight (TW).

The particular example trailer noted above has a dry hitch weight of 350-lbs, so by the time you fill your water and propane tanks, load all your supplies and gear, you could be at an actual loaded TW of 500- to 550-lbs. To the actual measured trailer TW you need to add the weight of any cargo in the Armada that sits behind the rear axle, say a generator for example. This cargo weight acts just like trailer TW so it needs to be added to the trailer's own TW.

It is important that your spring bars are rated correctly for this total TW. Ideally the total falls near the middle of the system's operating range. Blue Ox system # BXW0750 has an effective range of 550- to 750-lbs of total TW. If your total TW falls above this range the bars may need to be replaced with higher-rated bars. You can check your bars to confirm their weight rating; bars rated to 750-lbs should have 2 small dots on the shank end.

If the system is indeed correctly rated for your total TW then I suggest going back through the installation process, from A to Z, to ensure the setup is correct. The instructions are linked for you.

expert reply by: Adam R

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