This weekend I towed our new-to-us camper down to mid-Indiana in less than ideal weather - Lots of strong wind and rain.
While the truck and trailer appeared quite level, I was getting pushed around when running perpendicular to the wind.
It also felt as if I was understeering.
The current hitch is a WDS system that uses chains to lift but does not have an external sway bar.
look similar to this:
Would adding the sway bar piece be worthwhile or should I switch to something else entirely?
Campers are notorious for being poorly loaded. I would take the rig down to the local set of scales and weigh it. Then I'd measure the tongue weight and make sure you are in the ballpark. You need to be 10%-15% of gross weight.
Edit: Make sure the trailer tires are up to snuff and not overloaded. While you are at it, check the truck tires. You probably need to be aired up more than normal due to the extra load. A set of E-range LT truck tires can help a lot as well.
Everything that Toyman just said, especially tongue weight. If I move luggage in my camper I can feel it in the way it pulls.
I would add. 1- Don't go fast, in my experience campers like this aren't very happy at more than 65mph. 2- buy a set of TPMS sensors for the trailer. First it will save you from a nasty fix from a blow out but you can tell based on tire temp if you are grossly misloaded.
I'm guessing a new truck isn't being considered, but it's amazing what a DRW truck will do for you in terms of stability whilst towing.
That's a huge sail from the trailer axles to the hitch. The sway attachment will help some with gusts and going under bridges, but that's a lot to ask of a half ton truck's suspension.
When it felt uncomfortable, I would have stopped and moved the adjustable truck hitch down one notch.
This would force more tongue weight. A small move can be a huge benefit.
That trailer looks to be well within the capabilities of a half-ton truck. Getting it weighed is a good idea to make sure you're within the GCWR of the truck, but I bet you are. You look to be sitting fairly close to level, so you probably have the WDH on the right setting.
I would add the sway control to your existing WDH and see if that improves things. Adding some air to the rears is a good idea, too. I tow with 45 psi in the rears on the Expedition.
I'll also echo the advice about not going fast. I set the cruise at 67 mph when towing our travel trailer. Anything faster not only starts to feel sketchy, it causes the fuel mileage (already terrible) to plummet even more.
Or, you could get a hitch that does weight distribution and sway control at the same time. I use the Equalizer when towing our travel trailer:
The trailer is well within the limits (4800lbs, the truck rating is 7600). Most of my issues with heavy wind-related or when a large semi came up behind me.
Speedwise? always under 65. Most of the trip was at 60mph with the cruise on.
Just because the trailer is within the trucks's load limits for towing, doesn't mean that it will be able to handle heavy winds with any trailer that is under that weight. As someone who has towed a 24' enclosed trailer for over 20 years al over the U.S, I only will use 3/4 ton and heavier rated trucks, and a wheelbase of 149" or longer. There is just too much leverage on the tow rig when when dealing with crosswinds with that much side area. I used to tow with a one ton van, and still had issues when passing semis. I learned to counter steer when passing them, but was in for a huge awakening when I was adjusting for the wind to catch the back of the trailer when a Trailways bus passed me in the third lane doing 90. Since then I never mess around with short wheelbase tow rigs with long enclosed trailers.
Toyman! said:Edit: Make sure the trailer tires are up to snuff and not overloaded. While you are at it, check the truck tires. You probably need to be aired up more than normal due to the extra load. A set of E-range LT truck tires can help a lot as well.
Yeah, AIUI most half ton trucks for the last decade have come with P-rated tires instead of LT ones. Applications like towing campers are where this is really noticeable.
I was gonna say ratchet the cruise control down 5 mph. Makes a world of difference in high wind.
People mix up terminology a lot with hitches.
Your hitch is often referred to as sway control, but it's not. It's a weight distributing system. Picture the bars as big leaf springs. When you tighten the chains, you are putting the leaf springs under tension. This DOES make for a much better ride. It distributes the weight better, puts less weight on the tongue, and more on the front wheels. It technically reduces bounce (up and down movement), not sway.
This is a sway control:
The sway control adds a bar that slides between 2 adjustable pads of friction material (like brakes). You can adjust the tension to give more or less friction (like stepping on a brake pedal). It slows down SWAY (pivoting side to side motion between the truck and the camper)
The best systems have both weight distribution AND sway control.
I agree with everything already stated, plus suggest you add a sway control.
Briefly: tire pressures, good sway control, and most importantly trailer loading. Slowing to 60 wouldn't hurt either. I tow right there regardless.
Details that were pertinent to my rv towing life:
I set my 1972 23' Airstream up with an equalizer hitch as shown above. Good weight distribution, and good sway control. Truck tows happily right up the Sierra Nevada without any problems.
Surprises:
My 2016 Ram 1500 ecodiesel has a 948lb payload rating. (Door sticker).
My 1972 23' Airstream has a rated 450lb tongue weight. Measured is right at 900lb with full water and propane.
Im fortunate to have installed E rated tires on my truck, and from the beginning having towed with the weight distributing hitch. But, I've been towing grossly over my rated payload even though literature says I can tow 9000lb.
I guess the moral is, I'm not sure if I read that you actually 'measured' the numbers or if you are going by what the trailer mfg says. I'd strongly recommend some attention to trailer loading and measuring actual at least for a baseline. Meanwhile, I'm in the market for an f250 the moment the x plan ordering window re-opens. The engineer in me knows that a smart person did all the math, and it would behoove me to pay attention to that.
SVRex is spot on with his sway control thing. An equalizer hitch like you pictured helps slightly with sway only because as the trailer articulates on the ball, the bars move fore/aft which adds a wee bit of torque on the chains, but it is not really designed as a sway control device.
They do make cam-style distribution hitches that DO control sway. The tosion bars have a "cup" on the ends which rides in a cam. As sway happens, it forces the bars up. They work better than their design would suggest.
The one that SVRex pictured is ultimately simple, inexpensive, and works brilliantly. It basically has a brake pad inside and a sliding bar. You install it, tighten the crank to engage the brake pad on the steel, and you're done.
I also have to guess that your 4800 lb claim is dry weight. That never ever happens. You would be surprised at how much they weigh with a few changes of clothes, some canned food, and some milk in the fridge. That looks like at least a 26 footer, and I promise the only time it weighed 4800 lbs was at the factory before they put propane in the tanks. I promise that if you put that thing on the scales, you're closer to 7000 than you think.
Inflate the rear tires on the truck to closer to max PSI. Make sure the trailer tires are at max PSI. Also, check the tire manufacturer on the trailer. Trailers these days use the absolute cheapest overseas tires they can find and they are downright terrible.
It's a little hard to tell from the photo but that thing looks pretty long. Still, for being that light that truck should be able to tow it just fine without any sway control. Probably without a WDH either. All of this has been covered by now, but tongue weight is the biggest thing. And the smaller the truck, the more tongue weight it wants. I'd probably aim for the 15% end of the range, maybe even a bit more since you should have plenty of headroom on the hitch capacity. Next is tire pressures, rear truck tires should be basically max, IIRC that's 50-something psi. A few extra psi in the front tires might help too. Trailer tires should be at least pretty close to their max pressure, I think we run about 5spi under. And more pressure the closer you are to the tires' load capacity.
80% of the info here is spot on:
LT load range tires are a must.
Despite mfg. "numbers" (that are dictated by the bean counters and vary drastically from year to year - even without any hardware changes) a "half ton" truck (a misnomer from the get go) suspension is designed to make people think they are in a car. Not ideal for towing.
Look up Henesley Hitch for the ultimate in sway control. Be prepared for sticker shock. Then go find a used one.
Your equalizer effectively moves the tongue weight to the front wheels, by using the springs to "force" the center up. This does firm up the connection, and does help with sway, but not the primary function.
your truck and trailer appear to be level, with chains tight. DO NOT change the hitch height at this point! IF you can tighten the spring arms one (or two) more chain links , it might help a bit. If that changes the level, then adjust hitch height to achieve level again. Very important.
Adding the friction to reduce side to side movement does add the sway control you are looking for. I've used the type Curtis showed with success, but there are some issues they add (that never bothered me). The type shown with the friction built into the arm mounts have a very good rep.
As Curtis said, that 4800 (advertised) dry weight is not what you are towing, unless you personally saw it on the scales. Cheap enough at most truck stops.
if it was even close to that (5200-5500 way more likely ; yes, they lie) it still be 6K lbs as towed. High 6 to low 7 would not surprise me. Add the "sail" behind the truck, and that's a lot to ask.
Also, having towed with a 2011 fx4 cc F150 w/3.5 eco boost, the compliant 4wd front suspension did NOT make for a pleasant towing experience. All the power in the world, and a 9800 (lie) factory tow rating. But even with a properly set up equalizer hitch, with friction sway control, the 6000lb (as towed, advertised as a 3200 lb ) 23' (26' from hitch to bumper) camper allowed the front of the truck to dance around uncomfortably. Didn't sway, though! Just a horrible platform to tow with. Great large suv to drive, but not good for towing (the max tow was 12,500, on same identical suspension. Just would never be safe, despite the rating)
Even though it looks level, it may not be properly set up. As an example, if you start with the ball too low then you'll need too much tension on the spring bars to get back to level and may negatively impact axle weights causing issues with handling.
Did you set the ball height and hitch setup, or did someone else do it?
If someone else did the set up then I would check their work and make sure you have the height correct before doing anything else.
Check with your hitch manufacturer for instructions be here are some examples:
Once you are sure the hitch and spring bars are set correctly and you still aren't happy with the handling, then it's time to look at other sources of poor towing (tires, sway control, helper springs).
When it comes to weight, you need to consider the whole package. A vehicle's advertised towing capacity assumes two fairly light occupants in the tow vehicle and a small amount of cargo. Load it up with more people, pets and gear, and you're increasing the load on the tow vehicle, which subtracts from the towing capacity. For that reason, the real number that matters is Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR). That's the total weight of the whole rig, truck, trailer, passengers, gear, fuel, all of it. So my suggestion would be to load everything up with a full tank of gas, then hit a certified scale. GCWR can sometimes be found on the door frame, but you can always search for the towing guide for your year truck from Ford. They vary by powertrain, wheelbase, final drive, 4x4 vs. 4x2, and so on.
Once you know you're safely under the GCWR, you can look at tongue weight. I still think you're fine. But you do need some kind of sway control. 
Does that truck have one of the factory tow packages? If not a set of rear airbags and/or a rear sway bar upgrade would probably help. Airbags might help anyway. Based on personal experience I'm not as pessimistic about the towing capability of these trucks as 03Panther, but I will say that the "what a sane person would tow" rating seems to be around 20% less than the official rating. So if the trailer is heavier than it claims you could be pushing up against the limit of the sane person towing capacity.
In reply to dps214 :
While I do agree on the air bags, and have used them on many vehicles, they do introduce some set up differences in proper adjustment of the spring arm equalizer hitches. Not much, but enough to be aware of.
Air bags did help on sway of the trailer, and heavy equipment flat deck trailers I towed with my wife's 150, but with the camper or enclosed trailer, that front end would still dance. A similar 2wd did not. Obvious reasons to someone that does not but into the urban legend passes around that "I can tow more 'cause I have a 4wd"
Sorry I come across so negitive; partly bad time in my life, and, well a ton of experience towing 40 -50 trailers with 30-40 tow pigs, has taught me that pessimistic is prolly correct.
Sorry they were so long as well, but want to counter the few wrong thoughts given. Most of the advice shows how good this forum is for advice!
From a bit of a towing, I can also always recommend Curtis's advice on towing. The man knows his stuff... and is a much better writer than me! (And not as negative as me 
)
I used to tow a 24' enclosed Haulmark box trailer with a 34' class A Ford chassis motorhome and fighting sway was shear misery. Every truck or bus passing was a wresting match until I got one of these hitches which combined load distribution and cam-type sway control. Made all the difference in the world. The trailer never budged from tracking once this was in place and all the other factors like tongue weight and tire pressures and such were dialed in. Not cheap, but worth every dime.
Ditto on all points mentioned. Airing up the tow vehicle tires to support the load makes a huge difference. Also surprising is the tire type on the tow vehicle, anything that is an A/T or M/T is way worse for sway then gas saver tires. Just looking at the amount of squat makes me feel like you could use more tongue weight as well.
Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:Ditto on all points mentioned. Airing up the tow vehicle tires to support the load makes a huge difference. Also surprising is the tire type on the tow vehicle, anything that is an A/T or M/T is way worse for sway then gas saver tires. Just looking at the amount of squat makes me feel like you could use more tongue weight as well.
More tongue weight? with the WDS Spring bars off, it squats down quite a bit.
Depending on the wind and direction sometimes you just need to slow down. But there are factors to evaluate for a better towing experience.
Not just weight, length of trailer also needs to be considered. But your half ton should be able with proper setup, good shocks and springs and a better hitch system. The one you have is not the best. But do the mods in order unless you prefer spending money.
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