Trailer sway control.

[GordJ]

Just a quick comment on the trailer braking sway control in my ‘14 LX. We have just returned from a 5,000 km trip around BC and I have finally found out how you activate the trailer sway control option. I have been trying to figure how to test this feature or find if it is even real and on out trip I was “able” to get an answer.
We were almost into Terrace BC when I came up behind a small car doing about 98 km/h and because I was on cruise at 100 I, obviously, “had” to pass him. We were on a two lane highway and when the dotted line came up I pulled out and booted it. We got up to about 115 and got by and when I went to pull back into my lane headwinds about 60 km/h hit us just as some uneven bumps in the road appeared. The trailer started bouncing around and I let off the gas and lightly got on the brakes to settle everything down and then the truck started braking and everything settled down immediately and there was no throttle response until we slowed to about 60 km/h when everything returned to normal and the ABS sounds stopped. I was amazed at how quickly the swaying stopped even though I wasn’t terribly concerned about losing control of anything. It reminded me of trying to fishtale in the snow and having the traction control take the skid away.
Trailer sway control certainly worked for me and, even though I’ll probably never need it again, it’s nice to know that it will do its job.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Hooray for the search function!

I was going to start a thread asking this very question regarding the Trailer Sway Control feature, whether anyone experienced it working and if so how well it worked. Thanks for the post!

 

[TeCKis300]

The 200-series doesn't have an explicit trailer sway control function. Rather its stability augmentation when towing is provided by the vehicle stability control (VSC) which is primarily concerned with keeping the vehicle pointed as the driver intends, regardless of external factors including towing. Whether oversteer or understeer, towing or solo, it does a good job in my experience to faithfully stabilize the vehicle against yaw by using individual brakes, to prevent loss of control.

It's thresholds are on the low, albeit safe side, and steps in aggressively before traction limits of the platform are fully reached. At least from my sports car driving perspective. But this is not a bad thing for a heavy and family oriented vehicle. You'll know it's tripped with a flashing VSC icon on the dash and a beep beep.

I've experienced it with a trailer too in really high 40-50mph gusts. Every car on the roadway, even solo cars, were moving around and having to drive slow. Cresting a hill on the freeway at about 45 mph, on a path cut into the hillside... coming out of the cut there was an extreme channeling of the wind perpendicular to the roadway. The blast of air pushed against the side of the vehicle and trailer hard enough to move the rear of the car sideways somewhat. With a beep beep and no further yaw to start any sway, it stabilized the rear, and on we continued. It wasn't enough for my passengers to feel over the general buffeting of the rig, but great to know the safety net was there and functioning well. I didn't at any point feel it was a serious situation, and had been already alert driving slow and ready to grab the trailer brake controller manually, but again, the threshold is low and provides good safety as these situations develop quickly.

Some notes:
- VSC is augmentation, a last resort safety net, and not a primary means of stability. A rig should be setup in a way that handles confidently, and should never feel white knuckle in any way, even against conditions.
- The setup needs to have enough margin of stability not just for nominal situations, but for extreme situations. It's often the combination of elements that cause accidents. Combine speed, deceleration, cresting of a hill/downhill, wind, rain, etc. Anticipate and be ready to grab the trailer brakes manually.
- Proper setup is key: Good WD hitch, enough WD tensions, enough tongue weight
- If it feels white knuckle ever, check setup or weather is too dangerous to drive in

 

[FrazzledHunter]

The 200-series doesn't have an explicit trailer sway control function. Rather its stability augmentation when towing is provided by the vehicle stability control (VSC) which is primarily concerned with keeping the vehicle pointed as the driver intends, regardless of external factors including towing. Whether oversteer or understeer, towing or solo, it does a good job in my experience to faithfully stabilize the vehicle against yaw by using individual brakes, to prevent loss of control.

It's thresholds are on the low, albeit safe side, and steps in aggressively before traction limits of the platform are fully reached. At least from my sports car driving perspective. But this is not a bad thing for a heavy and family oriented vehicle. You'll know it's tripped with a flashing VSC icon on the dash and a beep beep.

I've experienced it with a trailer too in really high 40-50mph gusts. Every car on the roadway, even solo cars, were moving around and having to drive slow. Cresting a hill on the freeway at about 45 mph, on a path cut into the hillside... coming out of the cut there was an extreme channeling of the wind perpendicular to the roadway. The blast of air pushed against the side of the vehicle and trailer hard enough to move the rear of the car sideways somewhat. With a beep beep and no further yaw to start any sway, it stabilized the rear, and on we continued. It wasn't enough for my passengers to feel over the general buffeting of the rig, but great to know the safety net was there and functioning well. I didn't at any point feel it was a serious situation, and had been already alert driving slow and ready to grab the trailer brake controller manually, but again, the threshold is low and provides good safety as these situations develop quickly.

Some notes:
- VSC is augmentation, a last resort safety net, and not a primary means of stability. A rig should be setup in a way that handles confidently, and should never feel white knuckle in any way, even against conditions.
- The setup needs to have enough margin of stability not just for nominal situations, but for extreme situations. It's often the combination of elements that cause accidents. Combine speed, deceleration, cresting of a hill/downhill, wind, rain, etc. Anticipate and be ready to grab the trailer brakes manually.
- Proper setup is key: Good WD hitch, enough WD tensions, enough tongue weight
- If it feels white knuckle ever, check setup or weather is too dangerous to drive in

Thanks for the detailed write-up. I have had VSC kick in with my 100 series with snow and ice and off road. The most harrowing experience was off road on mud that had frozen but thawed on the top due to the sun. I swear that mud was the slipperiest stuff I have ever been on.

I plan to tow near the limits and was considering a WD hitch with anti-sway in it.
Do you think VSC lessens the need for an anti-sway hitch?

 

[SF1911A1]

I use an

Thanks for the detailed write-up. I have had VSC kick in with my 100 series with snow and ice and off road. The most harrowing experience was off road on mud that had frozen but thawed on the top due to the sun. I swear that mud was the slipperiest stuff I have ever been on.

I plan to tow near the limits and was considering a WD hitch with anti-sway in it.
Do you think VSC lessens the need for an anti-sway hitch?

I use an equalizer hitch with the sway control bars and would not tow without it. I didn’t even know VSC would automatically kick in, but after driving through what felt like a tornado in west Texas last year, I can’t imagine what would have happened without the sway bars. I highly recommend you use them. For reference, my camper is 24’ long and weighs 4500lbs empty.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I use an


I use an equalizer hitch with the sway control bars and would not tow without it. I didn’t even know VSC would automatically kick in, but after driving through what felt like a tornado in west Texas last year, I can’t imagine what would have happened without the sway bars. I highly recommend you use them. For reference, my camper is 24’ long and weighs 4500lbs empty.

Roger this - I would get a hitch with anti-sway but I'm getting lost in the details of the hitches that offer varying degrees of anti-sway.

 

[SF1911A1]

Roger this - I would get a hitch with anti-sway but I'm getting lost in the details of the hitches that offer varying degrees of anti-sway.

Gotcha. I can only attest that I am extremely happy with my equalizer. I haven’t ever used any other hitch, so no experience to offer.

 

[rotateclockwise]

I tow a 4200 lb travel trailer and use a Reese Stedi-Flex weight distribution system with sway control (Trunnion style), and have had great results with an LX (3K miles). Used the same system on a Tundra previously and didn't experienced any challenging situations there either (15K miles).

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I tow a 4200 lb travel trailer and use a Reese Stedi-Flex weight distribution system with sway control (Trunnion style), and have had great results with an LX (3K miles). Used the same system on a Tundra previously and didn't experienced any challenging situations there either (15K miles).

Thanks I'll have a look.

 

[TeCKis300]

I plan to tow near the limits and was considering a WD hitch with anti-sway in it.
Do you think VSC lessens the need for an anti-sway hitch?

Nope. Two different things really. IMO, a solid physical anti-sway hitch is vitally important.

It would be similar to whether ABS lessens the need for good tires. ABS provides a measure of safety and control once the threshold of physical traction is exceeded, but doesn't negate the need for good tires that would allow traction, stability, and stopping distances in the first place. The best ABS in the world won't stop a car with bad tires. Similarly, the best VSC in the world won't provide stability at speed for a rig to drive confidently. Would be like ABS kicking in at every brake application.

I use an Equalizer 1000lb bar AS hitch for my 28' 8000lb trailer, and would highly recommend it. It's probably the most widely used on the market. Ease of use, set and forget, effectiveness, support, and familiarity to shops are some of the reasons I like it.

The Reese hitch, and many other similar hitches get a thumbs up from me as well. Proper setup is probably more key than actual hitch.