Trailer sway is a huge problem among truck and recreational vehicle owners that can cause significant accidents on the roads. It is important to know that trailer sway has led to deaths on the highway. If you have a truck pulling a huge trailer, you need to have an electronic trailer sway control so that you can prevent road accidents.
There are many truck and trailer owners out there in the industry who do not use an electronic trailer sway control. The following causes of trailer sway should force you to get an electronic trailer sway control.
Poor weight distribution
Poor weight distribution is one of the leading causes of trailer sway. Most of the people don’t know how to distribute the weight of the trailer, which leads to a situation where weight distribution leads to trailer sway. According to the Transportation Board of the United States, weight distribution systems such as electronic trailer sway control are highly recommended if your trailer is more than 50% of your vehicle’s weight.
Bad hitch adjustments
Hitch adjustment is an important aspect of any trailer owner who wants to prevent any form of swaying. You need to make sure that both the weight and height of the trailer should be commensurate with that of the truck. It is useful to know that the truck pulls the trailer and as such, it should be able to pull the load. However, bad hitch adjustments can lead to trailer sway. You can easily eliminate trailer sway through trailer hitch sway control.
Excessive wind sheer
Within a span of twenty-five seconds, wind sheer can lead to fatal road accidents. Most of the trucks that experience wind sheer are always able to overcome the problem. However, when a truck is pulling a trailer, it is very difficult to overcome the forces of the wind that push the trailer to sway. Advanced trailer sway control systems are essential in ensuring that strong wind sheers are prevented from swaying the trailer.
Excessive speed
Speed limits are always there, but it is always a hard ask to force trailer drivers to follow the required highway speed. When a trailer is moving with excessive speed, pressure above the trailer becomes heavier than the trailer below the trailer. The high pressure below the trailer is likely to sway the trailer on one side, which is a very dangerous situation. An electronic trailer sway control is very useful in preventing swaying even when the trailer is moving at a higher speed.
Poor trailer design
Some trailer designs have significant impacts on swaying. If the anchor is very long, there is a high chance that trailer sway will be very common when the truck is moving at a higher speed. Trailer design is also likely to be a major issue if one side of the trailer is much heavier than the other one. Controlling trailer sway by adjusting the design of the trailer is essential in preventing trailer sway. It is common knowledge that one of the methods of correcting trailer sway is by adjusting the design of the trailer.
No sway control system
The sway control system is an important mechanical system that every trailer should have. Although most of the trailers are kin to observe some important aspects such as speed and trailer design, some critical and uncontrollable factors could cause trailer sway. Wind speed is a major external factor that drivers can do nothing about it. Most of the trailers without a sway control system, it will be very difficult to prevent sway. Having a sway control system is essential in preventing trailer sway.
Hayes Towing Electronics is a leading company in providing safety mechanisms for trailers that are likely to experience sway. One of the systems provided by this company is the electronic trailer sway control system, which provides instant breaks to prevent any form of trailer sway. If you are looking for a sway control system for your trailer, contact us today for more information.
