When to Loosen and/or Remove a Friction Bar Sway Control on a Trailer
Updated 06/10/2014 | Published 06/09/2014
Question:
when you say disengage the sway bar do you mean take it off the hitch or loosen it?
asked by: Ryan
Expert Reply:
Ideally you would loosen the sway bar and then remove it by lifting it off the vehicle end ball and unpin it from the trailer side. It only takes a few seconds and doing so will prevent damage to it and the trailer when backing at an angle.
The instructions, which I have linked for you to view, specifically say the following:
On some installations, damage to the sway control may occur during extremely sharp turning maneuvers. This can be checked by slowly backing vehicle into a jackknife position while someone is watching. Do not allow slide bar to contract completely (bottom out) or bumper to contact sway control. If it looks as though contact will be made or the sway control will bottom out then the sway control must be removed before backing trailer.
As far as inclement weather you would just have to loosen it but it can stay attached.
