garmanmd

I'm trying to get my new to me 2019 F150 set up for towing. The truck has a built in "sway control" feature and manual says it doesn't prevent sway, but reduces it once it begins. So that seems to suggest you still need the full sway control features of a wdh hitch system as well. Is there any conflict between the two systems? In another thread someone said that Anderson says to disable sway control in TV if using their hitch which is what raised the question. I have an equalizer hitch, and can find nothing that suggests there is any conflict. But at the same time not sure how these two features work together but it seems they are doing two different things.

Who knew it was so complicated changing TV, and moving a wdh system.

Ricktwuhk

That Anderson mention is the only thing that I've seen in the past few years that mentions disabling the TV's system. Your trailer will not be heavy, and is not long. I would leave the truck's system alone. Make sure you properly setup the trailer in the truck before towing.

llr

I don't disable it and actually had it kick in one time, it corrected the sway as I was reaching for the trailer brakes. I do use the Blues Ox sway pro WDH

OldElectric

Cool. I’d like to hear from others who have had it actually kick him. I have not had it Engage.

Pikapp

I too use the BO WDH and speaking to a BO Rep about another matter, the Rep reminded me to disable the trucks sway control, when using the BO. From their Troubleshooting section in instructions: Resolution: For all truck models with factory sway control, it is suggested that the sway control be disabled for the best performance of the Blue Ox® SwayPro™. I've towed both ways and haven't felt any difference, so....I keep the trucks sway control on.

llr

I know I saw that somewhere. My thought is the trucks sway control doesn't kick in until things are out of control so I leave it on. Even if I wanted to turn it off I would probably forget most the time anyway

Flamingtaco

There has been less than a handful of reports on this forum of a truck's sway control coming in to conflict with the WDH, and at least one report (and a few other potentials where the OP never returned to confirm/deny) of it engaging without a trailer.

What I always suggest is leave it on and check your wheel temperatures after towing a trailer at 55mph+ for at least 30 minutes, then letting wind resistance handle most of the stopping. If your wheel temperatures are not significantly higher than doing the same without a trailer, you don't have a conflict, leave it on.

A properly set up WDH limits the trailer pushing the truck sideways, but even a super-expensive, perfectly setup WDH can become overcome by wind, passing vehicles, and bad road surfaces. The truck will react to this a lot faster than we can, so it's best to let it do it's thing if it's not causing issues.

Another feature that can come into conflict is Electronic Stability Control. If you're suffering from low mileage and hot wheels, and turning off Sway Control doesn't change anything, double-press the TC button to enable a higher ESC threshold.

OldElectric

By "wheels" I assume you mean the brakes (somehow). Tires can heat up for many reasons, incorrect inflation for a given load is a very common to see extreme rise in temp.

BTW does the dash have a warning light when these systems activate?

llr

I didn't think about stability and sway control being similar but separate. I believe it was sway control that activated for me however with out being sure of the difference I can't be positive.

Whatever activated for me did but some message on the dash. Reading and remembering it was not a top concern at the time

Flamingtaco

Heat in the brakes transfers to the wheels and it's easier to lase the wheel, but you are correct, make certain tire pressures are equal, and as I mentioned, get a reading from an unloaded trip for a baseline..

ESC looks for the vehicle going beyond it's capabilities. Is the vehicle close to under or oversteer? What does the lateral G-force look like in relation to the steering input and speed? Sway control looks for cyclical motion. Is there an oscillating lateral G-force with no steering input to create it? Sway control works well because it reacts to sway before you get to the point of ESC seeing an oversteer condition, which would be too late for a high rate of recovery when pulling a trailer.

I'm not sure what the threshold is for dash alerts, but based upon how traction control behaves, I don't think the dash lights up instantly. On one-off, very short duration slip, I can hear the ABS kick in, but no light. Push it into a longer slip, ABS kicking in multiple times a second, I get the light.