Sway in 1996 Chevy Suburban 1500 Towing 7000-lb Trailer with Weight Distribution/Sway Control Hitch  

Expert Reply:

Vehicle rear axle suspension products like air bags and rubber jounce springs are intended primarily to help support the vehicle suspension when it is carrying a heavy and/or uneven cargo load within the vehicle. They are not designed so much for use with towing applications. Also, rear suspension kits of any type can exhibit a tendency to interact with the weight distribution system.

My recommendation is to first re-evaluate your current weight distribution/sway control set up. These systems must be carefully matched to your actual fully-loaded as-towed trailer tongue weight, with all gear, supplies, filled water and propane tanks, etc. We offer a dedicated tongue weight scale (# e99044) but another method to measure tongue weight is shown in the linked article. You also need to add in the weight of anything in the Suburban that is placed behind the rear axle, such as a fully-loaded cooler for example, as this will add to the effective tongue weight on the system. If your trailer's tongue weight is too much for the system you are using it will not be able to provide the desired amount of control. It may be that you simply need to change out your spring bars to a higher-capacity set.

Also, if the trailer is at all out of level when hitched this will create more tendency for sway.

Please feel free to advise your measured fully-loaded tongue weight and what weight distribution/sway control system you are currently using and with that information I can make specific recommendations for you. The linked article on weight distribution systems may be of interest.