Trailer electronic sway prevention systems explained 

What an awesome video. Answered the question I had (and way more!) that having both car and trailer systems running simultaneously is fine. Also, the test videos showing sway control in action were great. Quite amazing difference in how the trailer and car behave. Cheers from a first time caravaner.

One of the things I was told many years ago was in most cases the issue of trailer sway causing an accident is the wrong tow vehicle for the given trailer and or driving to fast. I have pulled a relatively heavy trailer with a 1 ton truck for thousands of miles the trailer was high profile and considerably heavier than then the truck. Watching your speed and wind conditions is paramount. Pulling a trailer of any kind is really not a leisurely activity.

A couple of weeks ago I was travelling between Winton & Longreach. I saw the aftermath of two separate car/caravan rollover events - both were off the road and either on their roofs or side. This made me keen to find out more about these systems.

Side note but stability control is so so so cool. I drive a lot of gravel and it's all but impossible to screw up. Rear end starts to kick out and the vehicle just says "LOL NOPE Back into line you go!!" as the computer independently stabs the brakes for diagonally opposite corners. One of the coolest safety features ever implemented on cars.

IMO trailer stability assist systems should notify the driver of a sway event even if it was quickly dampened.

9:30 thanks for anticipating my question ;)

This is One GOOD instructional vidio for trailer towing.

Another great video, electronic sway prevention systems.

Interesting that the Boash system does allow some lock up of the wheels before releasing the brakes again. Results in much better braking on loose surfaces than systems that dont allow any lock up at all

Really good information. Thanks for posting!

Excellent video. Clear and concise. It also helped me discover that I have TSC on my 2014 4Runner. I had no idea it was there. I'm not a fan of friction sway control and would rather try this route. Thanks!!

Wow the BEST video on the subject on ALL the internet! ¡Gracias por compartir!

I did not even know that Lexus 2016 GX460 already has the TSC built in. Thanks for your video..

I have Dexter sway control, $1500 for something I can't see except for a green led on the drawbar. Is it worth it. Firstly I think they should be mandatory on all vans, even insurance companies know they decrease risk which is why your premium goes down. Recently I got hit by a cross wind and I felt the red Being deployed. I would go far as to say they should be retrofitted before you can re register your van. When a van rolls it normally causes the tow vehicle to cross into incoming traffic. Motor accidents are tragic, you can't put a price on them , lives ruined for ever. Having said that THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR CAREFUL DRIVING,. How to minimise sway. Firstly ensure you van is loaded correctly, to much weight at the backccan cause sway. Secondly Don't drive to fast, avoid overtaking like the plague. I am very aware of that happens to the airstream around trucks, the air is pushed over the top PLUS either side, almost like that cross wind. If I'm in the left lane I trycand stay on 90 regardless, if a truck comes around I normally pull to the left as much as possible, and back off when the front of the trucks level with the back off the van. The reason to back off is to minimise the time the wind from the truck can affect the van. In essence it's risk management,ie minimising risk. I want to enjoy my van not live with regret of a nasty accident.. Sadly i think from observation many people towing drive way to fast and sadly most people drive way to close then wonder why they can't stop. Also part of minimising risk is if you keep your distance you may not get rear ended by the brains trust behind you. Why we don't have driver education on TV instead of Border Security and Mighty ships makes me wonder what a bunch of turnips they are appealing to???

If you have a tow car with ESC it adds to the effect that differential stability offers on the trailer - the two mentioned here do not offer the ability to introduce a force equal and opposite at the centre of equilibrium therefore is less effective plus there is a cost with added electronics - with differential stability ( pure mechanical) there is no chance of wheel lockup. And can be fitted to any A frame trailer. The Bosh /Dexter will disengage if rough terrain is encountered and only works with electric brakes. ALKO bought out Dexter some years ago I'm unsure when Bosh took that over but I think it was so they did not compromise the European device designed for overrun brakes. John Wilson. Differential Stability is still the only workable option.

Thanks so much. A fantastic public service.

Had my van for 10 years never had trailer sway, The wheels are well behind the centre of the van. What I can see is that vans with the wheels close the the centre of the van have the most problems.

I think some insurance is cheaper if you have sway control on your caravan

This is all well and good until one side of the van is on say, gravel whilst the other is on bitumen. Seems to me that the on vehicle TSC is a way to detect a potential problem before it turns into a catastrophe. Unfortunately my insurance company didn't understands the question much less help with a solution

Another excellent explanation. It answered all the questions I had. Thank you

I believe we've got the Al-KO system on our van, but I dont think it works as we've had 2x sway events that nearly ended in disaster... more investigation required

another great vid and yes places to sea is also correct,

Very useful information :)

In my evaluations in practical situations this can be done with simple "speakers" communicating with each side of the vehcile and giving the pressure differential. Activating indivual brakes on the "van"

one thing that 'may' be overlooked with caravan braking that relies on the vehicle battery to supply 12v for the trailer brakes is the potential poor connection at the 7 pin plug and the poor earth connection, due to current draw

Very informative and interesting videos.

AWESOME VIDEO!!! Thank you!

Thanks for the videos they explained more details on things I did not know, thanks again. I would like to know if there is a way to indicate (dash light) that one of the brake cables has been broken off while travelling, the reason being, We recently had the van serviced and was told that 2 of the wires to the brakes where broken off so we only had braking on 2 wheels (4 wheel van), so this means I took the van to the service agent with no brakes, I would like to add a light to the dash indicating if something was wrong with the brakes on the van, any ideas?

1:30 YES quick to react AFTER sway has started. Why not PREVENT it from starting altogether with a PPP hitch. I do.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it is a legal requirement to have electronic trailer braking system when towing any trailer over 2000kg. Does a vehicle with TCS still require an electronic braking system for the trailer; and if so, does one of the systems in your video meet this requirement - i.e., in Lieu of the older style manual application braking systems we historically fitted? Great video BTW, thank you.

Robert, my new van has a Lippert system. Do you know much about how it compares?

A truck travelling in the opposite direction has never corsed my caravan to sway,maybe a little when being overtaken by a truck.

Thanks Robert for another informative and thought provoking educational video. One thing not covered is trailer electric over hydraulic disc brakes. These are becoming more common and ALKO ESC system works in conjunction with its IQ7 actuator. Dexter also has E/H actuator system but I presume this would negate any differential left/ right braking (one hydraulic line out only from actuator?) and/or ABS from their trailer stability module and resort to proportionately brake all wheels simultaneously….or maybe not work at all? Have you come across any info on this?

Just smart braking control for the trailer, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing, but...consider a free-floating weight underneath the trailer, as the trailer begins to sway the polar moment of inertia rapidly becomes unstable. A weight applied at the right place will be thrust against the opposite side to the swaying force, thus cancelling it out, acting as a sort of gyroscope. I am surprised trailer builders aren't installing their own by now.

Amazed at the difference.

I was told by the weight distribution hitch rep that I should turn off the vehicle Anti-sway electronic system if there is a mechanical Anti-sway system in operation. This did not make sense to me. What is your opinion on that statement? Will an electronic sway protection and a mechanical system fight each other and degrade performance of both systems?

Why do trailers with dual axles have them close together as opposed to being spread further apart? What are the physics behind that?

Great video - If I already have TSC is this actually better than the Alko system? What I am really asking is do I actually need anything else if I already have TSC.

Do you think that TSC on the car works as well as manually applying the electronic brakes to the trailer?

Robert, is the Bosch/Dexter system compatible with Titan hydraulic power disc brakes? Who in Sydney can retrofit the Bosch/Dexter system?

Hi Robert I have just purchased a V2 Viscount 20 Foot Van. Weight loaded is 2,400 kg. We have a new Ford Ranger with TSC. Should I fit something to the Van? Thanks Martin

What happens when a sway control hitch or weight distribution hitch is added, between the trailer and tow vehicle? Would that be a hinderance to the electronic sway control systems? Thanks

What about anti sway bar hitches?

how do they work if the road is icy like from frost or a sudden freezing rain storm?

Hi, great video. I am not sure how the Car TSC works, does it apply the trailer brakes as well as the car? If so, would it be able to apply each side independently? Thanks Steve

Can any of these systems be installed on a US made R-Pod trailer?

🏆🏆🏆👍🇺🇲🙏. Thank you for sharing

Great video. Thanks. Where can this be purchased in Canada?

Good video describing sway but I though you we’re going to discuss electrical sway prevention, like what is built into some vehicles, not just manually hitting the trailer brakes.

These systems don't fix the problem of unbalanced loading of the trailer. It may prevent an accident but human idiot factor can override that quickly if the driver does nothing to change the loading of the trailer. Also the growing issue of car and trailer rigs exceeding Gross Vehicle Mass of the combined system. The towing cars are undersized and overloaded and the huge caravan trailers being towed by untrained, inexperienced people. It's time for caravaners to go through weighbridges for inspection like trucks do. If you want to drive a big rig, then big rig rules apply to you.

Anybody want a sailboat on a trailer?

Bosch definitely does not describe their system the way you did.

thank you for these videos but frankly I think you owe an apology to the people whose car and trailer you shrank for this video. I hope you let them out before you shrank their equipment.

The issue is the DESIGN. PIG trailers are dangerous. DOG trailers are more apropriate. Ask me why in a co-lab. To FIX the inherently UNSTABLE PIG trailers you need to spend a great deal of suspect technology that is prone to failure . KISS principal.