Last year our old antisway bar got bent (and I don’t mean it developed a drinking problem). So we went shopping for a new antisway bar and discovered the “Value Friction Sway Control” (http://goo.gl/1fiSvP) which is simply a lower priced antisway bar. We decided to give it a try on our rig.
Why bother with an antisway bar? These bars reduce trailer sway and improve handling in adverse towing conditions. For example, when you’re hauling your rig across a wide open stretch of West Texas on a windy day.
The idea is that the antisway bar improves the stability of your rig and therefore increases towing safety. If you are towing a trailer any substantial distance, you really need one of these antisway bars working for you. It’s a cheap form of insurance. In some scenarios, a humble antisway bar may help you avoid a disastrous accident.
Now on to the bar itself. From the word “value,” I was expecting compromises from this bar. So far, after a full season of camping and literally thousands of miles of towing, I have found none. As Buzz Lightyear might say, the value bar has performed to my expectations – and beyond!
This is a solid, heavy, well constructed piece of gear. The value bar weights 13.2 pounds. The kit comes complete with mounting hardware (should you need it – we did not).
I have found no significant differences between the “value” bar and the heavy duty Reese antisway bar that we owned previously. This new bar has been a perfect fit, which made it easy to mount and use on our trailer’s existing mounting points.
The “value” antisway bar costs about a third the price of the standard Reese bar (http://goo.gl/X4Cu0X). Quite frankly, I can’t see any reason to purchase the more expensive gear. The value bar is a sturdy piece of equipment and it has served us well on the road.