rear sway bar?

[alfajay]

Does a rear sway bar do anything? A guy I work with says I should have one for towing but I never really heard of the option. If there is a reason to have one will it interfere or have a use once I add the firestone air bags? I am looking to get those within a month. I am typically pulling a 20' 8k 2axle(2100lbs empty) trailer or a 22' 14k tilt trailer(4k empty).

[WILLIAM LORCH]

If you find out let me know also And where do u get 1 And what is it??? Bill

[willypscustoms]

they are usually on there from the factory but i took it off and dont use it.

[Dave]

Its an option pretty much with the camper package. they are great if you have a slide in truck camper. But if you are getting airbags I dont think you need it

[worx]

I was looking at putting both on. My trailer is just a little 24' box, usually just shy of 6k with the standard load. I was looking to increase the rear ride height when pulling with the bags and reduce the body roll with the bar... a buddy of mine has one on his and he seems to like it. But he came from a gas Ch***... sorry, still cough on that.
I found one as an aftermarket, but not got it yet.. addco and hellwig both make them...

[powershooter]

i have a gmc gasser i use for a welding rig and i installed air bags on it . after that i never had a problem with body role and i have to go down logging roads . i love my air bags .

[mrnecsteve]

I believe what your friend may be referring to is commonly referred to an equalising/anti sway setup...the trade name is also known as load-leveler.I know the specs of the 07 and my setup and I will use them to relate what should be considered.
On mine,the factory calls for anything over 500 pounds tongue weight should have an equaliser. It's not a just a matter of how strong or how stiff the rear axel is. Its also a matter of "how much lifting force is applied to the front suspension" if you apply lets say 800 pounds tongue weight to the back end of a truck and what effect does it have on the castor/camber at the front of the truck as well as steering stability??
You can determine what the lifting force will be, by determining the "lever ratio" of ball to axel,then axel to front axel. In the case of my truck, it is 57 inches from the ball to the center of the axel. The wheelbase of the truck is 141 inches. This is a ratio of .404 .If I apply 800 pounds of weight downward at the ball...it applies a lifting force of 325 pounds to the front of the truck. If the trailer hits a dip in the road, my guess is that the figure takes a jump to maybe twice that figure or more. Even if the axel was welded stiff directly to the frame,you still have that upward force.
If you have trailer brakes and do a hard brakeing action,that lifting force is very severe.The optimum situation would be to have the increased weight distributed front and back.
A longer wheelbase truck,lowers that ratio. A shorter wheelbase raises it. A goosneck or 5th wheeler setupmoves that load much farther forward and reduces the ratio to nill.
An equaliser setup applies torsion in the opposite direction to twist the front of the truck down.As the tongue gets pushed downward even more...it applies even more torsion. The goal is to apply equal weight (give or take) to the front axel,relieving sag in the rear end and lifting in the front,both which are bad .
Hope this makes sense...hard to explain without diagrams!