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Originally Posted by ColoradoAl
However, I had the dealer install a
hitch on the rear of the trailer for my bike rack and
I had two mountain bikes mounted there for this trip.
I just occurred to me that that could be my problem.
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Greetings to a fellow resident of Colorado Springs and welcome to our online community!
Yes, as Denny-A's math quite conclusively proves, putting those two bikes on the back of the trailer is undoubtedly at least 90% of the cause of your sway problem. Certainly, the other recommendations like correct tire pressure and filling the water tank will reduce the potential for sway but the solution is to get those bikes off the rear of the trailer.
As the owner of a very similar 2720SL who's had each tire of my loaded trailer weighed, I would strongly caution you to NOT fill the water tank over half full as you're very likely to exceed the axle limitation for the street-side tire if you also have a full load of food in the fridge and a filled hot water tank. Besides which, because the water tank is just barely in front of the axle on the 2720SD (and SL), its affect on the trailer's center of gravity (and anti sway stability) is pretty minimal.
IMO, bikes (or any other weighty object) simply should
never be carried on the back of the smaller TMs as their weight that far behind the axle substantially reduces the inherent sway resistance of the trailer. I also think that Dave Unruh and the gang at
The Car Show (presuming that's where you bought your TM) are doing buyers a major disservice by offering to install hitches on the rear bumper so people can put bikes back there.
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I am overwhelmed by the large variety of anti-sway
devices and weight-distributing hitches out there.
They all seem to be designed for towing trailers much
larger and heavier than the 2720SD. Moreover, reading
through many of the posts found here, it seems like
few TrailManor owners have encountered trailer sway
and when they are loaded correctly they tow like
there's nothing back there without the need for anti-
sway devices and weight distributing hitches.
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Do NOT mask your sway problem with an anti-sway device. Folks with convential TTs
have to use them because they have no alternatives. TM owners have the far better alternative of relocating weight to solve the problem. Since you have a Jeep GC that can readily carry cycles on the roof rack, I'd definitely suggest that alternative. My previous tow vehicle was a Jeep Cherokee (not the GC) and a roof rack worked very well for carrying my mountain bike. Another alternative that works very well (I use it on my current tow vehicle, a Toyota Tundra pickup) is
this Swagman "towing" 3-bike carrier that I bought at Camping World in Denver. You can also get them at cycle shops here in the Springs but CW was quite a bit cheaper if you are a member of their President's Club. This rack clamps over the hitch bar of the WDH and carries the bikes over the trailer's tongue. I've had zero clearance problems with the trailer and it would work equally well on your 2720SD as you also have horizontal propane tanks.