Most RV owners use the word sway to describe trailer instability.
Engineers use a more precise term:
Trailer yaw.
If you truly want to understand why trailers become unstable—and why some hitches only reduce movement while others eliminate it—you have to understand yaw.
This isn’t marketing language. It’s physics.
In vehicle dynamics, yaw refers to rotation around a vertical axis.
Imagine looking down at your trailer from above. If the rear swings left or right while the hitch ball acts as a pivot point, the trailer is yawing.
That rotational movement is the foundation of sway.
These are not the same:
Sway is not primarily sideways sliding.
It’s rotational instability.
Once yaw begins, the problem compounds quickly.
Trailer yaw develops because most traditional hitches allow free pivoting at the ball.
When an external force acts on the trailer—such as:
It applies lateral force behind the trailer’s axle group.
That creates a moment arm—a rotational force around the hitch ball.
If the pivot point allows rotation, yaw begins.
The most dangerous part of trailer yaw isn’t that it starts.
It’s that it amplifies.
Here’s how:
This is called dynamic instability.
Each swing increases energy in the system—especially at highway speeds.
That’s why “minor sway” can escalate into violent oscillation within seconds.
This is the true nature of yaw instability in towing.
Yaw forces increase exponentially with speed.
At higher speeds:
Above a certain threshold, the trailer’s natural frequency aligns with input forces. That’s when oscillation becomes self-sustaining.
Friction can slow this cycle.
It cannot remove the rotational freedom that allows it to begin.
Traditional anti-sway systems rely on friction.
They work by:
But friction does not remove the pivot.
It simply makes rotation harder.
When lateral force exceeds friction resistance—such as during strong crosswinds or emergency maneuvers—yaw still occurs.
Friction reacts after movement starts.
It is a damping solution, not a prevention solution.
This is where anti-sway engineering diverges.
There are two fundamentally different approaches:
Only the second approach removes the mechanical condition required for sway to exist.
The ProPride 3P® Hitch uses Pivot Point Projection™ to relocate the effective pivot point forward—near the tow vehicle’s rear axle.
This changes everything.
When lateral force acts on the trailer:
Instead of dampening oscillation, the system prevents it from developing.
This is true trailer yaw control.
In engineering, eliminating the root cause is always superior to resisting symptoms.
If a system allows rotation:
If a system removes rotation:
That’s the fundamental distinction between friction-based sway control and pivot-point projection.
One fights physics.
The other redesigns it.
Understanding yaw reframes the towing conversation.
It explains why:
If the trailer can pivot freely at the hitch ball, yaw remains possible.
And if yaw remains possible, instability remains possible.
Trailer sway is not mysterious.
It is rotational instability—yaw—around a pivot point.
Once yaw begins, oscillation can amplify rapidly, especially at highway speeds.
Friction can slow the motion.
But only engineered geometry can prevent it.
By redefining the pivot point itself, the ProPride 3P® Hitch eliminates the mechanical condition required for yaw to exist.
And when yaw cannot begin, sway cannot escalate.
That’s not marketing.
That’s physics.