Need for sway bars and/or weight distribution setup

[Val Tuna]

 Hi ho towing community..

I need some advice from whomever has some..

I have towed about 1000 miles so far, very successfully, my vintage solid 1955 Roadliner,(13' cabin)with my 2003 Suburban 1500 - without sway bars. I do not have an uneven hitch to tongue hook up..It appears very level and easy to do. Clearly I am very careful and slow and will continue to be. 

I have never felt any sway on the road, and the trailer tows straight and true.

Perhaps I have been lucky as well...

Now I  have been made aware of the need for sway bars, and /or a weight distribution set up and am wondering what is necessary to be safe and not sorry on the open road. 

I have also just purchased a 1973 Roadrunner with a 19" cabin..so the vehicle to trailer weight ratio I am used to will be very different with the newer trailer as it's dual axle, and about twice as heavy @ 4000 lbs.+

This newer trailer is also really well built,and is in super condition..solid and sound.. and so far tows straight( locally)  but I'm getting nervous that I am missing something really important here. 

After hearing how sway bars and weight dist.bars can really make a difference in safety I must ask people who know more than I do. 

What kind of accidents do these things protect us from?

Do all informed towers have these? 

I really appreciate this forum and thank you before hand for your help. 

I have got to figure this out soon.

many thanks.

happy trails.

[David Kreuser]

Yeah, I totally forgot about tow behind trailer sways, I remember them being called equalizer hitches. As a kid we had one on a tow behind

[Lakota Wolf]

Heres  a picture of weight distribution bars. also called torsion bars. And an anti sway bar,(friction type)

[Val Tuna]

Looks like the second photo has both, is that correct?  These hitch situations are much more complicated than I've been using..but I guess it's like the safety comparison between installing a dead bolt on your front door, to just hooking a little hook and trusting that no one wants to test it. 

Many thanks again Lakota..I am starting to get this. 

[david craft]

excellent pics...do you see a problem with the combined unit? the main shank should be almost vertical. instead there is a lot of deflection. most combo bars come out within a degree of horizontal. a degree or two more on tension. this setup needs a better look for sure. i seen factory hitches do this before...like they never intended WD hitches.