[Excella CM]

When you have enough tension on the eq bars the whole rig will sit level. Think of it this way: When just using a hitch ball, the trailer tongue will push down on the ball-the ball and socket joint will pivot in the vertical plane and the truck nose and trailer rear will elevate while the tonge and truck rear will go down. When you add the equalizer bars and put sufficient tension on them, the ball and socket is restricted from pivoting in the verticle plane-the tongue weight of the trailer pushes down on the entire truck front and back, keeping it and the trailer level. Too little tension and the angle between the truck and trailer is less than 180 degrees (a vee shape) and too much tension and the angle is greater than 180 degrees (a hump). Just right is a straight line. Looked at this way the purpose of the equalizer hitch is to prevent pivoting of the ball and hitch socket in the verticle plane
Once you have figured the tension correctly, it doesn't matter if you count the links under tension or the links hanging-it's the same thing from opposite points of view assuming you have the same number of links on each bar. This number, however, should be the same for both sides.