20' Safari... 1000 lb bars ok? what is ceiling stain??

[OhioMarty]

Berto, I will be getting 500 - 550s as well. Just the problem of finding them. I recall a friend of mine dropping bar # down.

He found out that the lighter (i.e. 700 # bar) would not work with the set up he had on his hitch (he had 1000 bars on his set up). Hard to explain on here, but basically the 700 # bar had larger/fatter "stubs" on top and bottom of bar that would not fit into the smaller "slots" on his receiver.

This tells me that not only will I have to buy ligher bars (the 500 - 550s) but will also need a change to the part on my hitch set up as well.


I want to thank all for the replies and help given on here.

[OhioMarty]

But, do I get 700 # bars or 550 # bars??

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by OhioMarty

But, do I get 700 # bars or 550 # bars??

When your at the dealer, try both bars.

Keep in mind that your looking for at least a 1 inch bend in the bars.

You never did say whose hitch you have, so I assumed Reese from your description.

ALWAYS, travel with full fresh water.

The extra weight doesn't matter.

What does matter, is the fact that the center of gravity lowers when the trailer is full of water. That's a good thing.

Also, where you you get some water, IF, you had a radiator hose blow out in the middle of no where.

Traveling with no water, is another Airstream myth.

Andy

[OhioMarty]

Andy,

Thanks for the tip on carrying water.

There is no bending of my 1000 # bars. I have Reese. Bars have chain links on trailer end and two "stubs" on truck end.

Do the 700 # or 500 # bars bend/give one inch?

It may be hard to try both bars at Camping World or a trailer dealer.
So, need best advice on here on which # to go with ????????

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by OhioMarty

Andy,

Thanks for the tip on carrying water.

There is no bending of my 1000 # bars. I have Reese. Bars have chain links on trailer end and two "stubs" on truck end.

Do the 700 # or 500 # bars bend/give one inch?

It may be hard to try both bars at Camping World or a trailer dealer.
So, need best advice on here on which # to go with ????????

Use the 500 pounders.

Also, if you have chains on the bars, then you do not have the dual cam sway control.

Adding it to your setup will make your towing days comfortable, instead of giving you white knuckles.

For my money, it's the best sway control on the market, since it does have a brain.

Andy

[5cats]

We've used the Reese Strait-Line setup which includes the Dual Cam Sway Control, with 600# Trunnion bars, on our 2007 20' Safari for 18 months now and are very happy with it.

Even so, there are certain freeway sections that just "hammer", even down to 45 mph. We like the smooth sailing sensation once we reach local mountain highways

Cheers,
-jd.

[Silvertwinkie]

I agree. Go with the 500s or 600s. I use to tow a 19' and a 25' with my softer suspension sedan and had 1200lb bars. There was lots of flex in the bars and it worked great. When I upgraded to a 3/4 ton truck, the 1200lb bars were nothing more than dead weight. They had no flex to them. After reading on this forum, I learned that I was way overhitched. So I went down to the 800lb bars, much better, but then tried the 600lb bars and was even better than the 800lb bars. Now with the 25', I have the dual cam sway, so having some bend/tension on the bars is key. With 600lb bars, life is good. I have about between 750 and 875lb hitch weight (750lbs by the specs) based on a hitch scale I bought.

I bought my bars off eBay. It's hard to break weight bars, but I suppose it can happen. Also the bars are available online from many vendors and I would feel pretty comfy in saying, buying bars off eBay or new via an online Reese shop would cost less than it would at Camping World.

[OhioMarty]

Well, went to Sierra Truck and Van, Fairfield, Ca, 707-864-1064 today and got set of 550# bars. Since my ancient Reese 1000 # bars would not work with new Drawtite 550 # bars, had to buy new weight dist heard and deep drop shank as well.

Which is not a problem because my old 1000 # set up can sit in garage incase ever buy a heavier trailer (i.e. Holiday Ram)...but dont think so.

Thanks to all who gave me suggestions and help.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by OhioMarty

Well, went to Sierra Truck and Van, Fairfield, Ca, 707-864-1064 today and got set of 550# bars. Since my ancient Reese 1000 # bars would not work with new Drawtite 550 # bars, had to buy new weight dist heard and deep drop shank as well.

Which is not a problem because my old 1000 # set up can sit in garage incase ever buy a heavier trailer (i.e. Holiday Ram)...but dont think so.

Thanks to all who gave me suggestions and help.

Please post your opinion, for the benefit of others, once you use the new rating bars.

Andy

[bertro]

Well Andy, I hope I will be better off. The local dealer gave me some new reese 750's for $42.00 w/exchange of my very old #1000's. He had a pair of 550's but 1 in the pair was drawtite the other a reese, he said it didnt matter but I didnt like that program. My 1/2 ton 4x4 suburban is a soft ride in the rear so I hope I these #750's works out. Thanks for the tips. PS why dont you open up a store in OH. it sure would be nice. Robert

[OhioMarty]

This is a follow up to my original post.

I installed 550 lb bars and they seem to do better job than the heavy duty 1000 lb bars I was using.

Chris at factory told me they will take care of the stain on ceiling (bathroom wall) when I come to Ohio.

As always, Chris and Kevin do a good job of helping customers.

Also, thanks to all who commented on my original post.