AS 22' Sport & Equalizer recommendations

[highdesert03]

Hello All,

We are buying a AS Sport FB 22 and our purchase will include an Equilizer and brake controller. My TV is a 2009 Tacoma (6500lb capacity and 650lb tongue weight). I dont ever plan on having more than 250lbs on my TV rear axel (in the bed) and my AS has a 396lb tongue rating. Should I get the Equilizer that has the 600lb or 1000lb rated torsion bars? I have heard that using bars that are rated too high (stiff) could be too harsh on my A frame. Any thoughts as to which hitch (600 or 1000) to install? My intuition is use the 600lb.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I have the 1,000 lb bars on my 25'er, but I would use the 600 lb bars with your 22' Sport. [my opinion]

[highdesert03]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, I have the 1,000 lb bars on my 25'er, but I would use the 600 lb bars with your 22' Sport. [my opinion]

Thanks. I understand the torsion bar rating should match the tongue weight + weight over the rear axel. My tongue weight (400) + max weight over the rear axel (100-2 00 lbs of cargo) will equal approximately 600lbs.

My concern is 1000 may transfer too much vibration to my A frame and therefore possibly damage it (over time).

[gmw photos]

I'm thinking your real world tongue weight is going to be between 550 and 600 pounds, not 400 pounds. Roll it over the scales, packed as ready to camp, to find out what the real weights are.

[highdesert03]

Originally Posted by gmw photos

I'm thinking your real world tongue weight is going to be between 550 and 600 pounds, not 400 pounds. Roll it over the scales, packed as ready to camp, to find out what the real weights are.

So if we are over 600 pounds let's say by 50 to 100 would we necessarily be better with 1000 bars? Seems excessive to me to go up to 1000 bars for what could be 16% overage in weight for the 600 lb bars.

[DryFly]

I just listened to episode 196 of The VAP. Very informative and some well elucidated opinions on WD hitches. I've eschewed them before, now I'm definitely considering. You might want to listen to this before you buy

[highdesert03]

Originally Posted by DryFly

I just listened to episode 196 of The VAP. Very informative and some well elucidated opinions on WD hitches. I've eschewed them before, now I'm definitely considering. You might want to listen to this before you buy

Just listened to a good portion of the podcast. Very informative. Learned that for my application (my truck has a short wheel base) the distance the load weight would need to travel to redistribute the weight to the front axel is minimal in terms of distance. I infer that I can use a 600lb rated bar with less concern because of this. If I had a larger TV with a longer wheel base than a higher rated bar (1000) might be preferable. Thanks for the podcast tip.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by highdesert03

So if we are over 600 pounds let's say by 50 to 100 would we necessarily be better with 1000 bars? Seems excessive to me to go up to 1000 bars for what could be 16% overage in weight for the 600 lb bars.

Well, we keep hearing over and over from guys like Inland Andy that Airstreams "like a soft ride", so I am thinking that your idea of 600 pound bars sounds more logical than 1000 pound bars. My main thought in pointing out that your tongue is likely to weigh more than you originally thought is that advertised weights vs real world weights can sometimes be quite different.

Just as a point of reference, BlueOx offers bars in 350, 550, 750 and then on up from there, if I remember correctly.

[highdesert03]

Originally Posted by gmw photos

Well, we keep hearing over and over from guys like Inland Andy that Airstreams "like a soft ride", so I am thinking that your idea of 600 pound bars sounds more logical than 1000 pound bars. My main thought in pointing out that your tongue is likely to weigh more than you originally thought is that advertised weights vs real world weights can sometimes be quite different.

Just as a point of reference, BlueOx offers bars in 350, 550, 750 and then on up from there, if I remember correctly.

Thanks for pointing out the real world difference for tongue wts. I'm sure you are right about it easily weighing more than its specs. I suspect I'm going to be good at 600lbs because I don't see myself packing more than 100 lbs in my bed (food, drinks, misc stuff). We plan on short excursions to the beaches of So Cal.

[mefly2]

Originally Posted by highdesert03

Thanks. I understand the torsion bar rating should match the tongue weight + weight over the rear axel. My tongue weight (400) + max weight over the rear axel (100-2 00 lbs of cargo) will equal approximately 600lbs.

My concern is 1000 may transfer too much vibration to my A frame and therefore possibly damage it (over time).

We used the 1000/10000 load bars with our FC20 and saw no signs of vibration issues. It is too bad that EQ does not allow easy load bar changes between the various ratings of the heads .... good place for an after-market adapter!

We chose those load bars to allow for "future" TT changes and now find them great for our 25 EB.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by mefly2

........snip.....

It is too bad that EQ does not allow easy load bar changes between the various ratings of the heads .... good place for an after-market adapter!

From the for what it's worth department, BlueOx does exactly that with their swaypro: the head is the same, and you can choose bars rated for 350, 550, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000

[tkowalyk]

Originally Posted by highdesert03

Hello All, We are buying a AS Sport FB 22 and our purchase will include an Equilizer and brake controller. My TV is a 2009 Tacoma (6500lb capacity and 650lb tongue weight). I dont ever plan on having more than 250lbs on my TV rear axel (in the bed) and my AS has a 396lb tongue rating. Should I get the Equilizer that has the 600lb or 1000lb rated torsion bars? I have heard that using bars that are rated too high (stiff) could be too harsh on my A frame. Any thoughts as to which hitch (600 or 1000) to install? My intuition is use the 600lb.

The equalizer ride (even with the 600lbs bars) would be way too rough. I speaking from experience. I had an equalizer with 1000 lb bars for my 25 Safari, and the connection was very ridged and we had a lot of movement of cargo inside the the trailer. After a couple of years, we switched to the Reese dual cam with 800lb bars. The ride and handling was much improved. Fast forward to this year, and when we bought out 27 Classic, we kept the Reese dual cam. With minor modifications - taking up another chain link, and adjusting the cam, she tows like a dream.

Regards,

Tom