Blue Ox ball height?

[Phantom98]

My Airstreams hitch height is 20 1/2' when level. My ball height can be 22 3/4' or 21 1/4'. Which should I go with? Thanks

[azflycaster]

There is no simple answer to your question. The stillness or lack of will determine the setup. Try the setup at the 21.25 level and see if everything is level. There may not be a perfect height, but a little down on the hitch is supposed to be better than a little up on the hitch. BTW, having a one inch socket and a good size breaker bar makes hooking and un hooking easier and safer than the tool that comes with the hitch.

[RamRider]

Mine is set at a little over 22, so I suspect the 22.75 is where you should start, I think 21.25 may be too low after your TV settles. - Wow a new Globetrotter, you are about to have a bunch of nice trips, enjoy. When we picked up our AS at Baton Rouge I had the dealer adjust my ball height and it was right on level.

[thewarden]

Depends on your tow vehicle and how far it squats after you have set your WD. Most squat about 1" when properly set up. If your hitch is level at 21.5" and assuming your squat is about 1", then setting your ball height at 22.75" should leave you about 1/4 high, which is just about right.

[Bill M.]

The only way I know to set the ball height is to first set the WD hitch for wt transfer and then check the height. Adjust up or down as necessary.

Are you measuring the ball height unloaded?

[AirMiles]

Ball height? I would say to start with 22-3/4 which is very close to my ball height before hooking up the Airstream. Following is a post describing my issues with setting the ball height with my Blue Ox Swaypro and 25' Airstream with pictures and CAT scale tickets:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ml#post1950252

[Phantom98]

Thanks everybody. I appreciate your thoughts

[worthy420]

You've received some good advice. Here one more important area requiring your attention with regard to determining proper set up. (ball height, WD, etc are just part of it.) Before starting your hook up, measure the distance of front truck fender height to the ground, once your ball height and WD initial adjustment have been made - re-measure the fender to ground distance again and your distance should not have been increased by more than 1" [nose of tow vehicle pitching up) that's if your WD is properly compensating. If it is greater than an inch then increase your WD until you are an inch or less. This way you will have proper balance and control of your tow vehicle. (best towing practices suggest equal weight distribution on all four tires of your tow vehicle) And by maintaining this equal distribution of weight on your tow vehicle, you also provide for better trailer weight distribution on the wheels of your trailer (tandem axles) You will have improved; overall road traction, anti-sway and improved braking.

[Wconley]

My dealer set up my hitch ball too high (according to them it was to level the trailer) and then had our Blue Ox set very loose at 5 links from the free end. I even went back to them questioning their setup and they merely looked at the level trailer and said it “looked about right”. Towing the trailer with this setup confirmed that the Blue Ox was not doing much for sway control and it was fairly squirrelly.

I took an afternoon and set the height within the range stated in the Blue Ox instructions which in my case was at 20.75 (trailer ball socket is at 20.5) and then found that with 8 links from the free end my trailer is sitting perfectly level. Towing is now much, much better than before.

I would start with 21.25 and adjust the link tension for a level or slightly nose down angle. As mentioned above by worthy420 you also want to look at how the tow vehicle responds to changes.

[rmkrum]

Just a general observation...

As owners of Airstreams and Tow vehicles (generalizing a bit here) we have an opportunity to do research, poke, and fiddle with all the systems in our rigs. With sufficient time and research, a few tools, and time, we all have an opportunity to become experts in the equipment we own. The forums are a rich resource as well.

The issue with dealers is that they may not have the time or interest to become truly expert on particular Airstream systems. This is probably not them being evil, but a fact of life that they have to deal with many, many different trailers, systems, and components. They have to be a jack of all trades, and usually are a master of none of them.

As a potential specialist in one (of a few) models and years of Airstream trailers, each of us can become expert in due time--so have at it, get really good at dealing with what you own.

I for one, know LOTS about my 2007 22 foot International CCD and my 2102 Toyota Tundra tow vehicle...and I avoid using dealers unless it is for something I don't have enough tools (yet) to deal with, or a temporary knowledge deficit. And you can bet I will pick their minds for details and make that knowledge my own. Particular thanks to Lewster, who also freely shares his knowledge on the forums as well as being an expert for hire...

Learn it, do it yourself, and be free from the need to engage too many 'experts' or mechanics that cannot possibly know all you can know about your rig...

[DKB_SATX]

I certainly support the idea of "learn how your own stuff works and use it well" but I wouldn't excuse a lazy job from a dealer, either. My Blue Ox was the first one that particular tech had installed (at Colonial.) They don't sell the hitch, but didn't push back when that was the one I wanted.

He read the instructions, installed it per the instructions, and the only change I've made is that (at the suggestion of customer support at Blue Ox) I run it with the 10th link "in the notch" instead of the 9th (which is the standard recommendation.) I have 1000-lb bars and the tongue weight is generally around 950 lb, so that adjustment makes sense to me and works out well.

Mine starts out fairly high compared to the coupler when the trailer is level, but a 4WD F150 also has its "tail in the air" a bit when unloaded, and the whole system ends up nicely level and in-spec at the scales.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Snip...QUOTE "I would start with 21.25 and adjust the link tension for a level or slightly nose down angle. As mentioned above by worthy420 you also want to look at how the tow vehicle responds to changes."

^
X2
It's easier to level up with the WD. An inch down at the ball is about as far off level you want to be.
Never up. Nose up=rear down👎
Run the CAT weights or measurements to dial in the WD.

Bob
🇺🇸

[AirMiles]

I took an afternoon and set the height within the range stated in the Blue Ox instructions which in my case was at 20.75 (trailer ball socket is at 20.5) and then found that with 8 links from the free end my trailer is sitting perfectly level. Towing is now much, much better than before.

Setting the tongue low and cranking it back up with the bars worked well for me too. I have 1000# bars with a 25' and found that placing the 11th link from the loose end in the slot worked perfectly for me. One link more than the 10-link picture I linked above. This restored all the weight back to my truck's front axle. At 11 links from the loose end in the slot, I only see 1-1/2 links between the bars and rotating latches. My Airstream is level to slightly nose-low as others have described.

I tried higher ball heights, lower ball heights, more links, less links, 1500# bars and test drove and weighed each setup before I found exactly the feel I wanted. I describe the feeling as "riding on the bars" with complete confidence in my rig. Never a concern about sway, wind gusts, passing big rigs, steep mountain passes or anything. Before finding this completely confident setting, I had an uncomfortable push-pull from passing big rigs and occasional porpoising on concrete roads.

Here is a post I made describing my move to the 11th link in the slot: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ml#post1985301 including more CAT scale tickets and a picture of the complete rig at 11 links. I am still running this exact setup after over 30,000 miles.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by thewarden

Depends on your tow vehicle and how far it squats after you have set your WD. Most squat about 1" when properly set up. If your hitch is level at 21.5" and assuming your squat is about 1", then setting your ball height at 22.75" should leave you about 1/4 high, which is just about right.

High?... 1/4" low would be better. butt low .

Bob
🇺🇸