Curt Mfg. Weight Distributing Hitch Setup

[COArgosy78]

Well, as usual after surfing for answers, I realize I should come here first for information

We have the opportunity to purchase a fairly new set up for sway control. It is made by a company called Curt. Now, I have heard much about Reese & Hensley & Equalizer. But does anybody know anything about Curt?

We would be real interested in anything you know or any comparison w/Reese, which is the other we are considering. With the Curt setup, we will be able to purchase everything, including the sway control kit & they are throwing in a hitch lock. With the Reese, it will be just the weight dist. hitch & we will have to add the sway control later.

Anybody got solid info? Thanks.

[jimmickle]

Take a look at http://www.curtmfg.com/WTDist.html Looks like a copy of the Reese. No provisions for sway control like the Reese dual cam. The only thing that they show is a separate sway link, which in my experience is a pain and not nearly as effective as dual cam. Reese information can be found at www.reeseprod.com

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by jimmickle

The only thing that they show is a separate sway link, which in my experience is a pain and not nearly as effective as dual cam.

I have the separate friction bar sway control, and if I were buying new, I would go with the dual cam, as the friction bar isn't as good as the dual cam, as well as requiring two more attaching points, and adjustment every hookup.

[Excella CM]

A friend of mine has that set up on his 31' Avion. It's like the Reese, except instead of a trunion head at the hitch end of the torsion bars, their round bar is bent about 70 deg. and cams up into a socket from the bottom. His had some wear and a tendency to drop the bar out of the socket. All I know.

[ALANSD]

iI now have the two spring bars I needed for my older dual cam set up. Can someone tell me -- these have short chains on one end and two points at the other end. What do you do with them? The hitch has the little cups on it, one on either side. The tongue has the two stirrups with chains and the thing you flip back totighten them down.
I have a freind coming over ins a few days, but I am clueless on the set up of the bars.

[jimmickle]

Alan,

Go to www.reeseprod.com and download the installation and adjustment instructions. They should answer all your questions. If you have problems, drop me a note at jimmickle@juno.com I have them on my hard drive and can forward them to you.

Jim Mickle

[ALANSD]

thanks Jim, looks like I have the cam set up that fit other bar attachments.
Mine looks like this below--- and the bars are two points on one end and a short chain at the other. A member advised me to remove the cams, and attach the bars with the chain only, and find out what I need to redo my set up to fit them.

[ALANSD]

i guess I am not yet seeing how the bars fit into the hitch ...

[Excella CM]

If you have round bars, then the hitch isn't a Reese. The hitch for the round bars has a hole up from the bottom on each side and the bar is inserted up into it. Reese bars are recatangular and have a head with a trunion on each side like a machinist's hammer and fit in from the back. The two systems wont even begin to be interchangeable.

[ALANSD]

no I do have a Reese set up and Reese bars, but they are not made to work together without some mods.

[overlander64]

Greetings ALANSD!

Originally Posted by ALANSD

no I do have a Reese set up and Reese bars, but they are not made to work together without some mods.

The photo above illustrates the older style Reese Dual Cam with the older style bars. The weight distribution bars do not have chains on them -- the saddles attach to the bars with a device that resembles a u-bolt. These saddles can be purchased separately from the Dual Cam system as they are wear parts that do need to be replaced when worn. The weight distribution bars slip into the hitch head through a slot in the upper part of the head and then are rotated into position (the starting point for insertion approaches being parallel with the tow vehicle's bumper). Based upon your photos, the only part that it sounds like you may be missing are the saddles as I noted that you mention chains on your weight distribution bars. {The hitch head on my Cadillac is a more recent Reese item, and it doesn't have the small levers that you can see on your hitch head -- the slots for the trunions, however, are almost identical.}

If you need a more close-up photo (or one from a different angle) of the Reese Strait-Line Hitch, I will be hitching the Minuet to my Suburban tomorrow morning for a trip to Wisconsin and could take some close-up photos then.

Kevin

[ALANSD]

thanks, that is a help. I have bars that are different, got them seperately, and they do have the chains. I removed the stirrup/cams for now as I am cleaning up the tongue and hitch to paint.
I have been told to buy newer cams, and some hardware to make the bars work, or leave the cams off or out of the way for now, using the hitch and bars. I don't have the third cross bar at all that seems to connect your spring bars together at the back.

[overlander64]

Greetings ALAMSD!

Originally Posted by ALANSD

thanks, that is a help. I have bars that are different, got them seperately, and they do have the chains. I removed the stirrup/cams for now as I am cleaning up the tongue and hitch to paint.
I have been told to buy newer cams, and some hardware to make the bars work, or leave the cams off or out of the way for now, using the hitch and bars. I don't have the third cross bar at all that seems to connect your spring bars together at the back.

The cams that you have should need nothing more than paint. All that you should need are the saddles that fit onto your weight distribution bars. A pair of the saddles for your weight distribution bars should cost less than $50.00 -- while the cams (stirrups) will add another close to $200. One of my good friends has a Dual Cam setup that is much older than the one on your coach, and the only parts that have been replaced are the saddles on the weight distribution bars.

The third cross-bar that you are seeing is painted silver on your coach and has a slightly different profile than the one on my Minuet -- yours is contemporary to your coach, but is still functional and compatible with the new saddles -- I don't see any reason to be concerned about the stirrup/cam assembly on the coach. I know several people who are currently utilizing the stirrup/cam assembly from several years before the one on your coach. After you paint the part and are ready to reinstall them, it would be advisable to download the installation instructions on the Reese site for the Dual Cam Sway control as there are a few interesting processes that need to be undertaken to get everything adjusted so that is is mating properly. As you can see from my photos, the components on my coach all need painting -- hopefull this project will be later this fall or early next spring.

The photos attached below can be described as follows:

Photo #1: Illustrates how the weight distribution bar fits into the stirrup on the trailer. In this particular photo, the snap-up bracket is in the locked position.

Photo #2: Illustrates how the weight distribution bar slips into the hitch head. It may be necessary to manually lift the locking/retaining tab as the trunion is rotated into the head (note the angle at which the bar needs to be to the hitch head).

Photo #3: Illustrates how the weight distributionj bar appears once it has slipped into the hitch head and the locking/retaining tab has returned to the closed position. The weight distribution bar is now ready to be rotated into position and slipped onto the stirrup on the trailer.

Photo #4: Illustrates how the Dual Cam saddle attaches to the end of the weight distribution bar -- it replaces the chains which were attached with a bracket the utilized the two holes only one of which is utilized in attaching the saddle. The U-Bolt is included with the saddles. (This is the top view)

Photo #5: Illustrates how the Dual Cam saddle attaches to the end of the weight distribution bar. (This is the bottom view)

Photo #6: Illustrates how the Cam or stirrup looks when it is prepared to receive the weight distribution bar. (Street Side)

Photo #7: Illustrates how the Saddle is cradled by the stirrup when it is ready to be locked into position utilizing the stirrup and chain assembly that is "permanently" attached to the trailer. (Street Side)

Photo #8: Illustrates how the Street Side of the hitch appears when the weight distribution bar and dual cam are locked into position.

Photo #9: Illustrates how the weight distribution bar and Dual Cam assembly relate as they are about to be mated -- this is on the Curb Side.

Photo #10: Illustrates the weight distribution bar mated to the cam stirrup on the Curb Side.

Continues in a post to follow:

Kevin

[overlander64]

Greetings ALANSD!

The two photos at the bottom of the post complete the photos of the Strait-Line Hitch assembly:

Photo #11: Illustrates the weight distribution in place with the chain ready to be snapped-up and locked into position. (Curb Side)

Photo #12: Illustrates the hitch when it is fully setup and nearly ready for the road (taken from Curb Side). The safety chains, break-away cable, and trailer umbilical cord remain to be attached.

From your description, I am convinced that the only part that you likely will need to complete your Strait-Line hitch setup is a pair of the saddles.

Good luck with your hitch! I am sure that you will find it well worth the effort in getting it setup!

Kevin

[ALANSD]

I guess I missed the photos being busy at work the past week or so...Thanks for that it does make it easier to see. I have taken off the stirrups temporarily until I can get the right ones for these bars. The bars fit the hitch no problem, but I do not have s third bar that connects them across the back forming the triangle. I do have lots of instructions now and when I can get to a local Reese dealer I can see about the parts missing to make this all right.

[jimmickle]

Alan,

The sturrups you have will work fine with the bars that you have. All you should need to get is the cams for the end of the bars. I don't understand what you are talking about with a third bar. There is no third bar. Take a better look at the photos and the reese instructions that I sent you.

Jim

[ALANSD]

thanks JIm, yes I think the third bar is from another type set up. I spoke to someone form the forum just now, who explained that part. Duhhhh!

[paragon4884]

I have been searching for days and this is the only place i have found this weight distribution hitch. I purchased a trailer with this setup. The questions are these (let me know if i get something wrong):
1) Is the initial set up on the truck hitch the same as most of the others, namely level the trailer and measure the height where the ball goes - measure the truck front and back bottom of wheel wells - ect, ect?
2) Is this set up also anti-sway?

The pictures are very helpful, Thanks

[nvestysly]

Originally Posted by paragon4884

I have been searching for days and this is the only place i have found this weight distribution hitch. I purchased a trailer with this setup. The questions are these (let me know if i get something wrong):
1) Is the initial set up on the truck hitch the same as most of the others, namely level the trailer and measure the height where the ball goes - measure the truck front and back bottom of wheel wells - ect, ect?
2) Is this set up also anti-sway?

The pictures are very helpful, Thanks

1) By etc., etc. you mean that you measure the wheel wells before the trailer is hitched and then re-measure after you've hitched and cinched the weight distribution... then yes. The procedure is the same. When you cinch the weight distribution the goal is to transfer a portion (most?) of the tongue weight back to the vehicle axles - particularly to the front wheels. I'm sure somebody will add to that if I've oversimplified.

2) If your bars have the "cam" mechanism then yes, it's anti-sway. The cams have to be adjusted properly so they are fully mated when the tow vehicle and trailer are straight. The cam mechanism relies on friction to resist sway. I like this method of sway control compared to a friction bar that some rely on.

[paragon4884]

Thank you for the info it help a lot. If i need anything else i know where you park. lol