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SMLJeep · 08-10-2015, 03:47 PM

Just got a 2015 Ram 2500 and have to get a new shank for my Equal-i-zer hitch to work for our 23FB. When I plug my numbers into the calculator on the Equal-i-zer webpage for a 2.5" receiver no stock shank come up. I know I could use the reducer the come with the Ram and their shank with the 9" drop will work. But from what I can see this reducer has a lot of play . Here are the measurement for the Ram and AS, 24.5 to the top inside of the receiver and 21 to the top of the AS coupler. What are other using?

daveswenson · 08-10-2015, 05:12 PM

I purchased a 2.5 inch shank for my 2500. I think it was this one.
Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution Class V Adjustable Shank 90-02-4900
I would have to go to the storage unit to check for sure.

I used it one trip before I got a sweet deal on a Pro Pride, so I no longer need this one. PM me if you're interested in taking it off my hands.

SMLJeep · 08-10-2015, 06:26 PM

Thanks for the offer but, I talked to Equalizer late today and already ordered that shank.

KJRitchie · 08-10-2015, 06:40 PM

Thats the one I ordered but from eTrailer.com after purchasing our 2015 Ram 2500 CC. I haven't received it yet but it should work as the old shank just needed another set of holes. The receiver rides so high compared to the Tundra 23" vs 16"

I had the 9" 3" drop with my Tundra and with our Airstream hitch on that shank with the head on the lowest holes it was still almost 1 1/2" too high.

Kelvin

SMLJeep · 08-25-2015, 02:07 PM

Received the new 2 1/2" shank and was surprised to read in the Equil-i-zer manual that the bolts for the shank need to be torqued to 320 ft lbs! Although I like in a rural area with shops that work on tractors, no one has a torque wrench that will go to that ft lbs. They all say "dang just use a big pipe on a breaker bar". I'm inclined to do that but, what have others on the forum done?

KJRitchie · 08-25-2015, 03:03 PM

I have a 250lb torque wrench. I tighten 100lbs then 200lbs then the last 50lb. Then I get the handle off my brother-in-laws floor jack and insert that on a breaker bar. I then torque it down from 1 o'clock position to about 4 o'clock position on both bolts. I have another breaker bar on the bolt head which if moves the handle is up against the ground. I then then tighten the nuts from 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock position. That should do it, but its a guess.

I purchase my shank through Amazon. I've installed it an the Ram ball is now just about 1/4" higher than the top of the tongue coupler ball head. I wish the shank allowed one more hole drop. Not sure why these Ram 2500s have so much lift.

Kelvin

SCOTTinNJ · 08-25-2015, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMLJeep

Received the new 2 1/2" shank and was surprised to read in the Equil-i-zer manual that the bolts for the shank need to be torqued to 320 ft lbs! Although I like in a rural area with shops that work on tractors, no one has a torque wrench that will go to that ft lbs. They all say "dang just use a big pipe on a breaker bar". I'm inclined to do that but, what have others on the forum done?

Use a 2' breaker bar and have someone around 160 lbs or more stand on it. Maybe jump up and down a bit too.

Al and Missy · 08-25-2015, 08:45 PM

I bought a really nice professional 350 lb-ft torque wrench on e-Bay. I have to use a piece of pipe as a cheater bar. I put the head in the receiver upside down to torque it. I guess I could just put the bolts in with the nuts on the left and then put it in upside down when taking it apart.

Al

SMLJeep · 08-29-2015, 04:54 PM

I was able to get a good 30" breaker bar and 6 point impact socket and with my 160 lbs standing on the end of the bar should of applied circa 320 ft lbs of torque on the shank bolts. Went and hitched up the AS and took measurement as outlined in the Equil-i-zer installation manual. The front fender on the Ram didn't move with/without the WD bars installed. The rear fender went down 3/4" with/without the WD bars installed. The AS is 3" higher at the front then when it is unhitched and level font to back. I can't drop the ball any lower. Will this be an problem. Have others had the same issue with 3/4 ton trucks with the 2 1/2" receivers.

KJRitchie · 08-31-2015, 08:44 AM

Does your shank look like mine from my photo in the link below? My Airstream tongue is just a fraction lower than the ball on my Ram using the 2 1/2" 12"/6" drop shank.

My Airstream has 1100lbs of tongue weight. Your 23fb has the lightest tongue weight but it should still put 600 lbs of weight on the truck. You may have to go with the 2" Equalizer hitch that has more drop and use the 2" receiver adapter that came with your Ram.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f238...ml#post1677159

Kelvin

SMLJeep · 08-31-2015, 01:35 PM

Yes, I believe I have the same shank (90-02-4900). The top of the ball is at 22.5" with the head at the lowest hole on the shank. My tongue weight is 550 lbs ready to camp last time I had it checked. We didn't have everything we would take camping loaded in the Ram but most on that would weight under 200 lbs as we are light traveler and when we used our Jeep GC we had to keep it light. I looked at the 2' shank with the lower drop and after putting the 2' on from the Jeep in with the adapter didn't go with it because of all the play that was between the shank, adapter and receiver. When a talked with equalizer they admitted that using the adapter will cause ware and most people don't like going that route. They thought the 2 1/2" one I now have would work even though they said, "the tongue will be a little high but should be OK". Soooo, here I am with a shank that doesn't work, a trip that will have to be cancelled and not sure of the best way to proceed. Oh, and a wife that isn't happy.

KJRitchie · 08-31-2015, 01:46 PM

Looking at my photo in the other thread I'd say 22" is about right. I'll measure mine tonight after work. What is the distance from the ground to the top of your Airstream's coupler where the ball inserts? My ball is just slightly above the top of the trailer's coupler. When I hitch up I have to raise the trailer a couple of inches from level to get the ball to go underneath the Airstream coupler.

Can you take a photo of your Ram backed up almost touching the Airstream coupler with the Airstream level. Adding 500lbs to the Ram hitch ball should lower your back end about an inch since your tongue weight is about 1/2 of mine.

Measure the height of your rear tire from the ground through the wheel up to the edge of the fender. I'd like to compare it to mine. I have an empty bed right now.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 08-31-2015, 06:16 PM

I measured my height of my ball from the ground on my 2015 Ram 2500 CC CTD 4x4; 22 3/4"

The height of my rear axle to fenders unloaded is 43 3/4". Yours should be similar.

Kelvin

SMLJeep · 08-31-2015, 07:15 PM

Measured again today and here what I have:

Before hitching AS to truck
AS level top of coupler 18.75"
top of ball unloaded truck 22.5"
rear fender well unloaded truck 43.5"
front fender well unloaded truck 40.75"

After hitching AS to truck
top of AS coupler 21.75", delta - 3"
rear fender well of truck 42.5", delta - 1"
front fender well 40.75, delta - 0"

I'm sure adding some weight to the front of the AS and/or the bed of the Ram would make some difference but, I think it may take more than I can come up with other than to load sand bangs as dead weight to the bed and shift all of our heavy kitchen items in the AS to the front under the bed. Then my concern is what will any change in this weight will have me back to a nose up AS.

I think I'll buy the 2" shank and use the adapter for a while to see how bad the play effects towing and is wearing on the adapter. Ive heard that some people had had the adapter welded to the shank to improve the problem.

Kevin I really appreciate all the time you have taken to help. I'll let you know how this saga ends.

KJRitchie · 08-31-2015, 10:06 PM

I'll have to go to storage and measure my AS coupler height. 18" sounds low to me but maybe the 23fb is different. My coupler top is more like 22" off the ground when level. My storage unit is quite level length wise but a liltle high on the street side. I run it up on a couple of Lynx blocks to get it laterally level.

I used my adapter on my old 2" shank and just towed it around the storage facility's asphalt roads to test the brake controller and measure the hitch height. I could tell the 4900 model was going to be close as it only drops the ball only another 3". The adapter fit better than expected much tighter than my Tundra's receiver. The 2" shank seemed just right.

The new 2 1/2" shank is heavy and with the head is getting close to being unsafe heavy. I need to work out. I'm thinking of getting a HitchGrip to help in carrying the head from the garage to the truck. This shank seems to fit just right in the Ram receiver with little play.

Kelvin

SMLJeep · 09-01-2015, 01:13 PM

Talked to Equalizer customer service today and told them how high the AS was out of level when hitched to the Ram with the 2.5" 90-02-4900. Gave them all the measurement and tongue weight on the AS an after they did some calculating they said the light tongue weight is the problem. They said I would need the 2" 90-02-4400 with my adapter. I wish they would have asked the tongue weight os the AS before. So, I sent the 2.5" shank back to Amazon and ordered 2" 90-02-4400 from eTrailer from only $134.95 and free slow ground shipping. Will not have it until late next week. I'll let you know how it work.

KJRitchie · 09-01-2015, 01:36 PM

Looking at you loaded numbers from a couple of posts ago when you hitch your Airstream up without WD your front end stays the same and you only drop 1". You may not need WD just an anti-sway friction bar.

How many washers do you have in the head and what weight are your bars.

Mine are 1000lb bars and I have 5 washers in my head, but after I get my shell installed, Bedrug and load up my typical camping weekend load I may need to add another washer.

I'm going to swing by my AS in storage and measure my coupler height. It should be about 22" if my memory serves.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 09-01-2015, 04:56 PM

I measured my tongue height. Looks to be between 23" -24". The trailer is level. I mesured the frame to the ground at both ends and it showed 19". A torpedo level on the frame showed level.

Looking at my tape measure 18" seems very low.

Kelvin

SMLJeep · 09-01-2015, 06:16 PM

I was surprised the first time we measured the coupler height. I even looked in the AS manual and found 18.75" for the 23 FB. The Equalizer guy said to use 5 washers and thought that unless I had a lot of weight behind the rear wheels I would not see the front move on a 3/4 ton. This would mean the sway function would be all I was using. My bars are also 1000lb.

SMLJeep · 09-20-2015, 06:45 PM

Finally received the 2" 90-02-4400 on Friday. Went out today and hitched up the AS and towed it to a local parking lot to take measurements. Everything was good. Towed it for 50 miles on country roads and highways and both the Ram and AS handled good. We'll be headed out to Highland Haven AS Park early next month for a shakedown.