Equal-i-zer Hitch Thread.

[GCinSC2]

My used 30' came with an Equal-I-Zer as a package from the PO. I have also changed the bolts just like the pictures from the same reasons stated. I added one other change to my hitch head, I reversed the angle set bolt. Mine had the head out, nice and accessible, but the threaded portion that pushes out and helps hold the head in position while tightening was damaged from unknown causes. I removed the bolt and replaced it but I put the angle set bolt head in contact with the hitch head. Its a bit of a close quarter to get a wrench on it, but it is a setup function only. Only advantage for me, threads can't get damaged and cause problems removing and replacing tension bolt.

I do see some wear where the arm sockets pivot on the hitch head, Bob showed his resurfacing picture.

I made one other modification. I think we all want relaxed towing rather than white knuckle towing. All of the forum discussions and all of the expense on this vs. that etc. etc. I shimmed my shank to receiver to almost remove shank rotation to receiver wobble and it seems after that was when it really calmed down to its present level. No I do not think any significant wear was present on shank or receiver. The receiver was NEVER used for any heavy towing prior to the AS and the entire rig was only 3 years old when I got it. The shims are .040" stainless steel, made myself and one covers two surfaces, the other is 1 surface, all full shank length and the shank slides in. The rotation of shank in receiver is almost gone. There is a clear transfer of "responsibilities" the receiver hands off to the shank and the hitch takes over. But the generous fit of the std. receiver vs. shank allows for a bit of rotation at this junction. The shims have not hardly changed fit since built. YMMV.

I only have one trailer and one hitch to comment on and I'm not a high mileage traveler, but the rig is now running comfortable to drive, no issues to report.

[Minno]

We have had our current Equal-i-zer hitch set up since '95 and have towed 3 SOBs and now the AS with it. We had it re-set by Crystal Welding with each trailer to make sure it was set up correctly height wise. We've added the nylon pads to the bar rests (or whatever their called) so we don't have to grease them, and are very pleased with their performance. Our oldest son went with another brand set up for his SOB and he likes it, but we've been using his trailer over the summer with that hitch, and went back to ours with the AS this fall. We like Equal-i-zer much better, and it is much easier for me to hitch up by myself if necessary.

Kay

[Antique Pedaler]

Purposly, I am using under rated Equalizer hitches on my trailers. The one for my 25' FC is suggested for the 19' Bambi. But after talking with an Equalizer tech and reading Andy at Inland this is a good hitch considering the 3/4 TON HD TV. I have the new light weight one for the Bambi II. Both work great, 7 years on the larger hitch. I have never, never lubed or greased these hitches. Infact the Equalizer website notes that the best antisway control is steel on steel. Next is steel on greased steel and last is steel on the new pad jackets they sell. I see no reason to grease the hitch ball either. Noise? The hitch is too far away in the pickup, but is noticeable in the Touareg. The only thing I do to them is frequently check torque on the frame brackets. All told I've towed with Equalizers for 12 years.

[farmboydkb]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, SilverGate. In one of the above pictures, you can see that I use the plastic "L" bracket pads. I made a tray, that is in my storage compartment, to hold my spring bars.

Robert, thanks for the thread. We traded our 25' classic for a 27FB classic a couple years ago and it came with an Equal-i-zer hiitch. 'vast improvement! A couple items:
1) in the quote above you refer to using "the" plastic "L" bracket pads . . . as though these are something regularly and specifically available. I'm unaware of those. Can you say more? Did you make them?
2) my L bracket on the left side wants to migrate forward to the point it crowds the aluminum cover over the LP tanks. I've moved it back a couple times. I mentioned it to a parts guy at the dealer last summer and he said to raise the L bracket by a hole. I did, but it seemed to shift too much weight to the front wheels and the ride was really difficult to endure. I switched it back. 'any thoughts?
Thx. dkb

[Farmer Dan]

dkb,
Equalizer offers Sway Bracket Jackets for the L brkts. They are not too pricey and do quiet the noises somewhat. I use them on both of my hitches. Something else I do that helps reduce noise a bit is to drill a second hole in the" L- pins". The hair pin above the L brkt seems to decrease the possibility for these pins to wedge against the spring bars. Another forum member did this earlier so I can't take credit for this tip.
Dan

[Gene]

Farmboy',

The plastic bracket pads are available from the manufacturer, but as stated above, it reduces friction and makes the hitch less efficient.

Antique',

I don't grease the L brackets because friction there is the point of the hitch. But I do grease the sockets where the front of the bars go because friction there only increases wear and does nothing to make the hitch work better. I also grease the ball because I can't think of any reason to have metal on metal friction there; I think it will prematurely wear the coupler and the ball.

Bob,

Thanks for starting this thread.

We have towed more than 48,000 miles with this hitch. Never any sway or any other problems. Yes, you can put as many washers in as is necessary to adjust the hitch properly. A new one appears to compress the original washers and it is likely after a while you will need more. The dealer did a bad job installing it, but it still towed well. When I adjusted it properly, it towed better.

Someone mentioned the propane line that gets in the way of the L bracket on the curbside. It was not difficult to loosen the propane line and then run the lower bolt for the bracket in the right place. I also put vinyl tubing over the propane lines to protect them, so the line is protected from any abrasion from the bracket assembly.

I read of people having problems with this hitch and others as well. I also read about (and experienced) sloppy installations by dealers. I expect a lot of the complaints about white knuckle towing have to do with poor installations. There may be certain combinations of trailer and tow vehicle that just don't work with this hitch, but there are many more people who have used the Equalizer (easier to spell it this way) and have very good performance. I did find some aspects of the installation procedure to be difficult to understand, but with time and a couple of phone calls to the manufacturer, I figured it out and adjusted it. Some people will struggle with this and may have to find a shop that knows how to install hitches properly.

Gene

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dan

Mark,
You asked how to prevent the frame brackets from slipping. For both of my Equalizers, a 600 and 1000 lb, I had a local welder make the inside of frame straps into a channel iron by welding straps about 3/16" X 1" on each edge of each piece. This prevents the flat straps from bending while tightening them down. Another thing I did was to put two 1/4" stainless steel Tek screws behind each frame bracket. I hung the brackets on the A-frame in the appropriate place and marked at the bracket rear edge. Tek screws are self drilling but I predrilled anyhow. These are located about 1" from top and bottom of the A-frame.
Dan

Hi, Dan. Dan has a different way of preventing the frame brackets from moving. Maybe Dan can post some pictures showing what he did.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by No. 13

I like your half-washer idea...perfect for fine tuning. Question though: why so many washers, rather than moving up on the L-bracket? I have never had my L-brackets move around on me...yet, but keep them pretty high toward the frame and use less washers.


Gene

Hi, Gene. I did move my "L" brackets up once, but it was too much, so my half washer should be perfect. Also my Lincoln sits lower in front which means that I need more of an angle to compensate for it.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dan

dkb,
Equalizer offers Sway Bracket Jackets for the L brkts. They are not too pricey and do quiet the noises somewhat. I use them on both of my hitches. Something else I do that helps reduce noise a bit is to drill a second hole in the" L- pins". The hair pin above the L brkt seems to decrease the possibility for these pins to wedge against the spring bars. Another forum member did this earlier so I can't take credit for this tip.
Dan

Hi, I drilled a second hole in my "L" pins and installed a roll pin in it; This helps hold this pin in place so it won't flop around and get bent or bind on the spring bars.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, after repainting my spring bars a few times, instead of ordering [free] decals for them, I decided to put reflector tape on them. I use a straight edge to cut them with because they are a bit too wide.

[rogerdodger]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, Mark. What I did was to add a third bolt assembly to the frame brackets. On the top bolt and bottom [third bolt] I used a piece of 1/2" copper tubing that I cut to the same width as my frame. This allows for tightening the bolts tight enough to hold, but not allow then to bow. I will locate a picture for you if I can find it.

Good idea. Of course, I just took all of my old copper pipe to the recycler. Baa Humbug. LOL

[mjayjensen]

We have used our Equlizer to tow our 22' and now our 27' since 2004. Our trailers have been on every imaginable type of road in Mexico and the US. Never the sligtest problem with the hitch.
Am getting some good ideas from this thread.
Thanks,
Jay

[RUMSHIP]

Noise ? That means its working. I never understood when someone would tell me, a little grease would help with the noise. Would you grease the breaks on your car? A nice thank you and on my way helped with a nonsense acal conversation. I never liked the old style L brackets, I lost one while towing once, but I think the new style works well. I did tap into the back plate to allow the set screw to screw into it. That would keep it from slipping. The new style takes care of that issue. If possible, I would recommend an upgrade to those still using the old set up.

[Gene]

Bob,

Thanks for the photos of your L pins—yours are as bent as ours. I have always wondered whether ours are bent too much. Now I know that if they are, so are yours. The company told me they bend and not to worry about it, but I did worry. They may make a good hitch, but they aren't good therapists.

Your bracket is different. Ours are more of an L shape and the retainer clip on the L pin is below the bottom of the L bracket. I don't know if what we have is what Rum' describes as the "new" brackets. Ours dates from 2007.

The decals on our bars are all chewed up and I have thought of scraping them off, but never have. I used to remove the rust and repaint the hitch annually, but most of the paint wears off quickly, so for the last couple of years, I have ignored them. They work just as well.

Gene

[No. 13]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, after repainting my spring bars a few times, instead of ordering [free] decals for them, I decided to put reflector tape on them. I use a straight edge to cut them with because they are a bit too wide.

Great idea when mine become a little more seasoned. Here is my storage tray.

[rogerdodger]

These are all great ideas. You guys have added to my already long to do list before I hit the road.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by No. 13

Great idea when mine become a little more seasoned. Here is my storage tray.

Hi, No. 13; Nice job on the storage box for your spring bars. Here is what mine looks like and it looks like we both keep them in the same place.

[Captain Hank]

Thanks for starting this thread.

I have a 2007 27' Safari SE. My TV is a Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab. I bought the trailer used one year ago. The previous owner had a Equalizer Hitch that came with it. It has 1200lb. spring bars. I noticed that when the trailer when over bumps it snapped back quickly causing shock to the trailer and things moved inside. When I investigated I found the hitch was not set up properly. After a proper set up the performance improved, however there was still shock to the trailer when I went over bumps. I bought a Equalizer hitch with 1000lb. spring bars and installed it properly. This again improved the performance and reduced the shock to the trailer. I think I now have the best hitch for my trailer and TV, and am satisfied at this point.

I would like to hear from other owners that have a 27' trailer and TV similar to mine. I want to learn from your experience to see if I need to do anything else that would improve my towing.

Thanks,
Henry

[Gene]

I store the bars in a 4" piece of PVC with a cap glued at the far end and keep it all in the back of the pick up when traveling. I made a small wooden box to keep the rest of the hitch parts in—hitch head, pins, retainer clips, lever for bars, old channel locks to pull bars out of PVC, and a split tennis ball to put over the ball when I don't want to take the head off. The box is attached to the PVC with some plumber's strap pipe hanger.

After 4+ years, the box is pretty banged up, but still works.

Gene

[JimGolden]

Hey Gang,

It took me a few days to find this:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ort-34484.html

This is the long and painfully detailed thread I did way back when, when I set up my new Equal-I-Zer 14,000/1400lb hitch on my 34 footer. It shows how I handled the problem of the link plates flexing and moving.

About 12,000 miles later, she's still working great!

cheers,