Equalizer Question

[Relentless]

I'm on the road now at Yosemite. The brackets that attach to the trailer are at approx. 10% angle with the bottom forward of the top. When I straighten the brackets and tighten the bolts, the brackets shift forward as soon as I tow, even on fairly flat roads. I have just climbed a 5 mile, 8% to 10% grade.

Should I try to straighten again or just make sure everything is tight and proceed?

Thanks;

John

[AgZep]

I'm not exactly sure what you're describing here, but I do know that the big black "L" shaped brakets on our Equal-I-Zer hitch do rotate a bit, and I'm pretty sure they need to.

They only have a few distinct "notches" of vertical setup location possibility, but the exact distance between the hitch socket and the bar sockets on the tow vehicle is a fixed distance. It would be very unlikely that any of the notches on the trailer side would put the "L" brackets at the exact same distance as the hitch socket to bar socket distance. If the brackets couldn't rotate, then the bars would meet the brackets at an angle, and wouldn't slide through them evenly as you turned and so forth. If they rotate a bit, their bar bearing surface can become parallel with the bar.

Take a look at the hitch and try to imagine what I'm saying. If I'm not making sense, let me know, and I'll try and explain myself better.

Or, since I'd much rather be at Yosemite than where I am, I might get jealous, and do an even worse job.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I'm not sure exactly what you are asking about, but if you are talking about the "L" brackets, you need to tighten them up really good. On the curb side, when you tighten up the "L" bracket bolt it pushes the bracket toward the rear of the trailer and when the spring bar rubs against it and trys to move it, it moves it in the direction to make the bolt even tighter; But on the street side the spring bar movement will move the "L" bracket in the direction that loosens the bolt. Use lock-tight and use a square socket on a breaker bar to get the bolt tight. Useing a wrench will not give you enough leverage to get it tight enough to hold. Before doing this, my street side "L" bracket kept coming loose.

[SilverToy]

Bob etal -

Bob - Thanks for the reference re: streetside bolts on the EQ hitch L bracket... noticed the same phonomenon on my hitch after LOTS of pulling - suddenly loose.... I checked it religiously for many thousands of miles but after a pull to NR of the Grand Canyon, it SUDDENLY was loose....???

Your comment make sense....

All the roads to the North Rim are VERY winding, as opposed to nearly all the previous pulls, mostly straight roads....

Will go out and add the "Lock-tight" to that bolt to preclude additional loosening.... Then again, some "Hitch maintenance" won't hurt anyone, if they do it...

BTW - I LOVE the EQ hitch!!! 1000/10K - less than $600 installed!

sign me up as another happy EQ hitch owner...

Axel
SilverToy
'92 '34 Classic Lmtd - SilverToy

[SilverCabin]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, I'm not sure exactly what you are asking about, but if you are talking about the "L" brackets, you need to tighten them up really good. On the curb side, when you tighten up the "L" bracket bolt it pushes the bracket toward the rear of the trailer and when the spring bar rubs against it and trys to move it, it moves it in the direction to make the bolt even tighter; But on the street side the spring bar movement will move the "L" bracket in the direction that loosens the bolt. Use lock-tight and use a square socket on a breaker bar to get the bolt tight. Useing a wrench will not give you enough leverage to get it tight enough to hold. Before doing this, my street side "L" bracket kept coming loose.

ROBERTSUNRUS,

I've been having the opposite problem, my curbside L-bracket keeps coming loose.

I noticed that the frame brackets that hold the L-brackets were not installed so that the bars rested flat in the L-brackets. The bars were resting more on an edge of the L-bracket instead of the whole pad. I loosened the frame brackets, carefully tapped them into alignment, and re-tightened. I then applied Locktite blue to the square head bolts that hold the L-brackets in place, and tightened the bolts. The street side stayed tight, but the curbside loosened after about 100 miles. I then applied Locktite red and tightened it again. Again after about 100 miles, it was loose, but not as much as before.

I’m ready to put a torque wrench to it and use the next step up in the Locktite products, which is a two part epoxy. Does anyone know the torque specification for these square head bolts?

I’m still puzzled why mine is loosening on the opposite side from yours. Maybe my memory is dyslexic, but I’m pretty sure I was tightening the curbside after our last trip. I’ll check again this weekend.

Randy

[Motoman]

We pull a 25' CCD with the Equalizer and previously a 22' CCD and have had no troubles with the hitch or the a-frame brackets. They do pivot slightly on the locating screw but not to the point where it loosens. Letting the L-bracket pivot on the locating screw may allow the bracket to move slightly to follow the and stay in contact with the load bars as they deform vertically and lateraly on bumps, rises, dips and turns in the road.

I don't believe the hitch uses friction of the bars against the brackets to control sway but instead relies on the spring action of the bars held lateraly (side to side) and vertically as they try to resist turning movements. I do put some grease on the L-brackets and the load bars where they rub on the L-brackets and the L-shaped clips to reduce wear on the bars, brackets and clips.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, rgodfrey. I don't remember reading the torque specs for the square headed bolts, but I do know you can't get them tight enough with an open end wrench. I use a square socket and a 1/2" breaker bar. Because they are a coarse thread, it takes more torque to make them stay in place. Also I hold both "L" brackets with the bottom end toward the rear of the trailer as I crank down on the square bolts. Since I did it this way, and I check them every chance I get, they have never come loose again.

[alvinator]

I dumped my Equalizer on ebay because the L brackets constantly loosened on our 28 Classic; loc-tite or not. One L Bracket even fell off once leaving me with a hanging WD bar! So I had 1/2 of an Equalizer!

Hated it!

I thought I was the only one with rotating L Brackets but apparently I was not.

[lewster]

May I be so bold as to suggest that a CALL to the Equal-I-Zer tech dep't. is in order here.

If you are having difficulties with their product, I'm SURE that the company wants to hear about it ....AND.....I'm equally sure (pun, anyone?) that they will have a solution to your problem.

[Relentless]

I did email equil-i-zer. They told me that, on my unit, the propane gas line needs to be relocated in order for the curbside lower bracket bolt to rest tight against the frame. The dealer who installed my hitch claims he has never heard of this but will change the installation to conform.

We now have put an additional 1,000 miles on the hitch since my last post. The brackets have remained at an angle but the bolts have stayed tight. However, since the bar rests on the front edge of the bracket, I am getting wear there instead of on the flat surface. I have a date with the dealer on Monday to reinstall.

Does anyone know if a Reese requires a reroute of the gas line? Guess what I'm considering.

John

[BillTex]

Originally Posted by Relentless

I did email equil-i-zer. They told me that, on my unit, the propane gas line needs to be relocated in order for the curbside lower bracket bolt to rest tight against the frame. The dealer who installed my hitch claims he has never heard of this but will change the installation to conform.

We now have put an additional 1,000 miles on the hitch since my last post. The brackets have remained at an angle but the bolts have stayed tight. However, since the bar rests on the front edge of the bracket, I am getting wear there instead of on the flat surface. I have a date with the dealer on Monday to reinstall.

Does anyone know if a Reese requires a reroute of the gas line? Guess what I'm considering.

John

umm...I just located the LP outside of the bracket bolts, no need to relocate any lines. Slip the bolt OVER the LP line so as not to pinch it. Maybe you can check yourself and not rely on the dealer?
I probably have close to 50k miles on my Eq, other than retourquing the bolts occasionaly (45 lb/ft on the socket bolts, 200 lb/ft max on the 3/4" bolts-no breaker bar required!?-justa good torque wrench) and a little grease now an then it has been trouble free, reliable, and rock steady. I have watched my buddies struggle with other hitches, I'll stick with the Eq.
If you are having difficulties I suspect it is not properly setup. Again, do it yourself, don't rely on a dealer. "It aint rocket science", and if you need to readjust on a trip you should be familiar with your equipment. This is true for an Eq or any hitch. and any hitch requires some amount of maint.

I agree with Lew, PROGRESS MFG. has great support, call and ask for Josh, he'll hook you up.

[AgZep]

"It aint rocket science", and if you need to readjust on a trip you should be familiar with your equipment. This is true for an Eq or any hitch. and any hitch requires some amount of maint.

I agree. If you make substantial changes to the trailer load, you'll need to know how to adjust whatever kind of hitch you have.

I'm still perplexed with the problems some are reporting. I've never had any problems with anything getting loose, much less falling off..

I just went out and looked at ours to refamiliarize myself with the setup. One thing that may be different about our particular experience is that we added the stainless A-frame potectors to the trailer that come with Classics. My theory was that they would keep the frame from being damaged if we ever wanted to change hitches. Anyway, there are brackets that clamp down on the A frame on each side. There is a bolt and nut at the top and bottom on each. They're whanged down pretty tight. Maybe the frame protectors allowed the dealer to tighten them more than usual or something, but they've never loosened up.

The "L" brackets that the hitch bars bear on are then held inside the first set of brackets. Both of our "L" brackets are free to rotate by a small amount, maybe 5 degrees total. They can't rotate more than that because they're constrained by the slots in which they are held. I maintain that the rotation is important. Otherwise, the bar will wear against only one part of the "L", thus accelerating its wear. I believe the square bolt that protrudes from the "L" is only there to constrict the vertical movement of the "L", and the square bolts on our hitch rotate along with the "L"s. I can rock either "L" a few degrees with my fingers, the one on the curb side being a little easier to turn than the other one. I think there is friction on the rotation of the "L"s that is coming form the heads of the frame brackets bolts beneath the "L". But I don't believe that friction to be at all important.

Am I missing something? Specifically which bolts do you think you are having problems with?

Oh, one other thing. Motoman is dead right about the friction. We always keep a little grease on all the moving parts, including the L-bar interfaces. Prevents noise, but in no way diminishes the stability of the hitch.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Relentless

I did email equil-i-zer. They told me that, on my unit, the propane gas line needs to be relocated in order for the curbside lower bracket bolt to rest tight against the frame. The dealer who installed my hitch claims he has never heard of this but will change the installation to conform.

We now have put an additional 1,000 miles on the hitch since my last post. The brackets have remained at an angle but the bolts have stayed tight. However, since the bar rests on the front edge of the bracket, I am getting wear there instead of on the flat surface. I have a date with the dealer on Monday to reinstall.

Does anyone know if a Reese requires a reroute of the gas line? Guess what I'm considering.

John

John,

If the 'relocation' involves the LP line that runs down the curb side of the 'A' frame, all that's required is a slight drop of the line (easy since it's copper, especially if you disconnect the forward fitting) to allow the lower bolt to pass between the LP line and the trailer frame. That's it!

Then tighten those puppies to the specified torque and you should be good to go. I find the Equal-i-Zer the easiest to connect and remove, and it is doing a fine job for me!

[SilverCabin]

BillTex: Are the 3/4" bolts (200 ft/lb torque) the square head bolts that hold the L-brackets at the proper height adjustment?

AgZep: You may have something in that the brackets may need to rotate slightly to keep the L-bracket pad flush with the bar while underway. What I don’t want is for that rotation to back-out the square head bolt so that the L-bracket drops away. The square bolts do rotate with the L-brackets as you said.

I went to my trailer on Saturday (in storage) and checked; it is the curbside that keeps coming loose. It’s somewhat loose again after our last 200 mile pull. I did email Equalizer on this a while ago and haven’t received a reply yet. That’s unusual as I got a quick reply from Josh on another question. I’ll email again, maybe they didn’t get my last inquiry.

Randy

[doorgunner]

So if the loc-tite is not working: has anyone tried double nutting? How about a pic or 2.

[BillTex]

Originally Posted by rgodfrey

BillTex: Are the 3/4" bolts (200 ft/lb torque) the square head bolts that hold the L-brackets at the proper height adjustment?

AgZep: You may have something in that the brackets may need to rotate slightly to keep the L-bracket pad flush with the bar while underway. What I don’t want is for that rotation to back-out the square head bolt so that the L-bracket drops away. The square bolts do rotate with the L-brackets as you said.

I went to my trailer on Saturday (in storage) and checked; it is the curbside that keeps coming loose. It’s somewhat loose again after our last 200 mile pull. I did email Equalizer on this a while ago and haven’t received a reply yet. That’s unusual as I got a quick reply from Josh on another question. I’ll email again, maybe they didn’t get my last inquiry.

Randy

3/4" bolts hold the head to the shank-they are the largest bolt in the system (excluding the "ball").
The "square head" screws that hold the "L" brackets at the proper height are just snugged up, I don't think I even put a wrench on them, all they do is hold the bracket at the proper height, no real load placed on them. As stated, ~50k miles, never a problem.
As agzep noted, my brackets have also settled at a slight angle, complimentary to the spring bars...

I've watched Buddies struggle with chains, force levers, etc hooking up other types of hitches...no thanks.

Equalizer;set it/forget it.

Bill

[SilverCabin]

I received a reply on Friday, June 8 from Josh at Progress Mfg Inc. on the questions we have raised here concerning the L-brackets coming loose. Here is my email to him and his lengthy but thorough reply. I’ll need to study this and my hitch installation before I can comment further:

Randy,

Thank you for contacting Progress Mfg Inc. with your questions about the Equal-i-zer Hitch. I apologize for the delayed response due to a high volume of customer emails.

Your Question:
"There is a thread on the Airstream Forum http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ion-32805.html that you might want to read. Many of us posting there are complaining about the square head bolts that hold the L-brackets in place coming loose. We are all wondering what to do about it.

Several weeks ago, I tried to send an email through your web site asking the same question. I haven't received a reply yet. I tried again today, but the site wouldn't accept my email address. It said what I entered wasn't valid.

Please respond to the hitch issue on the forum, or if you email me, I will post it on the forum for all to see."

Answer:
First of all, it is important to note that any threaded bolt & nut fastening system is prone to loosening up over time, especially from the bumps and vibrations from towing on the roads. It is always a good idea to regularly check all nuts and bolts to make sure they are tight, as well as checking all pins and clips to make sure they are secure. Make this part of your routine safety check before each trip, along with checking the safety chains, electric connections, brake lights, etc.

Now addressing the main question: It may be good to clarify if the Square-headed Set Screw is actually loosening or unthreading from the welded nut, or if people are merely supposing it is happening, because they see their L-Brackets being able to pivot or rotate about the tip of this screw (when they previously stayed tight or fixed).

Over time, the L-Brackets will develop the tendency to be able to pivot or rotate ever-so-slightly about the tip of the Square-headed Set Screw. This is not necessarily an indication that the bolt has loosened. Rather, the tip of this Set Screw may eventually "wallow" out the edge of the L-Bracket hole a little bit, or the Set Screw may have been over-tightened to the point the threads smash down and wedge the Set Screw even deeper into the L-Bracket hole. This creates a situation where the L-Bracket can now pivot or rotate, while the Set Screw hasn't actually "loosened up" in the sense that the threads have not turned.

I would recommend that you and others consider this possibility, that the Set Screw hasn't backed out, but that the tip of the Set Screw and the hole in the L-Bracket have worn down a little bit to result in a looser fit, where the L-Bracket can now pivot or rotate the slight amount. When this happens, a person is now able to actually tighten the bolt up even more, until the pin wedges tightly in the L-Bracket hole. The slight wear may continue a little more, again allowing the person to continue tightening up the bolt even more (rather than having to tighten up what has actually unthreaded).

Some people have tested this by marking one of the four sides of the Square-head Set Screw to note if the marked side has changed positions from the Set Screw actually loosening or turning. If you find that the marked side has not turned or rotated, then you know the bolt isn't turning. However, the L-Bracket may be able to pivot or rotate when before it was "tight", or rigidly set to not rotate. I would recommend that this be tested to see if the bolt is staying set, or if it is indeed turning.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

In our experience, we have learned that the Square-head Set Screw may be able to actually loosen out or un-thread from the welded nut, if the Sway Control Brackets are moving, walking or shifting around on the A-frame when towing. This movement in the Sway Control Brackets as a whole can come from these brackets not being installed properly, or by having some obstacle on the A-frame that prevents the correct installation. The movement or "walking" of the Sway Control Brackets when towing may be able to actually loosen, turn, or unthread the Set Screw from the welded nut on the Outside Link Plate.

The Sway Control Brackets are improperly installed if the top and/or bottom ends of the Link Plates are pinching too close together, which causes the middle portions of the Link Plates to bow outward and away from the sides of the A-frame beams. The Link Plates will hold better if they are making flush contact on both sides of each A-frame beam. When they pinch too tightly at the top and/or bottom ends, it creates the outward bending at the middle of the Link Plates, and they will not hold as well over time. The resulting movement may loosen up the Set Screw.

The "pinching & bowing" can be caused if one Bracket Bolt was over-tightened before the other was tightened up. They should both be evenly tightened a little at a time, alternating between top and bottom bolts, so that they both arrive at the same finished tightness. This keeps the Link Plates making flush contact with the sides of the A-frame, instead of bowing around the A-frame.

Likewise, the same "pinching & bowing" can occur if both Bracket Bolts (top and bottom) are over-tightened, even if done so in an evenly, alternating manner. If a person over-tightens both bolts simultaneously, it can still pinch the Link Plates together at the ends, which creates the bowing, and the subsequent movement and loosening of the Set Screw.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

There is still another situation that can create the "pinching & bowing" effect, resulting in Sway Control Bracket movement and loosening of the Set Screw. The top Bracket Bolt runs through the single hole at the top of the two Link Plates, and this bolt will rest flush on the top of each A-frame beam. Similarly, the bottom Bracket Bolt should be set to tightly bolt around the bottom of the A-frame beam, as close to the bottom of the frame as possible.

The bottom ends of the Link Plates have 4 holes punched for bolting around various A-frame heights or thickness (3", 4", 5" and 6"). If a person has a 4" tall frame, they should have the bottom Bracket Bolt set in the 2nd hole down in the grouping of 4 holes, as this is the correct hole to use on a 4" tall frame. If the bottom Bracket Bolt is intentionally or inadvertently set in a lower hole, resulting in a gap between the bottom Bolt and the bottom of the frame, this becomes an easy source for the bottom bolt to be over-tightened, and pinched together. The Link Plates are supposed to stop pulling together when they hit the sides of the frame. But if the bolt is set lower than the bottom of the frame, then the bottom ends of the Link Plates have nothing to stop against but air, so they just keep on pinching together, while bowing outward in the middle.

Now I do know that many Airstream trailers will have a copper propane line running underneath one side of the A-frame (I believe it's on the passenger-side). I do know that some people (end-users and dealers alike) have found that this pipe was in the way of properly placing the bottom Bracket Bolt on that side, so they chose to set the bolt one hole lower, with the propane line running in-between the bolt and the frame. This will easily allow for the "pinching & bowing" effect, resulting in some movement or walking of the Sway Control Bracket, which ultimately can cause the Square-head Set Screw to loosen or turn back out of the threads.

What should be done is the propane line should be lowered in the area of the Sway Control Brackets, so that the bottom Bracket Bolt can be installed in the correct hole. This will set the bottom bolt as tight to the bottom of the A-frame as it can be. Don't let the propane line interfere. It can easily be lowered or rerouted to go underneath the bottom Bracket Bolt. Since this is a common and consistent feature on Airstream trailers, there may be many people out there with Equal-i-zer Hitches installed incorrectly, at least regarding the Sway Control Bracket bolting around the propane line. It should not bolt around the propane line, but rather, it should tightly bolt around the A-frame only. The propane line should go underneath the Bracket Bolt, which is only 1/2" in diameter.

If you or any one person is not comfortable making this change, have your local Equal-i-zer or Airstream dealer (or any other RV or mechanics shop) lower/reroute the propane line if the Sway Control Bracket is improperly bolted around this propane line.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you or any of your associates on this forum have any questions or need additional assistance, please call our toll-free number listed below, or send emails through our website: Equal-i-zer® Hitch - The “American Original” with 4-Point Sway Control™ and Weight Distribution

Thanks,

Josh Jones
Progress Mfg Inc.
Customer Support
1-800-478-5578
jjones@progressmfg.com

Randy

[Minnie's Mate]

Thanks for posting the reply you got from Equal-i-zer. I have towed more than 6K miles and mine have not become loose, yet. I'll double check them before our next trip to make sure they haven't become loose without my knowledge, but I've never noticed any play in them when hitching or un-hitching. I'll also check to see if the gas line was re-routed. As best I recall, it either was, or it didn't run in the area where it would be in the way.

[Relentless]

Since I started this thread I will give you all an update. Mine only came loose after puling some really, really steep grades. But, once it did, I couldn't tighten them down so they would stay tight. The dealer has since re-installed, at no charge and under my supervision, and everything since seems to be OK.

John

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, Randy. Thank You for posting this letter from Progress Manufacture. After reading the whole letter I had to go right outside to take another look at my installation. The left "L" bracket on mine that came loose twice and after my fix has never come loose again is correctly mounted; But the curb side was installed with the bottom bolt, incorrectly, under the propane line. Something else to correct when I get a chance to do it. Thanks to this forum and all of it's members, we are always learning. For me, I already learned two things tonight. Thank You.