Where to store your equalizer bars?

[King O D Road]

I got tired of cleaning the grease out of the back of the suburban from placing the equalizer bars inside and no room in the trunk of the coupe and did not like to clean the dirt out of the grease from laying them on the ground, so decided on a place to store them when not is use.

[overlander63]

I'm going to make you feel very stupid...
The holes in the knobbed (removable) end of the bars go into the posts sticking up from the snap up brackets for storage at the campsite. They don't take up as much room that way, they don't interfere witht he LP tanks, and nobody gets grease on them or their tow vehicle.

[RichardT]

That is cool
They actually have a hole in the end that fits onto the bracket to store them while parked.

[King O D Road]

Wow! Overlander63, I suppose that information was in the instruction manual I have never read. I appreciate your reply and would not have gone to all the trouble if I had Known that before making the stands. Tried it out and it works fine. Thanks again, Roger

[TBRich]

If you saw Roger's rig you would be amazed at what he's done with/for it...all the customization and just plain cool stuff. It is truly a gem... We were truly inspired. I'm sure the bar stands will get lots of attention from fellow admirers!

We have Equal-i-zer bars and there's no good place to put them. So Greg made bright yellow vinyl sleeves for them...so we can store them in the truck bed or underneath the trailer without getting them dirty or everything else greasy...and he put a flap the length of the sleeves with grommets along them so we can also use them doggie tie-downs...they are so heavy that we can clip the pups to them and they really keep them where we want them. We also use them to put at the edge of the rug if it's windy...keep it from rolling up in the breeze (that's why they are bright yellow)...

[4RXLA]

I have a draw-tite wd hitch and there is a tubular metal bracket on either side of the A frame that the spring bar slides into. The chain ends are near the coupler and I lock them together with the safety chains to prevent theft.

[exthemius]

Sorry for the crappy looking photo, but the only one I have of ours is the original pics we took when we bought the Airstream (now it's all painted and restored). At any rate I believe this would be what dougsale is referring to (as we do the exact same thing with ours -- lock them up front).

[Bluto]

Originally Posted by overlander63

I'm going to make you feel very stupid...
The holes in the knobbed (removable) end of the bars go into the posts sticking up from the snap up brackets for storage at the campsite. They don't take up as much room that way, they don't interfere witht he LP tanks, and nobody gets grease on them or their tow vehicle.

I'm trying to picture this in my head but, no use. Now I feel really, really stupid.

Do you have a picture you can post of how you use the snap up bracket to aid in the storage of the bars?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Bluto

I'm trying to picture this in my head but, no use. Now I feel really, really stupid.

Do you have a picture you can post of how you use the snap up bracket to aid in the storage of the bars?

There is a hole in the trunion end of the torsion bar. The trunion end is the part that goes into the ball mount.

That hole accepts the very top of the "snap up" bracket, which is the part the sticks up in the air, that you use with a small pipe to load the torsion bars.

Andy

[Antique Pedaler]

Grease? Who uses grease? Isn't the idea of the bars is to create friction?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Antique Pedaler

Grease? Who uses grease? Isn't the idea of the bars is to create friction?

The idea in the case of Reese torsion bars, is to create "torsion", not friction.

Hence the name, torsion.

Andy

[Bluto]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

There is a hole in the trunion end of the torsion bar. The trunion end is the part that goes into the ball mount.

That hole accepts the very top of the "snap up" bracket, which is the part the sticks up in the air, that you use with a small pipe to load the torsion bars.

Andy

Thanks Andy, now I understand.

[UAPachyderm]

Originally Posted by overlander63

I'm going to make you feel very stupid...
The holes in the knobbed (removable) end of the bars go into the posts sticking up from the snap up brackets for storage at the campsite. They don't take up as much room that way, they don't interfere witht he LP tanks, and nobody gets grease on them or their tow vehicle.

Wow, I never knew this. Can someone post a picture? ... I'm not near my AS and unable to envision this.

[HCR]

Exactly what parts are intended to be "greased" on the equalizer hitch?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by HCR

Exactly what parts are intended to be "greased" on the equalizer hitch?

In the case of the Reese torsion bars, you can lube the top and bottom of the 'trunnion" which is the part that goes into the ball mount. You can also lightly lube the saddle of the dual cam sway control.

Andy

[4RXLA]

I have what Exthemius has.

[casa3805]

I read this and yes I felt a little silly. Part of being new to this with an older trailer and no manuals I guess. But I immediately walked outside to the shed, grabbed the bars and sure enough they stand right up on there just like Andy said. I am trying to attach pics but no guarantees there....

[Gene]

With the Equalizer you grease the end that goes into the hitch head. That end is locked in place, but does make a lot of noise and will wear faster without grease.

To store the bars I took 4" PVC, cut to length, glued cap on one end, and have a cap that can fit on the other. I don't bother with the removable one because it's hard to get on and off and the bars don't slide out. In fact, I have to grab one with a Channel Locks to get it out, the other comes out easily. To keep the pipe from rolling around the back of the truck, I made a small wooden box to put the Channel Locks, hitch head and any other hitch parts. I used large pipe clamps to secure the box to the pipe. I'm sure a better solution could be created, but this works for us.

This helps with the grease problem, but grease does love to migrate to my hands and clothes anyway.

Gene

[Aage]

Originally Posted by Antique Pedaler

Grease? Who uses grease? Isn't the idea of the bars is to create friction?

Greasy friction = torsion.

[UAPachyderm]

Originally Posted by casa3805

I read this and yes I felt a little silly. Part of being new to this with an older trailer and no manuals I guess. But I immediately walked outside to the shed, grabbed the bars and sure enough they stand right up on there just like Andy said. I am trying to attach pics but no guarantees there....

Well, I learned something new today!