Asking for help on equilizer hitch please?

[Devoman]

I would like to buy the Equalizer hitch and sway but i am needing some help on which one to get.
Should it be this one.
http://www.hitchsource.com/product_i...ducts_id=27359
Or do I need to go a size up?
Would there be a site that i could buy this for a better deal also?
Any help is greatly appreciated.Thanks.

[dmac]

I have an Equalizer brand hitch. I bought mine 3 years ago, so I do not know current pricing or sources. Check out the factory web site. I believe the only selections that you must make are the stiffness of the equalizer bars and the drop/rise of the hitch. Their web site explains this. What trailer/tow vehicle are you using? What is the tongue weight? What is the required height of the top of the ball? What is the height of the top of the hitch receiver on the tow vehicle?

[wahoonc]

Devoman,
Which hitch is going to depend on your tow vehicle and trailer weights. I use the Equalizer and have been very happy with it. I currently tow a 31' Sovereign with a F150 ( not reccomended for everyone)

I believe THIS is where I bought mine from. FWIW I have the 10k unit because the 6k unit was going to be borderline. Another hitch that I have a lot of respect for are the new Reese units. Hopefully someone with personal experience will chime in.

Aaron

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Devoman

I would like to buy the Equalizer hitch and sway but i am needing some help on which one to get.
Should it be this one.
http://www.hitchsource.com/product_i...ducts_id=27359
Or do I need to go a size up?
Would there be a site that i could buy this for a better deal also?
Any help is greatly appreciated.Thanks.

If this is for the Bambi you were asking about on another thread, it should be fine.
Another hitch setup to look into is the Reese Straight-line system. Personally I have an old Eaz-lift system, with 750# bars, and a friction-type sway control. This is what was around when my trailer was new, it works well, but the state of the art has come a long way since then.

[59toaster]

To little information to determine if its right.

Information needed.

Tow vehicle
Any modifications to said tow vehicle to increase load capacity
Trailer size
tongue weight.

The way a LOT of these type of sway control work is this:

The Trunnion where the equalizer bars go in is set at an angle. If you drew a line through the pivot axis you would want that axis leaning back toward the trailer. What will happen is when you tension the pars they will want to seek less tension and will want to swing out away from the A-Frame. With one on either side they will counter balance each other and try to center the trailer to the tow vehicle.

So understanding that you will see that when sway begins and try to pivot side to side at the ball that one equalizer bar will loose tension and the opposite will gain tension. They will want to "equalize" that tension and to do so the trailer needs to center on the the tow vehicle.

Now here is where people get in trouble.

A hitch set up that would work perfect for a Cadillac would not work correctly for a 3/4 ton truck. The equalizer bars rating is critical. A caddie with soft suspension would need a higher rated bar. The load and subsequent deflection of the bar is VERY important.

On the caddie with soft suspension and a tongue weight of 750lb and bars rated 750lb. Without those bars hooked up the back bumper of the car would practically be on the ground and drop about 6 inches. Once you pull the bars up you level out the tow vehicle and those bars have about 2 inches of deflection. If you slam on the brakes and the nose of the car dives you still have plenty of tension on the bars to get that equalizing effect.

Now you take those same set up and put that on the back of a 3/4 ton truck here is what happens:

The truck has enough suspension that even with that amount of tongue weight the rear of the truck only goes down about 3/4 on and inche. So you need much LESS tension on the equalizer bars to get the 3/4 ton truck back to level. The bars only deflect .5 inches. In the same situation of slamming on the brakes and getting nose dive the bars will loose ALL tension and if that happens you will also loose your sway control at the most critical time you need it. The trailer can then push the the tow vehicle sideways because the loss of sway control that would normally fight to prevent that.

So the lesson is: The more stout the suspension on the tow vehicle you need to go to softer on the Equalizer bars to get the defection in the bar to make the sway control tendency effective.


In your case I did a little snooping and found you plan to tow with a car that has load leveling suspension. That throws a new variable in. Your vehicle has to capability of increasing its spring rate and it makes choosing bars AND your hook up procedure much more complicated. You vehicle can become a 3/4 ton truck without you realizing it.

I would be REAL cautious about how you hook up the first couple times. Ideally you want to transfer weight from the ball to the front suspension of the TV and the trailer suspension. I would do some investigation of how that load leveling suspension works and I would strongly consider crippling it till you get the coach hooked up and level the first time. With that load sensing feature once you drop the load on the ball the car is going to try to level and to do so it just stiffened up the rear suspension and your 750lb bars are now incorrect.

If you can shut off that feature then level the TV with the equalizer bars then reactivate the suspension you would get the desired weight transfer and deflection on the bars for your sway control. You may only need to do this the very first time. Once you know what link to put the bars on then the car will settle back to the intension position and soften the rear suspension and all will be well.

[Devoman]

This info is great.sorry i did not post the weight of my vehicle and tow spec.(Still learning about all this new stuff.)
VW Touareg 2004
Total weight - 6493 lb
Tow weight - 7700 lb
Hitch weight - 770
I dont have the airsuspension with mine.
I am in the process still of getting the 2005 19' bambi.It will not be here until next week when it should be at my house.

19' Bambi
MODEL

19' BAMBI

WATER TANK W/HIGH VOLUME DRAIN VALVE, GALLONS 23

BLACK WATER TANK, GALLONS 18

GRAY WATER TANK, GALLONS 21

COMBINATION BLACK & GRAY TANK N/A

UBW (UNIT BASE WEIGHT) W/O OPTIONS OR FLUIDS 3680

HITCH WEIGHT, W/O OPTIONS OR VARIABLE WGT. 480

NCC (NET CARRYING CAPACITY) WITHOUT OPTIONS + PERSONAL CARGO + FLUIDS 820

ACTUAL LENGTH 19'2"

WIDTH EXTERIOR 8'

WIDTH INTERIOR 7'7"

HEIGHT EXTERIOR W/AIR CONDITIONER 9'5"

HEIGHT INTERIOR W/AIR CONDITIONER 6'3.5"

HITCH BALL HEIGHT 17.75"

[Devoman]

Sorry about that.I didnt realize it was going to to this in the above post.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Devoman

Sorry about that.I didnt realize it was going to to this in the above post.

No problem I fixed it for you. That hitch you posted earlier in this thread should take care of your needs. I like others who posted you earlier also have an Equal-i-zer hitch and I am very happy with it.


Regards,

Jack

[Devoman]

Thanks for doing that.When i had tried to fix it i had to wait several min before it would allow me to but i got caught up in some work.I talked to the Equalizer company and they said that i will need the 600 lb WD Hitch.He even helped me out on other things as well.Like how much weight in items i can carry and what are good things to take and where to load certain items.He also said that i am in the 13% area for towing so that is good.
Man i can not wait to see this thing next week.This is so cool.

[jcanavera]

They do have a little package available which contains extra pins and other items. My suggestion is you buy it. That will insure that you never will lose anything. It worked for me.

Jack