Equalizer carnage on bottom

[LAWBC]

I flipped the hitch head today and wow was I shocked!
The gouges that are on both sides are cavernous .

Any advice as to what I can do other than buy a new hitch head

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, if the hitch runs dry they will do this. Take it all apart, turn it upside down, use a sander or grinder to remove the rough edges. These hitches will do this. Periodically these hitches need to be taken apart [remove the spring bar sockets] clean and re-grease these parts. Some people never take them apart. My Equal-I-zer hitch is 18 years old and still works great.

[ZOZ]

Here are pictures of my equalizer after 18K miles. It doesn't look anything different from yours. Keep it clean. I regrease mine twice a year.



zoz

[Mollysdad]

Regularly, I grease the ball with white lithium grease.
At the same time I swing the bars far to the side and put a dab of grease on the upper and lower surfaces. As the bars move it distributes the grease.
The only place to avoid grease is on the "L" brackets, they need friction.

[kscherzi]

That's normal wear. It looks ugly but isn't out of the ordinary. My hitch head looks the same, and close to 50k on it. The Equalizer hitch works by friction. Even when greased there's a lot of metal on metal friction by design and wear is expected. As the years go by, and wear continues you may need to add another washer to compensate.

I do a deep clean at least annually and often dab additional grease mid trip when over 1 or 2k miles, or it begins to get noisy.

[Life is a Highway]

I agree I put on the plastic gloves and clean off and lube the hitch areas every day of pulling. Another concern make sure you do no have to much weight distribution applied

[CharlesinGA]

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/manua...-owners-manual

Scroll down to regular maintenance and look at the illustration and the text.

This line comes from the section titled Spring Arm Setup... Never tow with loose socket bolts. Tighten socket bolts to a minimum of 60 ft-lbs torque before each towing session.

So, take it apart, buff out the roughest areas, clean it, regrease it and reassemble it and torque the bolts to 60 lb/ft and check before every tow.

My personal opinion is this is a horrible hitch, way too much work to initially adjust it, and way too much work to maintain it.

Charles

[majorairhead]

I've been using the same Equalizer hitch for 7 years now. I don't know how many miles are on her, but I'd guess 75,000.

I just towed 7,000 miles the past two months with no issues. I did remove the sockets, clean them, clean the hitch head where the sockets ride, and regreased three times in those 7,000 miles.

I probably remove the sockets, clean 'em inside and out, clean the entire area where they ride, and regrease at least every thousand miles or so, give or take. I like to grease. Having run farm equipment, front end loaders, skid loaders, dump trucks and such, I've learned to grease stuff on a pretty regular basis.

Maybe I'm a bit overboard with stuff, but I clean up the bolts, washers, and nuts too. I'll make sure the threads are clean, don't want a bunch of grit and gunk there.

Then there's the socket opening where the bars go in. I'll put a small dab of grease on my finger and wipe it on the lower edge/corners of where the bars go in, so when I slide that bar in there, she's got some grease...not much, but enough to keep her quiet.

Ya, I grease my ball. I clean that thing off real good, then grease it. I also clean out up under the receiver, take a rag and clean that out of old grease, before hitchin' up.

I always torque the socket bolts to 60, some times 62, tried 65 but wasn't happy with that, believe it or not.

I also always run the sockets, and bars, on the same side of the hitch....never switch 'em to the other side.

I carry a tub of grease in the airstream, if y'all need any

[WestieHouse]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

I've been using the same Equalizer hitch for 7 years now. I don't know how many miles are on her, but I'd guess 75,000.

I just towed 7,000 miles the past two months with no issues. I did remove the sockets, clean them, clean the hitch head where the sockets ride, and regreased three times in those 7,000 miles.

I probably remove the sockets, clean 'em inside and out, clean the entire area where they ride, and regrease at least every thousand miles or so, give or take. I like to grease. Having run farm equipment, front end loaders, skid loaders, dump trucks and such, I've learned to grease stuff on a pretty regular basis.

Maybe I'm a bit overboard with stuff, but I clean up the bolts, washers, and nuts too. I'll make sure the threads are clean, don't want a bunch of grit and gunk there.

Then there's the socket opening where the bars go in. I'll put a small dab of grease on my finger and wipe it on the lower edge/corners of where the bars go in, so when I slide that bar in there, she's got some grease...not much, but enough to keep her quiet.

Ya, I grease my ball. I clean that thing off real good, then grease it. I also clean out up under the receiver, take a rag and clean that out of old grease, before hitchin' up.

I always torque the socket bolts to 60, some times 62, tried 65 but wasn't happy with that, believe it or not.

I also always run the sockets, and bars, on the same side of the hitch....never switch 'em to the other side.

I carry a tub of grease in the airstream, if y'all need any

Our Equalizer hitch has served us for nearly 100,000 miles with both our 23' and 25' FC in all kinds of conditions in 49 states & 9 provinces. I wipe off old grease and add new grease (Equalizer's brand) every time I hitch up. Last year I cleaned and repainted the hitch and bars. Equalizer sent me new labels at no charge so everything looks great. Of course, I check torque at least annually and change the cotter pins occasionally.

[BillTex]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, if the hitch runs dry they will do this. Take it all apart, turn it upside down, use a sander or grinder to remove the rough edges. These hitches will do this. Periodically these hitches need to be taken apart [remove the spring bar sockets] clean and re-grease these parts. Some people never take them apart. My Equal-I-zer hitch is 18 years old and still works great.

Same here-18 yrs. Can’t even guess how many miles. Best hitch investment we ever made. A little lithium grease now/then…that’s it. Our Equalizer hitch has lived a rough life, and has never failed us.

[majorairhead]

Originally Posted by WestieHouse

Our Equalizer hitch has served us for nearly 100,000 miles with both our 23' and 25' FC in all kinds of conditions in 49 states & 9 provinces. I wipe off old grease and add new grease (Equalizer's brand) every time I hitch up. Last year I cleaned and repainted the hitch and bars. Equalizer sent me new labels at no charge so everything looks great. Of course, I check torque at least annually and change the cotter pins occasionally.

Very nice! Now you have me thinkin' about paint

[richarus]

Originally Posted by LAWBC

I flipped the hitch head today and wow was I shocked!
The gouges that are on both sides are cavernous .

Any advice as to what I can do other than buy a new hitch head

Contact Equalizer. They have a lifetime warranty and might send you a new Hitch Head. They will have you submit a claim with pictures. Not sure about this condition, but I had a hitch head crack and they gave me a new one.