Weight Distribuion Hitch installed

[all2matt]

I bought an Equalizer E2 WDHto install on my durango and G23. After talking to The RV place I purchased it from they suggested mounting both side plates together. I eneded up having swap out the 4" bolts for 5" bolts because of the size of the frame on the tounge is large than the side A-frame portion. 4 1/2" bolts wouldve been a perfect fit. The directions werent too bad to follow though when installing with a top mount coupler (which it looks like mine is) said to flip the side plates \so the L plate bolts are on the upper half of the frame. This made this impossible to get the sway bars up onto the L plates even when the boat was jacked way up. So flipped the side plates to allow the L-plates to be installed lower (as the way a bottom mount coupler installition is recommended). Even still at my current set up the sway bars require some effort to put up on the L-plates. It almost looks as if my swing away tounge is "V" up a little with the WDH installed.

the boat and truck drove great on my 71 mile journey. actually felt even better than pulling my old Tige Z1 without a WDH. from these pics I did endup fliping my hitch assmebly and raising my ball up a notch to 23.5" where as my trailier measured 24" to the underside of thee coupler so to level the trailer a hair better. I have not pulled it that way yet but will in the next few weeks.

questions:
1. should I lower the plates 1 more notch or not?
2. is that "V" that bad for the trailer is it just my eyes playing tricks on me because the sapcing between the top iof the frame on the side looks the same as the bottom of the frame on the side.
3. is this set up what others have done and/or is going to good to go for the future?
4. is there anyhting else i should do or think about til I do get a more tow capable vehicle?

[a0128]

My concern would be the correct operation of the trailer brakes. I assuming your trailer brakes still work properly with the WD setup.

[all2matt]

so far so good but I also didnt do a stomp test. maybe next time I do a test with and without the sway bars on to see if I notice difference

[NautiqueJeff]

With the Equal-I-Zer hitch, the brakes should continue to work fine. They might take a little more force to engage, but they will still work. Lube up the arms at the L brackets to lessen the force required to engage the brakes.

[aZ`]

Why don't you guys with surge brakes use a WDH with chains rather than solid brackets? any resistance to movement of the actuator would be negligible.

WRT lowering the plates a notch, Setting your WDH shouldn't be done to achieve a predetermined angle between tug and towed. You should measure your ride height of your tug at the front and rear wheels, drop your trailer on, the rear height will have dropped and the front will have risen, adjust your WDH until the tug has dropped an even amount front and rear from your unloaded measurements. This ensures you have 50/50 weight distribution and thus negates any effect your ball weight has on the handling and safety of your tug.

Advice: next time you order a large boat that gets towed regularly, upgrade to electric over hydraulics discs, you won't regret it!

[all2matt]

I was able to get complete level at my fenders front and back at 32" (unloaded was 32" and 33" rear) with the pictured set up but I just want to make sure I'm not putting too much pressure on my sway bars and on the swing away tounge. So am I good? I guess the only way to know is take it to my RV place and see what they think of it loaded up

[NautiqueJeff]

Why don't you guys with surge brakes use a WDH with chains rather than solid brackets? any resistance to movement of the actuator would be negligible.

Advice: next time you order a large boat that gets towed regularly, upgrade to electric over hydraulics discs, you won't regret it!

That's just what you DON'T want to do. That will effect the ride height of the tow vehicle at a most critical time (when trying to slow or stop). That's why the Equal-i-Zer is one of the only safe weight distribution systems for use with surge brakes.

That being said, I made SURE to order my 2016 trailer with electric over hydraulic brakes just because they work better and are safer in general.

[nyryan2001]

Jeff, what was the up charge to EOH?

That's like coming out of the Stone Age level difference.

[NautiqueJeff]

Jeff, what was the up charge to EOH?

That's like coming out of the Stone Age level difference.

Agreed! Can't wait to get it and see how much better it really is. I don't even know how much the upcharge was. I can find out and post back though.

[nyryan2001]

I imagine it's in the $1k range. Nothing entirely crazy.

Braking 8000lb+ wakeboats is about to get real.

[aZ`]

That's just what you DON'T want to do. That will effect the ride height of the tow vehicle at a most critical time (when trying to slow or stop). That's why the Equal-i-Zer is one of the only safe weight distribution systems for use with surge brakes.

That being said, I made SURE to order my 2016 trailer with electric over hydraulic brakes just because they work better and are safer in general.

Jeff, can you explain to me why you wouldn't want less resistance from your WDH? The less resistance the better the brakes will work.
And as far as affecting the ride height of your vehicle goes, ANY load on the ball affects ride height regardless of WDH or no WDH. Distributing the weight between the front and rear wheels are its primary function.


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[xrichard]

I don't want to contribute to a high jack, but thought I could help clarify: Equalizer v. chain-style actually work about the same. With chains, the key is to make sure the chains are vertical at rest so that trailer has the full range of fore/aft movement while turning and under braking. Either way, the key is that the trailer can move forward and back against the coupler/ball mount based on the fore/aft movement allowed at the torsion bar where it is pulled by the chain.

The fore/aft movement happens with both the Equalizer and chain-style. You can see for yourself if you hook up either one and then turn with the trailer attached. With the equalizer, the inside distribution bar will be pushed back and further through the bracket on the trailer. With the chain-style, the inside bar will similarly be pushed back toward the boat along the radius of the chain. If anything, the chain-style creates slightly more tension as the trailer moves forward under braking (and while turning). The outside bars of both setups do the exact same: they move forward relative to the bracket.

The notion that the Equalizer is the only set up safe for surge is part of a great marketing campaign that started when the Equalizer first came out decades ago.

FWIW, I think the Equalizer has some other great advantages and I'd take it any day over a standard chain setup.

Also, in my experience, your RV dealer won't have a clue re: setup. I've never had a WD hitch set up properly (or received any sort of knowledgeable advice on the issue) from an RV dealer. Go to RV.net and you'll see many posts and threads discussing this very topic.

[all2matt]

I don't want to contribute to a high jack, but thought I could help clarify: Equalizer v. chain-style actually work about the same. With chains, the key is to make sure the chains are vertical at rest so that trailer has the full range of fore/aft movement while turning and under braking. Either way, the key is that the trailer can move forward and back against the coupler/ball mount based on the fore/aft movement allowed at the torsion bar where it is pulled by the chain.

The fore/aft movement happens with both the Equalizer and chain-style. You can see for yourself if you hook up either one and then turn with the trailer attached. With the equalizer, the inside distribution bar will be pushed back and further through the bracket on the trailer. With the chain-style, the inside bar will similarly be pushed back toward the boat along the radius of the chain. If anything, the chain-style creates slightly more tension as the trailer moves forward under braking (and while turning). The outside bars of both setups do the exact same: they move forward relative to the bracket.

The notion that the Equalizer is the only set up safe for surge is part of a great marketing campaign that started when the Equalizer first came out decades ago.

FWIW, I think the Equalizer has some other great advantages and I'd take it any day over a standard chain setup.

Also, in my experience, your RV dealer won't have a clue re: setup. I've never had a WD hitch set up properly (or received any sort of knowledgeable advice on the issue) from an RV dealer. Go to RV.net and you'll see many posts and threads discussing this very topic.

should I have to use my lift bar (and effort) to get the sway bars up onto the L-plates even when I have my trailer jacked way up or should I be able to basiclly slide them over onto the L-plate then letting the trailer down to put tension on them? Hopefully I describing my question well enough :-)

[Kenv]

all2matt.....I understand what you are asking. I'm no expert but I have but running an Equalizer on my Travel Trailer for awhile. When I crank the tongue way up as per the instructions to slide the bars into the L brackets, mine are pretty tight. I can almost do it with my hands but end up sitting on my butt and giving it a small kick with my feet just to finish putting it in against the bracket so I can fold the attached clip down. In my opinion, they should take a little effort. They do even provide a bar with the kit to assist prying the bars into place if needed if the setup on your particular combo calls for it.

[all2matt]

awesome thanks KenV, just trying to make sure Im not screwing things up :-) was watching a video on the equalizer and they had an electric jack on the RV. Guess what my next pruchase is if Im going to be jacking up, down up then down again to take the trailer on and off. they seem like a no brainer for $200