Is this normal?

[Campingfamco]

Hi Everyone,

I’m towing a 21 24mbh with a 21 Yukon Denali. The power of the 6.2 does a great job, but this trailer is heavy for sure!

I had the dealer install an equalizer and below 65 it seems pretty stable so far. Anything faster and it starts to get a little sporty.

The other day I looked at my trailer and noticed the passenger side bracket on the trailer appears to be bending in. I also noticed my brackets are really low. I’m not sure if this was done during the setup because of the air suspension or what. I have to lift the trailer and Yukon up the normal amount to be able to get the bars on, but I’m worried something might not be right given I’m getting a bend in the bracket.

Is this normal? Thoughts other than I need a bigger TV?

[JFlightRisk]

That's not normal for an Equalizer, and it may be the bar socket bolt on that side is over-torqued from spec. Is the bar on that side harder to push in toward the tongue than the other side?

I had an issue with ours on the way home with our new TT 9 years ago. After turning a corner, the truck wanted to keep pulling a little, in that direction. One side was at 110 ft/lbs. I called Equalizer for the torque spec range for the socket bolts, flipped the hitch upside down on the truck, loosened them up, lubricated the friction surfaces, and retorqued them. The spec is a MINIMUM of 60 ft/lbs, and if I remember correctly, I run them up to 75 ft/lbs, but our hitch has more wear. You still have some paint between the surfaces that'll wear away.

Personally, I lube all the friction surfaces with their grease every time I hook up, and retorque those socket bolts every year. The surfaces do wear, and the grease eliminates all the noise we had. If your dealer is fairly close, I'd show them what it's doing, and ask them if THEY think it's right. Get it documented in writing that's it's bending, and ask them to retorque those socket bolts.

[curver900]

you may want to look at those tires on it.. if they are not LT you should consider new shoes to handle the load... read the load they can handle on the sidewall...but the above is not normal...

[Campingfamco]

Okay this is good to know. As for the tires, they’re the ones that come with the Yukon with the Max Tow Package. I’m not sure if they’re LT or not, but I would imagine GM wouldn’t advertise being able to have X payload and X towing capacity if the tires weren’t built for it. I could be wrong on that though.

Either way I’ll take it into the dealer to have the hitch looked at. Something is definitely not right with it. I think I actually need a little bit more tension on the bars as well. My front end feels a little floaty. From reading the easiest thing to do would be to bring up the L brackets on the trailer itself.

[craigav]

Have you made any very sharp turns with your trailer? The force on the holding arm(s) bracket is (should be) straight down, in fact I had a setup a long time ago that used chains instead of the holding arm brackets where you see the bend. I would think that any bending could only happen with a very sharp turn or perhaps a lack of lubrication causing the spring arm not to slide a little. ~CA

[Campingfamco]

Originally Posted by craigav

Have you made any very sharp turns with your trailer? The force on the holding arm(s) bracket is (should be) straight down, in fact I had a setup a long time ago that used chains instead of the holding arm brackets where you see the bend. I would think that any bending could only happen with a very sharp turn or perhaps a lack of lubrication causing the spring arm not to slide a little. ~CA

Nothing out of the normal. I think the sharpest turn I’ve made was turning around in my cul-de-sac.

[Camper_bob]

I had that happen on a Fastway E2 hitch (came with that camper as part of the sale). I upgraded those hangers to the Equalizer hangers and never had another problem with those. But that hitch was operating at the TOP of its capacity and that made me a bit uncomfortable. So I upgraded to a BlueOx Sway Pro, stepped up to the next level of capacity, and I liked that a lot.

If possible, you should try to get the spring bars closer to the frame of the trailer. It may not be possible, simply a design limitation. It's harder to get them closer to the frame of the trailer if you have an "underslung" hitch on the trailer (the coupler mounted to the BOTTOM of the frame as opposed to the top).

Sway Pro actually has a different part number for the hitch head based on the position of the coupler on the frame. I don't know that Equalizer brand has that? Getting the right head from BlueOx (for underslung couplers) helped bring all of that up closer to the frame when hitched up. But that hitch uses chains, so I didn't have to worry about lateral movement in the spring bars.

[Jagiven]

Couple things I would consider.

Bring the rig to a CAT scale fully load, on your way to camp. There is a sticky link that will walk you through the three measurements you need. This will let you know if your hitch is setup correctly. https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...v-tt-3871.html

Tire pressure; Check your tire pressures before each trip. The TT, make sure is at the listed max pressure, low tire pressure will cause sway The TV, you may want to try a few different pressures than what is on the door frame. There are tire pressure charts for your load.

Speed, most TT tires are only speed rated to 62 mph. Watch your speed.

Hitch, What brand WDH do you have? If it is an Equalizer is it an E2 or E4, and what weight rating? Unless Equalizer has changed their design, something does not look right. On the bars Equalizer applies a sticker with their name, and if I recall what weight rating the bars are. Do you have that sticker? Also my hangers do not accept a carriage bolt from the front side. It also looks like your hangers slip into a channel. Nothing looks like an Equalizer hitch except for the square bar. Not even the retainer clip. Here is a link to an E4 for a comparison. https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-P...88362694&psc=1

One thing a lot of dealers do when setting up a WHD for a new TT, is set it up for an empty TT and TV. When my dealer setup my hitch I noticed all the numbers were off when I checked. The guy goes, "yep, it is all empty. Load it up and then check it". It was perfect once all loaded.

Overall check your weights on the CAT scale, and let us know exactly which WDH you have and its rating.

[Camper_bob]

I agree, that doesn't look like an Equal-i-zer brand hitch. But I haven't looked in a long time.

If it's an "off brand" hitch, that could be the problem right there. While my Fastway was made and marketed by Progress Manufacturing, which is the same company that makes and markets Equal-i-zer brand hitches, it was of much lower quality. And the spring bar hangers were just one example. The Equal-i-zer branded spring bar hangers were compatible with the Fastway spring bars, so I simply upgraded them to the much stronger and better designed Equal-i-zer brand hangers. You may be able to do the same with that hitch.

FWIW, most of my problem stemmed from the fact that the actual hanger plates on the Fastway didn't ride flush with the frame mounts. They were actually offset slightly. This causes inherent weakness. The Equal-i-zer brand hangers actually mounted flush with the brackets and frame, which was a MUCH stronger design.

[Campingfamco]

Well it looks like you guys are right. When I was sold the trailer they told me they only put on 4 point equalizer hitches. It looks to me like I got this one.

https://www.curtmfg.com/weight-distr...eight_gtw=1363

[ynpmoose]

Those look like Curt Trutrack brackets. I had that hitch and bent two brackets the same way then went to Equalizer. The Equalizer brackets are much thicker and have not bent. I keep a spare on hand just in case though. I would bet you could buy the Equalizer brackets and use it with the TruTrack bars. Here's a pic of the Equalizer brackets for comparison.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by ynpmoose

Those look like Curt Trutrack brackets. I had that hitch and bent two brackets the same way then went to Equalizer. The Equalizer brackets are much thicker and have not bent. I keep a spare on hand just in case though. I would bet you could buy the Equalizer brackets and use it with the TruTrack bars. Here's a pic of the Equalizer brackets for comparison.

+1

I would try just the brackets first. Get the Equal-i-zer branded brackets and spring bar hangers.

Unless you want an entirely different hitch, but then that's a different discussion...

FWIW, "Equalizer" is becoming a bit like "Xerox". Lots of people use the term "Equalizer" hitch to describe any weight distribution hitch. Equal-i-zer is actually a brand name (and a good one), so that gets people confused.

[Campingfamco]

Well I guess it’s my fault. In our contract and from what they told me we were getting a four point equalizer hitch. They even gave us the brochure for it. I didn’t look too closely at the hitch because it looked like an equalizer.

I need to call the dealer and have them change the hitch out to the equalizer per our contract. I’m not very impressed with this dealer. They talk a big game but when it comes time to play I’m seeing nothing. Not a good buying experience at all.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Campingfamco

Well I guess it’s my fault. In our contract and from what they told me we were getting a four point equalizer hitch. They even gave us the brochure for it. I didn’t look too closely at the hitch because it looked like an equalizer.

I need to call the dealer and have them change the hitch out to the equalizer per our contract. I’m not very impressed with this dealer. They talk a big game but when it comes time to play I’m seeing nothing. Not a good buying experience at all.

Unfortunately this is "par for the course" in the RV world. If you can find a good dealership (and there ARE good ones), hang on to them and enthusiastically refer them to your friends so they can stay in business.

[Campingfamco]

I just talked with my salesman. He said they used the Curt because they’re out of the equalizer. That’s what they had told him. He also said it’s performance is the same from what he was told.

My question to you guys, are the hitches really that different where I’ll notice something? If they just change out the brackets would that suffice?

If I end up keeping this one it’s clear the dealership stole from me given the cost of this hitch is much less than the equalizer and it was used as a negotiation piece, so regardless I’ll work to get money back or have them change it out. I’m just curious if the hitch itself is truly subpar to equalizer.

[Camper_bob]

IMO, I would ask them to give you the one you bought, and you'll return that one to them.

If they gave you the documentation for, and charged you for, a Progress Mfg Equal-i-zer brand 4-way sway control weight distribution hitch, and then put something else on, you were intentionally defrauded. They hoped you wouldn't notice the difference. Make them own it.

In the meantime, you could pick up the Equal-i-zer spring bar perches and brackets to use until they get it sorted out. Then retain those as spares after they provide you with your hitch.

Accept nothing less. Regardless of someone else's opinion on a comparison between the two hitches, you want the one you bought. Period.

Personally, I would NOT allow them to install and set up the new hitch; I would do that myself. The conversation might go something like this: "you owe me a hitch. Let me know when you have it on-hand, and I'll bring this one back to you and trade." When they have it on hand, take what you've got off, throw it in the truck, haul it over there and hand it to them and pick up your new-in-box Equal-i-zer branded hitch.

[Camper_bob]

Forgot to mention that you should make sure whatever hitch they give you is properly rated for your LOADED rig. If you go and look at the specs for the Equal-i-zer 4pt sway control hitches, you'll find tongue and trailer weight ratings. Pay close attention to the tongue ratings (for the bars). The one my dealer sold me with my trailer was max rated at or below my potential tongue weight, so it was just barely adequate for my trailer. Most WDH manufacturers will want your tongue weight to be within a range, less than, not equal to, the max rating on the bars, and above a certain minimum weight as well.

I would use your GVWR on the trailer with 12-15% tongue weight to determine the bars you should use. For example, if you have trailer GVWR of 8,000 lbs, you have a potential (and really, recommended) tongue weight of between 960-1200 lbs. So you probably don't want to use a 1000/10,000 lb rated WDH. Many dealers will look at the second number being well above the GVWR of the trailer and call it good, but that's not how travel trailers work in respect to weight distribution hitches.

Which is another reason why I wouldn't let them install it. I've heard and read of FAR too many dealers who get it completely wrong, un-apologetically, and try to convince their customers it's right. And the dealer that would covertly pull a switcharoo in this case is not to be trusted IMO.

[Campingfamco]

Well that took forever!!! I finally got my trailer back yesterday after about two months at the dealer. They have some work to do on their communication as well as execution of the work they do.

I got my equalizer finally and I can say it tows amazingly! I was at 37 3/8 front wheel well to ground and now with the trailer loaded on it and the bars adjusted I’m at 37 1/2. The air suspension hardly moves anymore. The only thing I’m questioning is the angle of the trailer. It looks like it’s a little high, but it tows so well I don’t want to lower the shank a notch.

What do you think?

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

That's not normal for an Equalizer, and it may be the bar socket bolt on that side is over-torqued from spec. Is the bar on that side harder to push in toward the tongue than the other side?

I had an issue with ours on the way home with our new TT 9 years ago. After turning a corner, the truck wanted to keep pulling a little, in that direction. One side was at 110 ft/lbs. I called Equalizer for the torque spec range for the socket bolts, flipped the hitch upside down on the truck, loosened them up, lubricated the friction surfaces, and retorqued them. The spec is a MINIMUM of 60 ft/lbs, and if I remember correctly, I run them up to 75 ft/lbs, but our hitch has more wear. You still have some paint between the surfaces that'll wear away.

Personally, I lube all the friction surfaces with their grease every time I hook up, and retorque those socket bolts every year. The surfaces do wear, and the grease eliminates all the noise we had. If your dealer is fairly close, I'd show them what it's doing, and ask them if THEY think it's right. Get it documented in writing that's it's bending, and ask them to retorque those socket bolts.

The ONLY place on the Equalizer I do any lubrication with grease is on the hitch head where the 2 square head brackets bolt to the hitch head for the spring bars. I torq them to 75Ft Lbs.
Then where the spring bars attach to the trailer, I use these:
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...5-01-5150.html

I do not put grease there. These teflon plates really quiet the noise.

[ynpmoose]

I little high is OK. Once you get all your gear in the back of the SUV, the family, and gear in the trailer, it will get a closer to level.