Tow Hitch Equlizer Necessary???

[anash13]

I tryed posting this in the towing forum with no result.
Maybe I'll get lucky here.

I just arranged to pickup a 21.5'X 8' Travel trailer, whighing 3685lb dry/GVRW 7487lb.

My question is do I NEED a trailer equlizer unit to pull this trailer safely at Highway speed (65 mph)???

Thanks for the help

[Yardbrew]

Yes, you need a weight distributing trailer hitch for the best possible towing.

I wouldn't think of pulling a big trailer, empty or full, without mine.

I pulled my trailer about 2000 miles (OK-ARK-TEX-Delaware) with a small load(trailer grossed out at about 5500 lbs)on mostly interstate before I got it back to Delaware to have it retagged and refitted.

On that trip I saw a lot of good looking bumper pull RV rigs that were smoothly running down the interstate and not bouncing all over the place like I was.

The weight equalizing hitch (mine is a Reese) allows you to increase the tongue wt of the trailer thereby contributing to towing stability of the trailer.

We can talk about momentum of a moving object that is rotating about a fulcrum and how you can control the inertia by moving the weight forward but the bottom line is that weight distributing hitches help you minimize trailer sway.

My Reese hitch has torsion bars that also dampen the bounce that is caused by the truck and the trailer going over bumps in the road at different times.

Pull a big trailer down interstate 20 from Shreveport to Atlanta without a WD hitch and that'll convince you.

The best WD hitches are the ones like Hensley Arrow that bring the pulling fulcrum close to the rear axle (5th wheel is ideal...but we can't go there with our vans). However, I can't bring myself to buy a hitch that costs more than my trailer.

Conventional WD hitches with torsion bars are totally different animals from the Hensley Arrow types.

My conventional WD hitch is just fine for me. I have the Reese dual cam anti-sway bars but don't use them unless I'm going across country.
I'm not sure that there is a whole lot of difference in WD hitches that are sold by reputable companies.

Do some research before you buy. The Trailer Life website used to be a good place to lurk and get opinions.

There are a bunch of us vanners who pull trailers....someone will answer your questions or move it back to T&H.

Yardbrew

[anash13]

Thanks Brew,
Your comments have convinsed me to pick up an Equlizer unit.
I was no sure if I REALY needed one.
I pulled a 16' "PACE" cargo trailer from New Jersey to AZ in Feb.
The trailer was very much overloaded by 1700lb [Trailer GVW=7000lb, I scaled @ Exit 7, NJ Turnpike at 8768lb, dumb dumb dumb]
(GOD takes care of Fools & Babys).
I did not use a equlizer unit, The trailer just sat there, and rolled along the entire 2300mi without mishap.

I shall do my homework on this equlizer thing.
If anyone has suggestions please feel free to jump in.

Once more Thank Brew.

[carnut169]

Do yourself a HUGE favor and don't just buy any weight distribution hitch. I had one with a friction type sway control device and my trailer (26') was all over the road. It sucked...

Next I picked up an Equal-i-zer brand hitch ($399 from RV Wholesellers inc shipping) and it tows like a dream. You don't need to spend thousands on a hitch to get rid of sway....

[bobinyelm]

This may be overkill for you, but I have about 40,000 miles in the last two years towing large cargo trailers with my '99 PSD E-350(enclosed car haulers) that went from 3500 pounds empty to 12,000 pounds fully loaded and measured up to 32ft long.

I installed a PullRite hitch (www.pullrite.com)from the start and never regretted it one bit.

It equalizes the load AND moves the tow point to the rear axle so there is ZERO sway. You can take the steering wheel and whip it back and forth at ANY speed and you get ZERO sway. You can be passed in either direction by a semi and get ZERO sway. In fact, you have to see the semi to even know you are being passed.

PullRite doesn't advertise and they seem totally uninterested in selling their product. In fact, I have NEVER seen such absolute apathy by a company (it's like they are trying to commit corporate suicide), but their product is WONDERFUL.

Bob

[yaric008]

This may not mean much, but if you can, look for a hitch that is made out of air craft aluminum. We just bought a brand new one the other day, and it's huge! Yet only weights about 25lbs, at compared with a steel one weighing about 70 [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

It's for pulling a trailer with a really tall truck, it steps the ball down about 10 inches, anyways, air craft aluminum is really amazing stuff [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[Yardbrew]

Bob,

How much of a hassle is it when you have more than one trailer....say a flat trailer, a horse trailer, and a cargo trailer?

Any change in backing and turning your trailer?

I assume you have a heavy duty model. Is the spare tire much of a hassle? Do you just carry it inside the van?

Do you ever see them used? The current price on the Pullrite website is $2500, does that include everything?......they have separate part numbers for the installation kit and the trailer kit.

When I bought my Reese, I paid extra for a special hitch bar which I needed to level my trailer and that was an extra $125....then the dual cam anti-sway cost more bucks.....it just goes on and on. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

Fortunately, there was nothing to installing the Reese

Yardbrew

[carnut169]

Yard-
You can find the Pullrite used for aprox $500... but you don't have to spend that much! Really, the Equal-i-zer works great...

but its your $$!

BTW- the reciever on the Page Ranking is just like any regular reciever so switching trailers is no big deal. The other 'good' hitch is the Hensley Arrow, which mounts to the trailer, so swapping is no bueno.

[anash13]

Good Morning Gent's.
We just got home from our tour of Mid-America.
We left southeastern AZ the 30th of June, Bound for Kansas City, on the 1st leg of the trip.
I have to say the Van Ran like a Dream, Got from 19.8 to 20.7 mpg. @70-75mph, or the speed limit in each state.
During the trip we ran into some nasty weather...Rain..BIG TIME, Van did not notice, just ran like a top.

RVWholesalers, was just what they advertised: I got an OUTSTANDING DEAL!
Those interested in the details e-mail me I will share the experience.
You Gent were correct the Equalizer hitch worked as advertised, and well worth the money $499.00 installed.

The RETURN TRIP HOME IS/WAS ANOTHER STORY;
In my mind towing this Travel Trailer should have not presented any more of a problem then the Cargo Trailer I towed in Feb.....WRONG!!!
In a word..."WIND LOADING", Although the Trailer is only 3895lb, It is 11.5 ft. high, & 8 ft wide, A BRICK moving through the air.
Traveling from East to West we encountered Head Winds of 30 to 45 mph in some area.
The short story is 60 mph became the best speed at which I could make reasonable time, Fuel usage droped to 10-11mpg. even using the "SUPERCHIP".
When I stopped for the night, I would change from program to program looking for the best setting, finaly setteling on the "Over 6000lb Safe Tow" setting.
Even using this setting I was hard pressed to keep the EGT'S under 1300*.
The 3:55 Rear-end is/was a handicap in this towing mode, However, It is what it is and I am not changing it.
It may be prudent to start thinking about going to a larger exhaust system...What do you think??

What I do not understand, I saw quite a few Trailers, & 5th Wheeler's on the road being pulled by FORD PSD both 7.3 & 6.0, They did not seem to be having any of the problems I was experiencing.
In fact about 75-80% of the Towing Veh. I saw were FORD PSD'S.
In Texas That's all I saw was FORDS...

In summery I am not too pleased/happy with the proformance of the Van towing this trailer at this point in time.
I would be happy to entertain any suggestions the group may have on improving the proformance towing this trailer.