Eating Crow - the "new" Blue Ox Sway Pro
OK, so I will admit upfront that I was one of the first to warn people about the new design of the Blue Ox Swaypro hitch. I had tried to order the original design last year and all that was stocked was their new design- no head tilt, no friction bolts to control sway, etc. When I called Blue Ox or anyone else that carried that brand nobody could tell me why they changed it, just it got changed and that was that.
Fast forward almost a year and I was in the market for a new hitch again after my time with the Andersen was a failure. I read and participated in the other long Blue Ox thread and there was lots of conversation going on about how the new design works, why it shouldnt work, how and why things were changed, etc. Well after looking over things again I decided to try and call Blue Ox one more time. I ended up talking with one of their designers for about an hour on the phone. Super nice guy and he was as happy as can be to answer any questions I had and offer insight into the new hitch. In the end it all came down to this - he just said "try it" and he knew I would like it. If I didnt he would do his best to help me out on correcting things or returning it.
I now have over 1000 miles on the new design just getting back from a long trip yesterday (and also picking up my camper from the dealer after recall work). I had two nice opportunities to try the hitch, fully empty as it was from the dealer (I mean completely empty, we thought it would need to go back to FR so we totally unloaded it like it was new from the factory) and then fully loaded for a long beach trip. The dealer drive was around 90 miles and the rest was the long trip.
First impressions:
1) Its heavy. Period. It weighs much more than my old EZ Lift or my buddies Equal-i-zer. Shipping weight on the box was 106 pounds and it feels it. The head is one big solid chunk of steel.
2) Shank is quite long. I may need to end up lengthening my safety chains. Plus side is that I can now open my tail gate easily without worrying about hitting anything.
3) looks to be very well made. Powder coating is thick, welds look good, everything looks to be just made well.
4) It really is a mostly "clean" design which is one thing I wanted. Only exposed grease is the ball. The hitch has two zerks that allow you to grease the pivot points and almost no grease escapes.
5) Setup was fast and easy. I did it all solo in the dealer parking lot in about an hour. My only initial issue was finding a 1-7/8 socket to torque the ball down at home. The nut is deep recessed in the head so you need a socket. Thin wall is not required.
6) Those rotating chain latches are really slick. It gives you plenty of clearance for anything mounted above, work smoothly and using a breaker bar with a 1" socket the tensioning of the bars is easy and very low effort.
So how does it tow after all of that? Fantastic. I have Zero sway. None. The TT barely wiggles even in gusty cross winds. I still have the familiar suck and push from a passing semi truck but even that is pretty minor compared to past setups. My TT has always has a little wiggle. Its 32ft long, light and with the axles mounted near the middle to keep tongue weight down. All of that makes for a trailer that wants to pivot on its center. I just got used to the wiggle as it was never a serious issue. The Blue Ox has no wiggle. Not entirely sure how or why it works as well as it does, but the guy on the phone was right. It just works and it works very well.
As for WD, I am now able to get 100% of my lost weight back up front of my truck. For a bonus the ride is equal to that of the Andersen which was one of that hitches strong suits. Those flat, thin tapered bars do not give the same bounce that I have experienced in the past with any hitch I have used.
In a nutshell I wouldnt hesitate to recommend this hitch to anyone if they can handle the physical weight of it. I know my wife wouldnt be able to set the hitch head in the receiver without struggling and I do see that as a possible negative. Once its in hookup is a very simple process. The spring bars are light and snap in and release easily. I marked the chain as to which link is needed for the brackets and the breaker bar takes care of the tensioning. I dont even need to raise the tongue back up once latched to lower the effort needed. I know this sounds like a Blue Ox ad, but seeing as I was one of the first to bring up the new design and bad mouth it to anyone looking at the hitch I thought it appropriate to come back and correct myself.
Oh, Blue Ox also changed their warranty from 3 yrs to Lifetime with the new design. Added bonus!
Fast forward almost a year and I was in the market for a new hitch again after my time with the Andersen was a failure. I read and participated in the other long Blue Ox thread and there was lots of conversation going on about how the new design works, why it shouldnt work, how and why things were changed, etc. Well after looking over things again I decided to try and call Blue Ox one more time. I ended up talking with one of their designers for about an hour on the phone. Super nice guy and he was as happy as can be to answer any questions I had and offer insight into the new hitch. In the end it all came down to this - he just said "try it" and he knew I would like it. If I didnt he would do his best to help me out on correcting things or returning it.
I now have over 1000 miles on the new design just getting back from a long trip yesterday (and also picking up my camper from the dealer after recall work). I had two nice opportunities to try the hitch, fully empty as it was from the dealer (I mean completely empty, we thought it would need to go back to FR so we totally unloaded it like it was new from the factory) and then fully loaded for a long beach trip. The dealer drive was around 90 miles and the rest was the long trip.
First impressions:
1) Its heavy. Period. It weighs much more than my old EZ Lift or my buddies Equal-i-zer. Shipping weight on the box was 106 pounds and it feels it. The head is one big solid chunk of steel.
2) Shank is quite long. I may need to end up lengthening my safety chains. Plus side is that I can now open my tail gate easily without worrying about hitting anything.
3) looks to be very well made. Powder coating is thick, welds look good, everything looks to be just made well.
4) It really is a mostly "clean" design which is one thing I wanted. Only exposed grease is the ball. The hitch has two zerks that allow you to grease the pivot points and almost no grease escapes.
5) Setup was fast and easy. I did it all solo in the dealer parking lot in about an hour. My only initial issue was finding a 1-7/8 socket to torque the ball down at home. The nut is deep recessed in the head so you need a socket. Thin wall is not required.
6) Those rotating chain latches are really slick. It gives you plenty of clearance for anything mounted above, work smoothly and using a breaker bar with a 1" socket the tensioning of the bars is easy and very low effort.
So how does it tow after all of that? Fantastic. I have Zero sway. None. The TT barely wiggles even in gusty cross winds. I still have the familiar suck and push from a passing semi truck but even that is pretty minor compared to past setups. My TT has always has a little wiggle. Its 32ft long, light and with the axles mounted near the middle to keep tongue weight down. All of that makes for a trailer that wants to pivot on its center. I just got used to the wiggle as it was never a serious issue. The Blue Ox has no wiggle. Not entirely sure how or why it works as well as it does, but the guy on the phone was right. It just works and it works very well.
As for WD, I am now able to get 100% of my lost weight back up front of my truck. For a bonus the ride is equal to that of the Andersen which was one of that hitches strong suits. Those flat, thin tapered bars do not give the same bounce that I have experienced in the past with any hitch I have used.
In a nutshell I wouldnt hesitate to recommend this hitch to anyone if they can handle the physical weight of it. I know my wife wouldnt be able to set the hitch head in the receiver without struggling and I do see that as a possible negative. Once its in hookup is a very simple process. The spring bars are light and snap in and release easily. I marked the chain as to which link is needed for the brackets and the breaker bar takes care of the tensioning. I dont even need to raise the tongue back up once latched to lower the effort needed. I know this sounds like a Blue Ox ad, but seeing as I was one of the first to bring up the new design and bad mouth it to anyone looking at the hitch I thought it appropriate to come back and correct myself.
Oh, Blue Ox also changed their warranty from 3 yrs to Lifetime with the new design. Added bonus!
