Hitching Help

Question

Just finished our first tow with our Jayco 26BH and I think I need some help dialing in the hitch. First mistake was towing there with water - I did so as the park didn't have the water turned on yet. Towing wasn't great, but not bad, and I could take it at my own speed, which was slow and fine by me.

On the way back, we were empty of all water. Trailer doesn't have much in it as shipped from the factory. Bedding, dishes, 2 days worth of clothes. Really not much yet, it was a trial run.

At 60-70km it was locked in pretty well. At 90 it would sometimes steer me. There was a very strong cross wind, but not always. I couldn't see noticeable "wagging", but is this still sway? It was like I had to keep 2 hands on the wheel at all times to stay straight. Not very enjoyable.

Now the hitch is an "RV Pro" WDH (1000 lb bars), which I assume has no sway control on it. There are no friction bars, or anything like the cams on the Reese. Would that help here? The hitch was basically thrown in by the dealer, and if $1000 is going to improve my driving experience, I'm going to get a new hitch a.s.a.p.

Funny enough, when doing 90km, and passing an oncoming semi, presumable doing 90 to 100km, I barely noticed it. I also had to do a faster than normal braking maneuver to avoid hitting some unmarked broken up road which it handled like the trailer wasn't even there. And up to 60km you barely notice the trailer is there.

Pick all hitched up is here: https://goo.gl/photos/xf3ctyFux7dS77we8

From reading the forums, I wonder if I need to lower my ball a little? But again, I'm thinking of getting a Blue Ox, Reese Straight Straightline or something like that to do it right, right from the start.

Trailer dry, with full propane is 4950lb. Battery was dealer added, then of course, bedding, clothes, and not much else this trip.

Thanks.

barneys · Answer

The slight push/pull you feel when being passed by large trucks is normal as is the movement you felt with the cross winds. Sounds to me like you did pretty well for the first trip and the conditions you were driving in. The oncoming trucks are no concern at all as I have never felt anything from them. It is the ones approaching from behind that get you.

I would certainly get one of the sway control hitches. The two you mentioned are good as are several others on the market. There is a ton of discussion about sway control on this forum. Sway control hitch discussions.

In looking at your picture, it does look like you are a bit tongue high on the trailer. I would turn the shank around so it points down to the ground and see what happens. I would still use the top two holes for mounting the hitch head. I think that should lower the tongue just about enough. If not, you will still have several more holes to play with.
Hope this helps. :)

Here is your picture. I copied your url and pasted it into our forums picture posting app.
Barney

horton333 · Answer

Hard to tell from the picture, but it appears the nose is up a bit on the trailer. It should be down a bit typically, so lowering the ball would be a simple place to start.
I cannot even see the distribution bars really, so hard to tell about them .....

jason26 · Answer

So in the end I think I was tongue light. I just didn't have enough in it to properly load the tongue, then cranked up the bars at 4 links trying to get the front droops to lower than what it was without the bars. Still I'm just not happy with this hitch after reading more about Equalizer brand, the Reese Straight Line, and others.

It wasn't all awful. On stretches of nice road, when the wind was town it was like it wasn't there, so I don't think I was too far off from good. But at one road side pit stop, the wind was so bad my 9 year old couldn't even open the door!

pitch · Answer

Doesn't sound to me like your having a problem. Go ahead and lower the ball and try to get more level. With the winds you are describing you are doing well. There is no hitch that you are going to out on that will make your trailer disappear! If you have money just itching to be tossed away, go ahead and buy one of those expensive hitches, but I promise you that trailer is still going to be back there.
I have towed many thousands of miles with my cheap dealer WDH hitch with a single friction bar and never have even come close to an out of control or dangerous situation.
You got money, go ahead and spend it,or just tweak what you have and spend the savings on two hundred gallons of gas for the truck!

grit_dog · Answer

jason26 wrote:So in the end I think I was tongue light.  I just didn't have enough in it to properly load the tongue, then cranked up the bars at 4 links trying to get the front droops to lower than what it was without the bars.  Still I'm just not happy with this hitch after reading more about Equalizer brand, the Reese Straight Line, and others.It wasn't all awful.  On stretches of nice road, when the wind was town it was like it wasn't there, so I don't think I was too far off from good.  But at one road side pit stop, the wind was so bad my 9 year old couldn't even open the door!You just answered your own question. Nothing is wrong. Btw looks like your hitch ht is just about right, if you're loading up the truck more. Imo , how it tows whether nose up or down a little is insignificant. But if you have torsion axles on the trailer you want as close to dead level or parallel w road as possible.  Torsion axles don't modulate like leaf spring tandems so one axle or the other is pretty quick to take more load if trailer is not riding level.

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