Pullrite and Equalizer advice

Good conclusion to your situation and your thread. :)
With that, I am going to close it before it becomes too cantankerous!
Barney

OK, I've been in discussion with the seller and have better assessed my needs regarding a WDH. We've come to an agreement that he will pick up the Pullrite assembly and refund me money off the price I paid. This fits the situation better than any other outcome because I will have a WDH without the hassle of having to install the Pullrite, I won't have to engineer a solution for pulling other trailers, and my cost goes down. He will have a full Pullrite that he can sell for more than the original price of what he sold both to me, and all will be happy. Two things not mentioned are that the seller and I are separated by 70 miles and the Pullrite frame mounting brackets appear to be for a Ford van and not a pickup. The latter would not be a deal-killer for me if I wanted to install it as I have a welder and metal fab tools.

Thanks for all who clued me in to how the Pullrite works and it's advantages, especially Barney for bird-dogging the other Pullrite that was for sale. I may regret not using the better hitch in the future but the Equal-i-zer fits my needs better at this time. Thanks guys!

BurbMan wrote:
No, not weight police...what we need here are the Reading Comprehension Police.

...snip......... IF in fact he has an Equal-i-zer Brand hitch and not a generic equalizer hitch.

We need insult police more than anything. I can read and the thread was heading in the direction of using the Pullrite hitch, even if it meant spending upwards of $900 and possibly modifying the A-frame on the trailer. Didn't you read that part? The OP stated that the trailer towed fine without WD. Any reputable WD hitch will conform to his receiver rating. No matter how one spells equalizer.

camperdave wrote:

westend wrote:
Today, I bought a used Pullrite trailer hitch. I was told it is already setup for my Ford F-250. Everything seemed to be in good condition. Part of the sale, also, was an Equalizer brand weight distributing hitch.

snip...The receiver is also rated at only 600 lbs.. /snip

seems odd that an 03 F250 only has a 600 pound receiver. I'd upgrade that to a typical class IV 1000 pound receiver and use the Equal-i-zer. It's a good hitch.

Seemed odd to me, too! This truck has the camper package and clearly stamped on the receiver is the caution statement "600 lbs, 1000 lbs with WDH". I am the only owner.

As was discussed above, I've towed the Starcraft 5000 lb. trailer without any weight distributing hitch or anti-sway devices and it tracks brilliantly. Meeting semi-trailers at 60 MPH creates hardly a shudder. The only reason I bought the two hitches was to not exceed the receiver rating (or running right to it's maximum) and to put some of the tongue weight back onto the front axle of the truck.

Currently, I'm in discussion with the seller about the missing Pullrite parts. He has located the head, brackets, and sway bars and is texting me about delivery options, with the option of "exchanging" with what I already have. So, the plot thickens. :?

TomG2 wrote:
Talk about the weight police! You guys are suggesting that the OP needs a $1,000-$3,000 hitch to pull a 5,000 pound trailer with a F-250. What would he need to pull 6,000 pounds? A medium duty diesel? Some are talking about A-frame adapters and such. Lighten up. The OP will be happy with any of the reputable WD hitches on the market. In fact, I had a similar combination with no WD back in 2005-2006.

No, not weight police...what we need here are the Reading Comprehension Police.

No....that was not suggested at all. The OP stated that he had purchased both a Pull Rite and an Equal-i-zer brand hitch, and asked which one was better to use. The answers were that the Pull-Rite is the better hitch, even though the Equal-i-zer would do the job just fine as well based on his truck/trailer combo. Nobody said "buy a PullRite", but everybody said "may as well use it if you have it".

Regarding the Equal-i-zer Brand hitch, it's important to note that many dealers refer to the the cheapo hitches that they throw into the deal as "equalizer" hitches rather than weight distributing hitches. These are generally NOT Equal-i-zer Brand hitches.

If you want to group hitches into classes, I see 3:

1. The bottom rung are the basic-entry level round-bar WD hitches with a friction sway bar. Husky, Draw-Tite, etc.

2. A step up are WD hitches that incorporate sway control into the weight distribution. These would include the Equal-i-zer Brand, the Reese Strait Line (dual cam), and the Anderson. Using the WD bars to resist sway is a better mousetrap than the ol' friction slide bar.

3. The so-called premium hitches eliminate sway by moving the pivot point of the hitch much closer to the rear axle of the truck like a 5er hitch. Pull Rite does this mechanically with its arc mechanism that mounts under the truck, the Hensley and the ProPride do it using the geometry of the 4-bar linkage to create a "virtual pivot point". All three of these hitches use some means to lock the trailer in at the coupler, so all pivoting motion is done through the hitch and hot at the ball/coupler.

PullRites are very effective but didn't prove to be popular because of the vehicle specific design, and the need to relocate the spare tire and exhaust on some vehicles.

IMO, if I scored a Pull Rite at the right price and it fit the truck without too much work I would use it. In the case of the OP here, I don't know that I would lay out $900 for parts or jump through a lot of hoops to get it mounted based on the size TT he is pulling. IF in fact he has an Equal-i-zer Brand hitch and not a generic equalizer hitch.

westend wrote:
Today, I bought a used Pullrite trailer hitch. I was told it is already setup for my Ford F-250. Everything seemed to be in good condition. Part of the sale, also, was an Equalizer brand weight distributing hitch.

snip...The receiver is also rated at only 600 lbs.. /snip

seems odd that an 03 F250 only has a 600 pound receiver. I'd upgrade that to a typical class IV 1000 pound receiver and use the Equal-i-zer. It's a good hitch.

Talk about the weight police! You guys are suggesting that the OP needs a $1,000-$3,000 hitch to pull a 5,000 pound trailer with a F-250. What would he need to pull 6,000 pounds? A medium duty diesel? Some are talking about A-frame adapters and such. Lighten up. The OP will be happy with any of the reputable WD hitches on the market. In fact, I had a similar combination with no WD back in 2005-2006.

Good observation and good point. Some of us, me included, perhaps spent more time discussing the salient points of the two hitches instead of looking at what the OP really needed. Maybe a better discussion could have been towing on the ball with the 250 or using any hitch.

It is also interesting that I made a passing comment about one of the two hitches considered by the OP as being entry level, my opinion based on owning one for several years, and others try to infer from what I said that I spent 100 times on this forum hating the hitch (not true) and how wrong I was to think it was an entry level hitch thrown in by dealers to make a sale. I don't hate or love a hitch, it either does the job or it does not and my comments number a handful, not nearly around the century mark. And in our area some dealers throw it in to make a sale. So where am I wrong with my opinion and observations?

Talk about the weight police! You guys are suggesting that the OP needs a $1,000-$3,000 hitch to pull a 5,000 pound trailer with a F-250. What would he need to pull 6,000 pounds? A medium duty diesel? Some are talking about A-frame adapters and such. Lighten up. The OP will be happy with any of the reputable WD hitches on the market. In fact, I had a similar combination with no WD back in 2005-2006.

BarneyS wrote:

westend wrote:
I'll have to get a call into Pullrite and see what it will cost for the head and bar combination. Their website no longer has any useful information about the TT hitches.

Here is a whole hitch for $350. I suspect the head and bars new will be about that much.
Pullrite hitch for sale.
Barney

Hey thanks, Barney. I'm waiting on a call back from the seller, he thinks his son may still have the head and bars. I called Pullrite and they quoted me $925 plus shipping for the head, bars, and tongue brackets. I have the 10K pullrite assembly so don't know if the 20K is the same.

westend wrote:
I'll have to get a call into Pullrite and see what it will cost for the head and bar combination. Their website no longer has any useful information about the TT hitches.

Here is a whole hitch for $350. I suspect the head and bars new will be about that much.
Pullrite hitch for sale.
Barney