Pullrite and Equalizer advice
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 distri...
Forum Discussion
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.
