Reese WD head clarification

Steve,

Comments below

Steve6l wrote:

first thing is you said max turn of 77 degrees or so, i can go plus of 90 degrees turning forwards with my truck without hitting trailer. i took a few pictures just to show you below. now is this going to be a problem with the wd setup?
Yes, if you turn that far something is going to break. I'll post in the next post the issues and some tips on how to get around some of it.

also my driveway is super sloped and curves with slopes. how does the wd work with steep incline changes, im talking downhill then uphill creating a giant "U" and dont forget to throw the sharp turn in there? will i risk breaking the hitch?
The hitch loads up and unloads when you go up and over. Go Slow!!! when you get to this extreme situation. Like going up and over a high up RR crossing. Going up is not as bad as just crossing over and going down until the trailer wheels make it over the hump and the back down on the flat. Go slow, let the truck lift from the increased back flex condition and drive on. If you do this real fast, and with 1,700# WD bars, issues may come. Small campers with lighter frames have to be even more carefull. I have not had an issue with this, but I know to go slow over these extreme situations.

i tried to mount the dual sway and snap ups, symmetrically to ball center, dont know if this is proper but made sense to me for either side of the frame to be "torqued" on in the same spots.
i tried to get the chains installed as vertical as possible pretty much touching the LP tanks. oh well should work.
While vertical is best, with the DC there is more forgiveness with a slight chain angle. And since you bolted the snapups on, they will not slide forward. If you did not have the DC, then being vertical is a lot more critical as on the standard WD hitch, no DC, the chain swings with the WD bar in a turn and can bind up in the snap up during large turns.





dual cam brackets got pretty flush to bottom of frame with 2 washers per bolt thanks for the recommendation
Good job on the fit up to the frame. No sq corner bind and flush with the bottom. You get an A +!




in this picture you can see the u-bolt it has some give and seems as if there was more pressure down on the bar it would pull out seems a little mickey mouse again to me, is this proper or should it be changed?


You need to tighten the U bolt up more. Take up the slack, the chain needs to pivot on the U bolt but not a lot of excess. See here on mine. If you think the nut is going to back off, double nut it




one more question is this the way the dual cam should seat i took the hanger chain off to get a better picture, seems as center as i can make it?

For your newer WD bars, that is correct. The round cam fits in the V of the WD bar and touches front and rear. The V finds the natural center of the diameter.

See here on mine. The 1,700# WD bars have a different bend in the V however the same end result. The V finds it's natural home. Don't pay attention to the dimensions, they where from another post we where working on about spring force in a turn. Does not apply here. The pic was right for your question.



Also here are some tips for setting up the DC

Once you get the WD set, and in this process get the DC "close" just not way off as being way off does change the spring tension.

To set the DC you have to track the truck straight for a good 100 feet. Site an object in the distance and head straight to it.

Find the spot


Turn and head to it


Then the trailer will track straight behind the truck, stop at the ~ 75 to 100 foot mark, get out.

Bend down and look in the DC chain plate. Get a flash light.

This is "Wrong" There is an air space on the back side. Measure the distance you think you need to move that side. Then go check the other side. It may be different and the opposite direction.






Once you know how much each cam arm needs to move and in which direction, jack up the truck and camper, take the weight off the chains and unsnap the chains. Adjust the cams, lock the nuts, hook back up, drive around and check again. It might take you a few times to nail it.

im going to be off to a flat parking lot here in a few hours, the one i found was alright but not perfect and had a bit of a side incline, im hoping i can find better, it seems its very hard to find perfectly level parking lots these days. i guess i have to adjust head tilt, and get my heights today see if its even going to work.

thanks for your help, steve

Good luck and your welcome

John