Equalizer vs Dual Cam
I am currently pulling a roughly 9,000 lb 34' camper with a Reese Round bar WDH and friction sway control. My bars are rated at 1,000 lbs, I am sure tongue weight is substantially more but they seem ...
Forum Discussion
I agree that it can be a challenge to set up the Dual Cam correctly.
We bought the DC setup with 800 lb bars before we picked up our new trailer. The factory dry tongue weight is 518 lbs so I thought 800 lbs would be fine. Lo and behold, after going to a scale, I found that the actual tongue weight is 960 lbs. I struggled and struggled to get the DC dialed in to no avail. I was having to wind up the bars with near gorilla force to get enough weight transfer. I had the bars at max. tilt which was causing problems with the cam arms. Someone said that the 800 lb bars should still be okay but it wasn`t. I ended up getting 1200 lb bars which I just installed. Now it works great.
All I can say when it is dialed in is WOW!! It`s like magic almost. I love the way the handling is. There is a lot less up and down movement of the trailer and the truck runs straight as an arrow down the road.
The Reese (or Draw-Tite which is the same thing) dual cam setup is not friction based as someone said. The crooks in the bar ends ride on a `cam` which creates the self-centering effect and which creates the resisting of sway. The equalizer on the other hand is friction based.
What is in the Equalizer is that the friction is constant no matter how much the TV is turned in relation to the trailer thus it is not self-centering like the DC. I suppose if one had the equalizer they would get used to it and of course it would *seem* like a big improvement over a WDH without any friction control. But if you would try the DC you would see how nicely it works.
As stated numerous times here, the trick is to get the DC dialed in. Going to a scale is a must IMHO. Without knowing what your tongue weight is, you could be way off in your bar rating. As I recall, the OPs trailer is 9,000 lbs meaning that his tongue weight could be around 1350 lbs. Besides the fact that it could mean that the tongue weight is over the rating of the factory hitch receiver, the bars he has may be undersized.
Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.... Now back to lounging in my recliner in the sunshine at our cg. :D
We bought the DC setup with 800 lb bars before we picked up our new trailer. The factory dry tongue weight is 518 lbs so I thought 800 lbs would be fine. Lo and behold, after going to a scale, I found that the actual tongue weight is 960 lbs. I struggled and struggled to get the DC dialed in to no avail. I was having to wind up the bars with near gorilla force to get enough weight transfer. I had the bars at max. tilt which was causing problems with the cam arms. Someone said that the 800 lb bars should still be okay but it wasn`t. I ended up getting 1200 lb bars which I just installed. Now it works great.
All I can say when it is dialed in is WOW!! It`s like magic almost. I love the way the handling is. There is a lot less up and down movement of the trailer and the truck runs straight as an arrow down the road.
The Reese (or Draw-Tite which is the same thing) dual cam setup is not friction based as someone said. The crooks in the bar ends ride on a `cam` which creates the self-centering effect and which creates the resisting of sway. The equalizer on the other hand is friction based.
What is in the Equalizer is that the friction is constant no matter how much the TV is turned in relation to the trailer thus it is not self-centering like the DC. I suppose if one had the equalizer they would get used to it and of course it would *seem* like a big improvement over a WDH without any friction control. But if you would try the DC you would see how nicely it works.
As stated numerous times here, the trick is to get the DC dialed in. Going to a scale is a must IMHO. Without knowing what your tongue weight is, you could be way off in your bar rating. As I recall, the OPs trailer is 9,000 lbs meaning that his tongue weight could be around 1350 lbs. Besides the fact that it could mean that the tongue weight is over the rating of the factory hitch receiver, the bars he has may be undersized.
Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.... Now back to lounging in my recliner in the sunshine at our cg. :D
