Tight turns with Equal-l-zer

Spur Of The Moment wrote:
I've had my Equal-i-zer hitch almost jackknifed and it didn't hurt anything.

X2, I never remove anything with my Equalizer (brand) hitch as it's not necessary. I've had the old girl at a near 90 degree angle too.

BTW, I used to have the old EZ Lift style hitch with add-on sway bar and I never took that off either when backing up. I guess it depends on how everything is set up as you might have to remove it in rare instances.

NinerBikes wrote:
Does anything get rid of the groans, moans and creaking on an Equal-i-zer hitch? Grease, lube, a nylon glide plate?

Got rid of much of the noise by using Equal-I-zer hitch lube; any Equal-I-zer dealer should carry it.

harley4275 wrote:

I also take off the weight distributing bars at this time). This way I just don't have to worry about it when I get to the campsite.

Do Not ever take off Weight bars before you decide if you are going to unhook the tow vehicle. first thing ,you will be holding up someone behind you. and 2nd,you will be putting too much weight on the rear axles of your vehicle...( that is why you use bars). There are times that I never even unhook if i am not going to be staying more than one night.. there is no reason to take bars off and if you have the friction sway , just loosen it when you are going thru the park. Do the unhooking after you are on your site. The friction sway should be able to take tight turns if the small ball on the frame is bolted at the correct spot.

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Depends on your setup! I'm towing a 21' 4500lb TT with a F250 super duty - I am well under tow and hitch capacities.

Yes, the friction sway bar can handle "tight" turns, but we are talking about jackknifing - more than just a tight turn.

Whichever, everyone figures out what works best for their setup.

I have backed my Equal-i-zer into a jackknife situation many times. It is not a problem and no you do not have to disconnect anything to do so. Well you have to make sure the trailer and tow vehicle don't contact each other.

Equal-i-zer is a nosy hitch although I had mine quiet once. I had pulled the bolts that hold the socket cups in place and cleaned and greased the sockets top and bottom. After that there was not a peep out of it for a month or so. It makes noise now, but nothing like what it did before.

Yes - all of the above. However you should only use a small amount of grease at the interface between the sockets and the hitch head where there is contact. That will get rid of most / all of the noise with a slight reduction in anti sway function provided your trailer is properly balanced to begin with. The manual allows some lubrication.

Does anything get rid of the groans, moans and creaking on an Equal-i-zer hitch? Grease, lube, a nylon glide plate?

We've had our Equal-I-zer (sorry, can't get the small i to show up properly) for about 10 years now. At our last house, our driveway was a 90-degree angle from the (small) road we lived on, and we got our TT backed into it just fine w/o anything but groans & moans from the sway bars. :) No need to remove them when backing up - in fact, not a good idea, as others have mentioned, since you'll also be removing the weight-distribution function as well.

I also take off the weight distributing bars at this time). This way I just don't have to worry about it when I get to the campsite.

Do Not ever take off Weight bars before you decide if you are going to unhook the tow vehicle. first thing ,you will be holding up someone behind you. and 2nd,you will be putting too much weight on the rear axles of your vehicle...( that is why you use bars). There are times that I never even unhook if i am not going to be staying more than one night.. there is no reason to take bars off and if you have the friction sway , just loosen it when you are going thru the park. Do the unhooking after you are on your site. The friction sway should be able to take tight turns if the small ball on the frame is bolted at the correct spot.

i backed up all the time with my sway bars attached. Only problem was with the installation one time. Once the miniball is correctly mounted.. no problem.

Backing up and going forward... the sway bar doesn't know the difference. If the sway bar crashes into the mini ball going backwards it will going forwards too. I have heard of people snapping off the miniballs because of a too tight on off bar on the sway bar.

BTW... for friction sway control, you really need to run two sway bars for trailers over 26 ft.... tows so nice with two controlling things back there!!

Enjoy the new camper..

I mean, if you want to spend the extra $500.00 go ahead and do what makes you feel comfortable. But People have been using the standard WD hitch and sway control for what, about 50 years or so.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Love my equalizer. used it on my previous trailer and my new one. Never had a problem