Forum Discussion

RamRider's avatar
RamRider
Explorer
Jan 13, 2016

WDH upgrade

After getting a nasty leg bruise last fall while hooking up our 3 year old Eaz-Lift (the bar slipped out of my had while hooking the chains) I started looking for a safer option. After reading several posts the last couple of weeks I settled on the Blue-Ox Sway Pro. It arrived Tuesday morning and I installed it right away (we had really nice Texas afternoon yesterday to do this). After spending some time checking truck and trailer heights/level we took it out of a short cruise. I think we got the setting all just right for our frequent trips to the Texas Coast. The Eaz-Lift worked good but I think the ease of hooking up the Blue Ox before departure will be a major towing and safety improvement for our travel adventures.

Thank you for all of the good posts on this subject, they were a fantastic help in making this decision

5 Replies

  • rbpru's avatar
    rbpru
    Explorer II
    Jan 14, 2016
    I am with the group that jacks up the TT and TV 3 or 4 inches before I tighten or loosen my Blue Ox.

    It lifts easier and does not jerk the handle when you let it down. This is especially true if the TV and TT are at an angle to each other.
  • RamRider's avatar
    RamRider
    Explorer
    Jan 14, 2016
    camp-n-family wrote:
    You could have made the old hitch work safely. The idea is to use the tongue jack to raise the tongue and rear of vehicle enough to take the tension off the bars before attempting to release them.. You can then release the chains and latch with as little as a finger.

    Use the same procedure to hook up. Back ball under tongue, lower tongue enough to close latch, then raise the tongue jack again while hooked to the vehicle (raising it too). Snap up the bars easily with little effort, retract the tongue jack and away you go.


    Yep, thats the right way to hook them up and the way I do it, but there still was a problem getting the chains to catch on the Eaz Lift

    I have seen a couple of folks try to hook them up without lifting the hitch off of the ball, not pretty and almost impossible to do with out a jack.

    I first helped set up a WDH in the late 1950's so I have experienced a few challenges with these beasts.

    Thanks for the reply(s) Happy travels to you!
  • JoeTampa's avatar
    JoeTampa
    Explorer
    Jan 13, 2016
    Incidentally, that's what I do with the Blue Ox - raise the TT while attached to the TV to attach/remove the chains.
  • camp-n-family's avatar
    camp-n-family
    Explorer
    Jan 13, 2016
    You could have made the old hitch work safely. The idea is to use the tongue jack to raise the tongue and rear of vehicle enough to take the tension off the bars before attempting to release them.. You can then release the chains and latch with as little as a finger.

    Use the same procedure to hook up. Back ball under tongue, lower tongue enough to close latch, then raise the tongue jack again while hooked to the vehicle (raising it too). Snap up the bars easily with little effort, retract the tongue jack and away you go.

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