Adding a washer to my Equalizer

[uintafly]

Hey folks,

I am not fond of the setup of my Equalizer brandh WDH from the dealer. The bars are nowhere near parallel, in fact they are probably 3" or moer out. According to my recent trip to the CAT Scales they are doing their job, but I want to get the same outcome with a better setup. I know I need to at least add 1 washer for the adjustment possibly more. From what I understand, a good starting point for a truck is 5 washers, and I currently have 4 (the same as my 4Runner and 19' TT). I have a feeling they left the ball the same and only switched the brackets to make adjustments. Can I just use any stainless steel washer that is similar size to the others, or does it take a special type? Also, is the placement of the angle set bolt completely set by the amount washers? Thanks for any advice.

Chris

[Ole_Man_Dan]

I recently traded my F-250 4X4 for a F-150 EchoBoost 4X4 with the HD package, and the max.tow package. Love it.

I hooked up my 150 to my trailer and it was the same height as my 250.
I checked it a couple of times, and left it like it was.

NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE.
The last couple of trades I had to adjust my Equalizer hitch, either up or down. Not this time.

[Shadow_Grey]

Thanks to all above...

I will be going thru all of this next week as I hook up our new 20' enclosed trailer up to my truck for our upcoming Portland trip.

[uintafly]

I ended up taking care of everything last night. Had to add 2 washers and drop 2 holes. I also was running almost 2 inches tongue high, so I also dropped down an inch on the shank. Now I am running a little tongue low, which is fine by me. I was able to get the bars parallel and return the front wheels to the same height as before. Once you read through the manual the Equalizer is surprisingly easy to make adjustments on. Thanks again for the help.

[Ron3rd]

wgriswold wrote:

uintafly wrote:
Yep, I think I will be fine with that. But the manual is a little fuzzy on how much if any to adjust the angle bolt. Has anyone adjusted one before?

IIRC the angle bolt just snugs up against the washers and there is no further adjustment.

I called the factory and was told that the bars do not need to be parallel to the trailer frame. In a sharp turn I would make sure that the end of he bar does not contact the trailer if the bar is not parallel.

Correct, the angle bolt just keeps the head in contact with the washers. But check that angle bolt frequently and you'll often find it is loose. When the bolt gets loose, the ball can end up moving back and forth slightly which tends to bend the big through-bolts that go through the side of the hitch head. I found that on and ole EZ Lift hitch I bought used; the angle bolt had backed out and the side bolts were all bent, which I replaced.

[uintafly]

CND SuperCrew wrote:
Another note, ensure that your TT is sitting level and measure from ground to inside of coupler. Then you can also adjust the height of the ball to 0.5-1" higher on the shank. You may have to flip the shank to accommodate this.

I wish I could flip the shank, as having it pointed down seems to not give a ton of ground clearance. I actually did flip it and set it up on the lowest setting but the front of the frame was about 4" higher than the back. And though it seemed to tow fine, I have a feeling that much of a tongue high configuration could cause be trouble down the road.

[lbrjet]

Yes, one L bracket hole equals 1 washer.

The angle bolt will take care of itself during the install as long as you follow directions.

[CND_SuperCrew]

Another note, ensure that your TT is sitting level and measure from ground to inside of coupler. Then you can also adjust the height of the ball to 0.5-1" higher on the shank. You may have to flip the shank to accommodate this.

[ScottG]

It can be helpful to understand that one link equals two washers. So a washer is half a link.

[wgriswold]

uintafly wrote:
Yep, I think I will be fine with that. But the manual is a little fuzzy on how much if any to adjust the angle bolt. Has anyone adjusted one before?

IIRC the angle bolt just snugs up against the washers and there is no further adjustment.

I called the factory and was told that the bars do not need to be parallel to the trailer frame. In a sharp turn I would make sure that the end of he bar does not contact the trailer if the bar is not parallel.

[Ron3rd]

uintafly wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:
If your bars are not parallel, I doubt adding a washer will do anything. All that does is puts more tension on the bars and transfers more weight to the front, it does not change the angle of the bars. Check the manual first, it sounds like it's not set up right and you need to move the head up or down or the L-brackets on the trailer up or down.

You are correct. I probably didn't explain myself well. I am moving the brackets to make the bars parallel, but and I have a feeling that will not provide enough distribution, which will cause me to change the head angle to create the same distribution.

Sounds like you're on the right track. Get the setup level first and then add tension by adding washers.

[AH64ID]

wgriswold wrote:
The manual says that lowering the bracket one hole down is the same as removing one washer. So adding one washer while moving the bracket one hole down will deep the same weight distribution.

Exactly.

My bars are 1 hole out of parallel with 6 washer. I have 2 more sitting on the shelf, but with the current angle of the ball it can be difficult to close the latch so I don't want to add a 7th.

The other thing I did, to get a little more bar tension and level the load, it add a 1" taller ball. It did quite a bit for tension on the bars as the bars don't move but the L brackets came up a little.

[uintafly]

wgriswold wrote:
The manual says that lowering the bracket one hole down is the same as removing one washer. So adding one washer while moving the bracket one hole down will deep the same weight distribution.

Yep, I think I will be fine with that. But the manual is a little fuzzy on how much if any to adjust the angle bolt. Has anyone adjusted one before?

[wgriswold]

The manual says that lowering the bracket one hole down is the same as removing one washer. So adding one washer while moving the bracket one hole down will deep the same weight distribution.

[uintafly]

Ron3rd wrote:
If your bars are not parallel, I doubt adding a washer will do anything. All that does is puts more tension on the bars and transfers more weight to the front, it does not change the angle of the bars. Check the manual first, it sounds like it's not set up right and you need to move the head up or down or the L-brackets on the trailer up or down.

You are correct. I probably didn't explain myself well. I am moving the brackets to make the bars parallel, but and I have a feeling that will not provide enough distribution, which will cause me to change the head angle to create the same distribution.

[Ron3rd]

If your bars are not parallel, I doubt adding a washer will do anything. All that does is puts more tension on the bars and transfers more weight to the front, it does not change the angle of the bars. Check the manual first, it sounds like it's not set up right and you need to move the head up or down or the L-brackets on the trailer up or down.