Does this hitch actually do weight distribution?

[crasster]

https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-Progress-90-00-1000-10K-Hitch/dp/B004TR8M3W/?tag=rvwebnetwork-20

Does this hitch do weight distribution? If so how? It says it does in the title but I always thought on "typical" WD hitches the chains made it happen as they are "pulled up" on the bars.

[TurnThePage]

Thanks BenK.

For reference, on my setup I've raised the rear of my truck approximately 10" using the tongue jack to facilitate seating the bars on the L brackets. My rear tires were nearly off the ground. If the jack were long enough, I could probably use it to change a rear tire in a pinch.

[BenK]

Depends on how much tension your setup needs from your trunnion bars

It is different from setup to setup.

Just about everything affects it

• Bar ratings vs tongue weight
• How high the WD head is vs coupler in an unloaded condition
• How high the TV is in an unloaded, static condition
• What your TV manual says in regards to the front axle condition when fully setup with the WD
• etc

Glad to hear that they now have a friction pad option. Was not a fan hearing of advisors to grease/lube the friction area (notice friction area and adding anti-friction lube oxymoron). But that kind of noise doesn't bother me (don't have one of these WD setups, but have towed buddies setup)

His motorized trailer tongue jack stopped working and helped him resolve it without having to purchase a replacement. Just lubed the thing really good with moly rich grease and made up a bottle jack setup

4 ton bottle jack bolted to a stack of 12"x12" plywood as the foot and welded a 'U' saddle for the bottle jack top, that cradles his hitch shank

Had to make sure it was almost fool proof, as his mechanical abilities are limited...

[TurnThePage]

I don't think tongue weight is related to how high you can jack it up to put the bars on.

[keymastr]

If your tongue weight is close to the rating of the bars as mine is you will still need to use the tool to get the bars on the perches with the jack lifting the rear of the truck. If not then the hitch is not adjusted tight enough and needs another washer.

The instructions talk about measuring the front fender height and attempting to get the weight restored to the front by that measurement but my measurements were only 1/4 inch different. Went to a CAT scale and was able to adjust it so that it actually restored 380 pounds of the 400 pounds the trailer removed from the front axle. Rides so much better now, better with the trailer than without. Took 2 more washers than doing it with fender height adjustment.

Also, use the optional pads Equalizer sells for the bar perches. They make the hitch dead silent, no more popping and creaking. The hitch will take 50 to 100 highway miles to wear the paint off the bars before the sway control is really effective. Same when you add the pads to the perches.

[Fordlover]

I've used two Equal-i-zer Brand hitches on two different RVs. I've never had to use the pry bar, just use the tongue jack to lift the rear of the tow vehicle a bit, bars slide onto brackets.

Far superior to the chain type in my opinion and safer from a stored energy perspective.

[crasster]

Thank you!! 🙂

[Mike134]

Hannibal wrote:
Best WD hitch on the market in my humble opinion. It simply works even when I lubed the L brackets to keep it quiet. I set mine up for ease of hitching up. With the trailer hitched to the ball, I’d use the tongue jack to raise the tongue just enough to slightly lift up on the ball. Tilt and brackets were set so I could push the bars on at this height by hand. This was enough to return the front of my truck to just under half the distance between unloaded and loaded without the bars. Rear settled about 1.5”. I’ve since gone back to my Reese HP trunnion with no sway control just for quiet and ease of use. The only reason I use WD at all is to satisfy the rating of the receiver.

X2 no struggling with this method

[Hannibal]

Boomerweps wrote:
From my humble experience, with just my Husky Centerline 400-600# bars, installing the bars without lifting assist either requires a LOT of effort or is improperly, weakly loaded.

Or the feller you’re referring to has a more adequate truck to tow his TT, needing very little torque from the WDH. A fully adequate TV wouldn’t need WD or sway control. A WDH doesn’t reduce tongue weight. It puts a tremendous downward force on the tongue of the trailer as well as an upward twist on the receiver. Too much can lead to stress cracks and failure of the trailer tongue A frame.

[bikendan]

crasster wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
Yes, it does the same thing. You just pry up on the bars rather than toggle the chain up.

I'm decently stout enough, but is "prying" tough to do? Is there a tool for it or ?

Thanks!

I've owned this WDH for 15 years. Yes, you get a tool but I've never needed it. By using the electric tongue jack, the tool is unnecessary.
This WDH is well loved and one of the top rated WDHs.
Tons of videos on it and great customer support. Also made in the USA.
There are literally thousands of posts about the 4pt Equal-i-zer here.

[Boomerweps]

Restating in a slightly different manner what others have said:
The bars are under great tension and still lever shift the weight from the tongue to the TV front wheels and to the TT wheels. Instead of using a pry tool as the primary installation tool, you really should lift the TV & TT connection at the ball using the tongue jack. Then once the chains or just the bar on the frame platform is installed (using the tool if a little assist is needed), lowering the TV & TT using the tongue jack places a great deal of tension on the bars. IF you do not lift the tongue during install, you will discover it takes a great deal of strength to get proper tension on WDH bars to push down the front of the TV properly. From my humble experience, with just my Husky Centerline 400-600# bars, installing the bars without lifting assist either requires a LOT of effort or is improperly, weakly loaded.

[TurnThePage]

A power tongue jack has done all the hard hitching work on my Equal-I-zer for the last 16 years. Aside from when it was brand new and I didn't know the tricks, I absolutely never use those pry bars. The hitch works great too.

[TurnThePage]

ACZL wrote:
While no expert by any means on WD hitches, I clicked onto the link and looked at the pics on left side of page and would be more concerned as to why the ball on hitch is tilted backwards.

That is by design. The more tilt, the more load equalization.

[Hannibal]

Best WD hitch on the market in my humble opinion. It simply works even when I lubed the L brackets to keep it quiet. I set mine up for ease of hitching up. With the trailer hitched to the ball, I’d use the tongue jack to raise the tongue just enough to slightly lift up on the ball. Tilt and brackets were set so I could push the bars on at this height by hand. This was enough to return the front of my truck to just under half the distance between unloaded and loaded without the bars. Rear settled about 1.5”. I’ve since gone back to my Reese HP trunnion with no sway control just for quiet and ease of use. The only reason I use WD at all is to satisfy the rating of the receiver.

[BarneyS]

Yes, they do give you a tool to pry the bars in place BUT the best and safest way to do is as follows.

1. Place the trailer tongue on the ball and lock it.

2. Lower the tongue jack all the way to the ground and continue to lower it until the tow vehicle is raised enough to easily slip the bars into place.

3. Once you have the bars in place then raise the tongue jack foot back up to its' stowed position. Doing this places tension on the weight distribution bars. How much tension is determined by a. the amount of tilt on the hitch head, or b. how low or high the L brackets are on the A frame or, if a normal chain type hitch, how many links are between the WD bars and the snap-up brackets.

Doing it this way is much safer and easier than trying to muscle the bars into place with the pry bar. There is little to no tension on the bars this way when you are handling them and therefore little chance for injury. You can lift the rear of the truck as high as you want in order to get the bars in place. It looks weird but does no harm and every goes back to normal as soon as you raise the tongue jack back up. 🙂

Edit: Just noticed Jimlins post above and he has a good idea to reduce the amount of cranking necessary on the tongue jack by using ramps. Either way, the goal is to make a small upside down V between the truck and the trailer to ease the raising of the spring WD bars. The Equal-i-zer hitch that you linked is one of the more popular WD sway control hitches on the market but it uses square, very stiff WD bars that are somewhat difficult to muscle into place. The supplied pry bar is often not enough to get them there unless you use one of the methods he or I mentioned. I might add that this is also a reason so many of us have an electric tongue jack on our trailers. :C
Barney