Equalizer Hitch Sockets

[JoshInReno]

One of the sockets (the square tube where the bar is inserted) moves freely back and forth. The other will not move at all without the leverage of the bar installed for help. Neither situation seems normal to me. I have reached out to the manufacturer but not having much luck yet and I need to leave in a few hours. Both nuts have similar level of tightness.

Any help would be appreciated. 🙂

[Ron3rd]

JoshInReno wrote:

itguy08 wrote:

JoshInReno wrote:
One of the sockets (the square tube where the bar is inserted) moves freely back and forth. The other will not move at all without the leverage of the bar installed for help. Neither situation seems normal to me. I have reached out to the manufacturer but not having much luck yet and I need to leave in a few hours. Both nuts have similar level of tightness.

Any help would be appreciated. 🙂

By back and forth do you mean left and right (towards driver and passenger side)? We have the Equalizer and the sockets are not loose - you can move them side to side with the help of the bar. But they have a stiffness to them and do not move on their own.

Almost sounds like you need to tighten one of the bolts or something is worn out.

Yes, left to right. One side you can move with your finger and the other requires leverage to do. Came out of the box like this and isn't addressed in the owners manual at all.

I don't recall the sockets being torqued properly at the factory, ie, out of the box. You need to do this. It's part of the installation process.

You say it's not addressed in the manual at all; are you sure you have a genuine Equal-I-zer 4pt sway control hitch? If you do, your situation is CLEARLY addressed in the manual along with the torque spec.

[Ron3rd]

Socket bolts on the Equilizer do loosen up and the sockets get loose! That is likely your problem, especially if the hitch is fairly new. The sockets wear in on the bottom plate and get loose. Very common and expected. You need a torque wrench to properly tighten them to the spec in your manual. Someone posted 60 lbs, that sounds about right.

If you tighten the socket bolts to spec and still have the problem, something is wrong with your Equalizer and has a problem I have not seen.

[lbrjet]

Get a new nut and bolt. The folks at Progress are very easy to deal with. I loosen, lube and torque every 300 miles.

[Hannibal]

rexlion wrote:
Sounds like the machining is a little off. You got it to where it is working better for now, but I would recommend relaying your findings to Progress Mfg. It might benefit from a shim or a different socket or something. It just doesn't sound good for longevity.

On second thought... spray some carb cleaner or other good solvent in there and see if it helps. Maybe it has some lube around the socket that you do not want.

No lube is what causes the problem.

[rexlion]

Sounds like the machining is a little off. You got it to where it is working better for now, but I would recommend relaying your findings to Progress Mfg. It might benefit from a shim or a different socket or something. It just doesn't sound good for longevity.

On second thought... spray some carb cleaner or other good solvent in there and see if it helps. Maybe it has some lube around the socket that you do not want.

[Hannibal]

Have the sockets been lubricated in the past? If not they may be worn to the point you have to overtighten the nuts to achieve resistance. Scroll down to step 5 and step 10 in the link. I saved the PDF for reference as I bought my Equalizer hitch used.

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/manuals/6k-14k-owners-manual

[JoshInReno]

SoundGuy wrote:

Latner wrote:
There should be torque specs in the manual for all the bolts, including the socket bolts.

Says right in the Equal-i-zer manual to ensure the socket bolts are tightened to "a minimum of 60 ft-lbs". I guess it comes as a surprise to some but it's the owner's responsibility to ensure all nuts / bolts are correctly torqued AND periodically checked to ensure they haven't loosened. :R

I read the manual time and again looking for the specs and couldn't find them. Equalizer was kind enough to email me back with a spec of 65 ft lb this afternoon. My problem was at 65flbs, the socket is still really loose. Same at 100flbs. It isn't until 120flbs that it is no longer movable with a single finger. So that's where it is now and that's where I'm going to leave it.

[SoundGuy]

Latner wrote:
There should be torque specs in the manual for all the bolts, including the socket bolts.

Says right in the Equal-i-zer manual to ensure the socket bolts are tightened to "a minimum of 60 ft-lbs". I guess it comes as a surprise to some but it's the owner's responsibility to ensure all nuts / bolts are correctly torqued AND periodically checked to ensure they haven't loosened. :R

[Latner]

There should be torque specs in the manual for all the bolts, including the socket bolts.

[JoshInReno]

itguy08 wrote:
Something doesn't sound right. We can't move our sockets at all without the bar being attached. At times it's very tight. Did you try tightening the loose sides bolt?

Thanks for that. I just turned the nut 1/2 turn - the last time I checked it, it wasn't loose at all. Now I wonder exactly HOW tight it's supposed to be?

[itguy08]

Something doesn't sound right. We can't move our sockets at all without the bar being attached. At times it's very tight. Did you try tightening the loose sides bolt?

[JoshInReno]

itguy08 wrote:

JoshInReno wrote:
One of the sockets (the square tube where the bar is inserted) moves freely back and forth. The other will not move at all without the leverage of the bar installed for help. Neither situation seems normal to me. I have reached out to the manufacturer but not having much luck yet and I need to leave in a few hours. Both nuts have similar level of tightness.

Any help would be appreciated. 🙂

By back and forth do you mean left and right (towards driver and passenger side)? We have the Equalizer and the sockets are not loose - you can move them side to side with the help of the bar. But they have a stiffness to them and do not move on their own.

Almost sounds like you need to tighten one of the bolts or something is worn out.

Yes, left to right. One side you can move with your finger and the other requires leverage to do. Came out of the box like this and isn't addressed in the owners manual at all.

[itguy08]

JoshInReno wrote:
One of the sockets (the square tube where the bar is inserted) moves freely back and forth. The other will not move at all without the leverage of the bar installed for help. Neither situation seems normal to me. I have reached out to the manufacturer but not having much luck yet and I need to leave in a few hours. Both nuts have similar level of tightness.

Any help would be appreciated. 🙂

By back and forth do you mean left and right (towards driver and passenger side)? We have the Equalizer and the sockets are not loose - you can move them side to side with the help of the bar. But they have a stiffness to them and do not move on their own.

Almost sounds like you need to tighten one of the bolts or something is worn out.