First setup attempt for my WD hitch. Maybe wrong

[kells81]

Here goes,

I got home from Pakistan on Sunday and went Tuesday to retrieve my RV from the dealer as they were fixing the plastic items on top due to hail damage.

I followed the directions included with the hitch as close as possible. The only thing skipped was torqueing the ball to 250ft. pounds.

After setup the front height was exactly where it began. The back was 2" higher than front pre and according to the measurements was within 1/4" of the front height after hookup.

We drove down the road about 10 miles then turned into a walmart parking lot and verified everything was still tight and measured again. The truck didn't change but looking at the pic the trailer is sitting high front low back. Trailer was leveled and tongue height measured but I am not sure what happened. I plan on dragging it over to the church parking lot and doing the setup again but maybe some pointers can be offered.

Here is the hitch I purchased

[BenK]

comments in bold red below

BenK wrote:
Welcome to the forum !

It is really not that confusing, but can be until you understand the 60,000 foot
view of the 'system'. Confusing if down in rat holes without benefit of the big pix

The setup's orientation should

• Have the trailer level at it's highest pointing, or slightly pointing down (my preference)

  
  This is what you did and your report back says no more sway

  
  
  
  
• Tongue weight should be 12%-15% range of the 'actual' weight
• The WD Hitch system transfers enough weight from the TV rear to the TV front
• The amount of weight is no longer 'one size fits all', but whatever your TV's manual says
  
• Washers/head tilt/etc is to allow more WD bar travel...therefore more bar tension

  
  This is what I meant by 'out of context' and 'the big picture from
  60,000 feet and out of the rat hole
  
  Only need to do this if the bars run out of tension travel and it
  does help 'some' who have run out of travel...you don't need that added
  bar tension travel and with the added bar tension...made your setup
  move from OEM dialed in under-steering to be 'more' over-steering

  
  
  
• Numbers of holes on the drop shank depends on how much your TV drops vs getting the TT level or pointing slightly down
• Big ETC, ETC, etc...

Since the TV's rear end will drop from the trailer tongue, the starting
height really doesn't matter, therefore measuring only for the range
it will drop to, then what it will be after tensioning the WD Hitch
system

Post back on how it goes and feel free to PM me

Good luck !

[TomG2]

Very uncommon, but Bedlam may be right. Could be a low tire, more wind or from a different angle, holding/water tanks sloshing, or anything else that might change balance.

[Bedlam]

It unloaded too much tongue weight from the rear axle.

[kells81]

As suggested I added a washer to the mix. This made the rig seem like it was floating on the road. Not sure exactly how to explain it but it wasn't quite swaying but just seemed to easily float left to right.. I plan on taking that washer back out and maybe raising the brackets up 1 hole for the trip home.

It amazes me how much a 1/8" piece of metal can change so much I guess. Maybe by the time I get home I will have this thing figured out.

[kells81]

First leg of the trip in the books. Granbury to Austin VIA US-281 and all it's hilly goodness! No sway and no issues. Now that I am uncoupled I plan on adding one washer for the second leg of the trip to Galveston. Truck has plenty of power to pull the TT up the hills. Avg MPG was 8.5mpg over 190 miles. For reference my 2011 2500 ram only got 10-11mpgs unloaded and the 1500 averaged 18mpg on the same highway 2 weeks ago when my wife Mage the run.

[2012Oudoorsman]

Alright good luck. Definitely don't let it ruin your trip, I was just pointing it out BC I know how my truck handles the trailer and the trailer is fairly big so we're going to want all the sway prevention. I would also say you got the correct size as I also have the 1200lb bars. The dealer first tried to give the 800 and then the service guy said no way at least 1000 and I stepped up tothe 1200 because my trailer has a high gross weight but a much lower dry weight.

The rear end of the truck will settle out its the front you want to return the weight to. I've read my owners manual many times and no where did I find where it says to restore a certain percentage of weight back to the front axle. But from driving with the hitch setup many weighs I waited till it felt comfortable and then got it weighed. I returned 360 lbs of 400 lbs so I would shoot to have all weight restored to the front end. Also make sure your bars are as parallel as possible and since you get them as close as possible to parallel if they are still a little off angle the l bracket so the bar rests on the l bracket flat

[kells81]

The Link says its a Equalizer brand hitch but its not. Its made by fastway which is another issue I have to work out with the vendor. It is a 2 point hitch sway. I am not going to let it ruin this trip but will have the proper setup for Floriduh when I come on from Pakistan in December.

Anyhow when I pulled it home we came up 35 for a bit and didn't notice any sway. Will make adjustments in Austin after I get there and uncouple.

[2012Oudoorsman]

The more washers you putin the hitch makes the bars point .ore towards the ground thus increasing the weight distributing of the hitch.

Did you buy the 2 parts sway equalizer or 4 pt. The link you provided is for 2 part. I have a 2012 ram 1500 and a larger trailer like yourself and found that you're going to want lots of sway control. I would try and get the 4 pt from the dealer since it helps with sway much more.

I would look into adding more washers or moving l brackets up and trying to raise the rear of the truck a little more. When setting up my hitch which took many tries I was very easily able to tell when it didn't feel right. Once you think you getting close have it weighed so you k ow everything is right.

I found that driving on the highway with other trucks creates much more sway. Driving side streets was easy its the trucks that are going to push you all over the road.

[kells81]

BTW what do the washers actually do?

I did not ask the dealer for help as they are kind of on my S-list until I can talk to the manager who was on vacation. He has jumped through hoops to help me to have his team let him down in a couple of areas.

[kells81]

I dropped the hitch down 1 hole yesterday and drove around to find as level of a parking lot as I could. Upon measuring this managed to bring the rear of the trailer up 2" higher than the front. Front of TV is still in the right area and so is the rear. Taking wheel well measurements the TV is level (well within 3/4"). Looks wonky but the tape measure is more accurate than the human eye.

Were leaving in a bit for the first part of our trip so will take notes and make adjustments from there.

[DWolfrom]

When I set up my WD, I didn't level the trailer as I knew the parking lot I was in wasn't level...I made sure the distance to the ground from frame was the same in front and back. Remember, all parking lots and driveways have slope built in to shed water. If you leveled your trailer on anything but a PERFECTLY level surface, that could be the reason for the skew. I learned this the hard way many years ago when I mounted a side tool box in the bed of my truck and it turned out looking like....!

[BenK]

Welcome to the forum !

It is really not that confusing, but can be until you understand the 60,000 foot
view of the 'system'. Confusing if down in rat holes without benefit of the big pix

The setup's orientation should

• Have the trailer level at it's highest pointing, or slightly pointing down (my preference)
• Tongue weight should be 12%-15% range of the 'actual' weight
• The WD Hitch system transfers enough weight from the TV rear to the TV front
• The amount of weight is no longer 'one size fits all', but whatever your TV's manual says
• Washers/head tilt/etc is to allow more WD bar travel...therefore more bar tension
• Numbers of holes on the drop shank depends on how much your TV drops vs getting the TT level or pointing slightly down
• Big ETC, ETC, etc...

Since the TV's rear end will drop from the trailer tongue, the starting
height really doesn't matter, therefore measuring only for the range
it will drop to, then what it will be after tensioning the WD Hitch
system

Post back on how it goes and feel free to PM me

Good luck !

[mezerr]

Simple. As others have said, you need to lower the head a couple holes down. I'm willing to bet that you're already on the lowest hole. If that's the case, you need to spend $100 on a longer shank.

For what it's worth, I have a Dodge Ram, and the standard shank length wouldn't work, and had to buy a longer one.

That also seems like ALOT of rear-end squat, and I can see your front end is lifted. I think you need more washers in the hitch head.

[Bedlam]

downtheroad wrote:
Assuming that you are on level ground, it looks like your trailer is nose high which is not good. That could induce sway.

To start with, get an adjustable ball mount shank so that you can lower the ball and the front of the trailer...then go from there with your frame measurements and your wheel well measurements.

something like this.

If you are on the lowest hole of your shank when it points up, you may be able to rotate it 180 degrees and attach the hitch head with the shank pointing down. Expect that more weight will be transferred to the tongue once you have a level or slightly nose down attitude on the trailer.