My lady wants to know: Effort Hooking up WD bars

[RTFMOK]

My lady wants to know how much effort is involved in hooking up WD bars. Since I can move refrigerators and she can not, I'm not qualified to answer this question for her.

This question might also apply to seniors, we are crossing over into qualifying for AARP discounts.

She is able to crank the TT manual tongue jack, and wants to know how this effort compares to connecting WD bars. She does have a weak shoulder.

Also, is there any difference between installing round bars such as on the Blue OX versus a trunnion style such as Equalizer or E2? Is one easier than the other? All my experience is with round bars.

We are looking at setups rated for 750 or 800 pounds tongue weight (depending on manufacturer) for our combo. We expect 700 to 750 pounds tongue weight when loaded up, minimum will be over 600.

I do know they are easier to apply if the tongue jack is raised fully first.

[DutchmenSport]

I purchased a "Hitch Grip" a few years ago. I found it works very well if I have to carry the hitch a distance by hand.

I keep my hitch head in the pass through of my camper when off the truck. I usually pull the truck as near the tongue of the trailer as possible when I engage hitching. Moving the hitch head from the pass through to the receiver in the truck is only about 7 to 10 feet. I found the Hitch Grip to be a bigger pain for that short distance than just picking the thing up and man-handling the head.

However, for carrying the hitch head any distance, it's great! It balances the hitch head, and it's just like carrying a small heavy suit case.

I use mine sometimes, when the need arises. But as I said above, for a short distance, it's more trouble trying to put the hitch grip on the ball than just picking the whole thing up with both hands, especially if it's laying on it's side.

Still, a good product if you carry the hitch head by hand.

[Bobbo]

LarryJM wrote:
For inserting/removing and manhandling the hitch head get a "HITCH GRIP" CLICKY



Larry

After ruining about the third pair of jeans with the grease I put on the ball and WD bars, I bought this tool. It is the bee's knees! It makes installing/uninstalling the WD hitch SO much easier.

[LarryJM]

RTFMOK wrote:


I did especially like the insight on the head possibly being harder than the bars. This was also something I was looking at with the Blue Ox. It looks like the heaviest of the products I'm looking at. I'll note that in my hitch selection thread, along with some other details.

For inserting/removing and manhandling the hitch head get a "HITCH GRIP" CLICKY



Larry

[SoundGuy]

SoundGuy wrote:
... the higher one lifts the tongue jack the higher one also lifts the rear of the truck and much greater is the force that's transferred to the truck's front axle. 😞

mkirsch wrote:
Replace "much greater" with "hardly any greater" and you will be right.

With the weight bars engaged, you will actually be REDUCING the amount of weight on the front axle as you raise the jack, because you are unloading the weight bars.

The slight change in angle of the truck from jacking the rear up with the tongue jack will not appreciably increase the weight on the front axle. How would you change a rear tire on the truck otherwise?

Think about it - when you're hitching up and raising the rear of the truck that's before the spring bars are even mounted ... all force is sustained by the truck. My trailer is parked on a significantly sloped driveway so when I hitch up the rear of the truck has to be raised substantially in order to mount those spring bars. And when I might ever change a tire I'm not raising the entire rear (or front) of the truck, just one side, sufficient for the tire to clear the ground - BIG difference.

[mkirsch]

SoundGuy wrote:
the higher one lifts the tongue jack the higher one also lifts the rear of the truck and much greater is the force that's transferred to the truck's front axle. 😞

Replace "much greater" with "hardly any greater" and you will be right.

With the weight bars engaged, you will actually be REDUCING the amount of weight on the front axle as you raise the jack, because you are unloading the weight bars.

The slight change in angle of the truck from jacking the rear up with the tongue jack will not appreciably increase the weight on the front axle. How would you change a rear tire on the truck otherwise?

[silverfz]

I have power jack and my wife has taken our 28bhs camping a few times. One time she messed up by unhitching before the bars were taken. She just put the kids and dog in the truck and pulled ahead and released it. Other than that with a tongue jack and airbags on the truck so it does not sag too much if she follows the steps its very easy and not crazy.
THis is one of those things were skill need to be balanced with confidence. The only way to gain confidence is by doing it a few times.

[xteacher]

I'm a woman, have a Keystone Bullet 248rks, and I can take care of all hitching/unhitching needs myself with no problem. If your wife has a weak shoulder, then a power jack would make it easier for her.

[SoundGuy]

myredracer wrote:
I will add that if you have a choice, in my experience trunnion bars are easier to handle because they're balanced better. Easier to store too because they're not ell-shaped.

Also, I went to a bicycle shop and got a nice soft handlebar grip for the snap-up bracket bar. Nice upgrade!

Having owned an EazLift round bar system years ago I'd agree that trunnion bars are far easier to deal with. Heat shrink also works well for a snap up bar grip.

[myredracer]

I will add that if you have a choice, in my experience trunnion bars are easier to handle because they're balanced better. Easier to store too because they're not ell-shaped.

Also, I went to a bicycle shop and got a nice soft handlebar grip for the snap-up bracket bar. Nice upgrade!

[SoundGuy]

DutchmenSport wrote:
SoundGuy,

You do know if you raise the tongue jack high enough (while hitched up to the tow vehicle), you never have to use a cheater bar at all to lift those snap up handles. The higher it's jacked up, the less effort it takes to snap them up.

Yes, I do 😉 ... the higher one lifts the tongue jack the higher one also lifts the rear of the truck and much greater is the force that's transferred to the truck's front axle. 😞 I also park our trailer on our noticeably sloped driveway so it's a bit of a dance to hitch up and not run out of tongue jack extension anyway. I use triple 6" stacks to solve this problem but I still have to extend that tongue jack quite a bit if I want to relieve tension on those spring bars for hitching up - a longer snap up bar solves this problem nicely, as it will also solve the OP's situation by significantly reducing the amount of effort it takes to lift those spring bars into position. :B

FWIW, an alternate solution is to replace the weight distribution chains with a Lippert Strap-Tek winch system which eliminates the need to lift the tongue jack at all. I tried it but didn't like the fact that the winch assembly is so large that the bars would hang much lower to the ground than currently is the case with my chain system and not sit parallel to the ground as they should. Yes, I could have lowered the hitch head so the bars would once again sit parallel but ultimately I decided this was more trouble than it was worth and wasn't the solution I was looking for. A longer snap up bar which does reduce the effort needed to lift those spring bars into position is for me the best solution. :B

[mkirsch]

Be aware that a manual jack is going to crank much harder when you're lifting the rear of the vehicle along with the tongue of the trailer. It's a workout. Hopefully both of her shoulders aren't bad.

[DutchmenSport]

SoundGuy wrote:

RTFMOK wrote:
My lady wants to know how much effort is involved in hooking up WD bars.

I do know they are easier to apply if the tongue jack is raised fully first.

Regardless of the type of WD system you're using, regardless of whether you use a power tongue jack or crank manually, the amount of effort required to mount the WD spring bars will always be much easier the longer the mounting tool is. I happen to run a Reese trunnion bar system with 800 lb spring bars and the snap up handle supplied with it was just 18" long, which is fairly typical ... I've extended it to 30" using a length of PVC tubing so the increased leverage makes the task of lifting those spring bars into place MUCH easier. :B

SoundGuy,

You do know if you raise the tongue jack high enough (while hitched up to the tow vehicle), you never have to use a cheater bar at all to lift those snap up handles. The higher it's jacked up, the less effort it takes to snap them up. When I had my old Reese system with those same snap-ups, I never had to use any extra bars. I cranked the tongue up high enough, I could just lift them by hand.

Same with my (now) Equal-i-zer. I never use the bar that came with the system. Simply crank the the tongue up and those bars set right in those L-brackets.

Unless your tongue jack is in the bottom of dip, you really never need to use the cheater bar (pipe). Just crank the tongue up higher.

[SoundGuy]

RTFMOK wrote:
My lady wants to know how much effort is involved in hooking up WD bars.

I do know they are easier to apply if the tongue jack is raised fully first.

Regardless of the type of WD system you're using, regardless of whether you use a power tongue jack or crank manually, the amount of effort required to mount the WD spring bars will always be much easier the longer the mounting tool is. I happen to run a Reese trunnion bar system with 800 lb spring bars and the snap up handle supplied with it was just 18" long, which is fairly typical ... I've extended it to 30" using a length of PVC tubing so the increased leverage makes the task of lifting those spring bars into place MUCH easier. :B

[sgfrye]

BarneyS wrote:
1. Couple the trailer to the truck and latch the coupler.

2. Insert the WD bars into the hitch head but do not try to chain them up yet to the snap-up brackets.

3. Raise the tongue of the trailer with the jack until the rear of the truck is raised several inches above normal.

4. Try to chain up the WD bars to the snap-ups. If the effort is too high, raise the tongue some more with the jack. Keep this up until you can tighten the chains with the snap-ups easily.

5. When the chains are tightened, lower the tongue(raise the jack foot) all the way up and hook up the emergency cord, chains, and light cord.

6. You should be ready to go. Very little effort required except turning the jack handle. This is why many use an electric tongue jack on our trailers. I would also try raising the back of the truck a short bit again to make sure the coupler is securely fastened.
Barney

x2 all of this is what i do.

especially #6 to make sure coupler is fastened. sometimes looks can be deceiving