Need to jack up the rear REALLY high to attach spring bars

[chrispitude]

I have a 2006 Yukon Denali XL (the long-wheelbase one) and a Jayco X23E, hitched up using a Blue Ox Swaypro.

I need to raise the tongue uncomfortably high using the tongue jack to attach or detach the spring bars. The long wheelbase is working against me, as more height is needed for a given change in spring bar angle.

To make matters more fun, the air suspension starts letting air out as I do this, as it things the back end is too high, which moves more weight from the truck's rear axle to the trailer tongue jack.

I can pop the hood and pull the fuse to stop that, although it's a bit of a pain. But whether I do that or not, I still need a LOT of tongue jack height to hitch or unhitch.

Has anyone found a clever solution to this?

I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

[chrispitude]

There is another option for attaching/detaching the bars that is a PITA in its own way. 🙂

Once you have the tongue on the ball, if you make an almost-90 degree turn, you can connect or disconnect the bar on the inside side (same direction of turn) without using the tongue jack at all.

When leaving on a trip, I connect the left bar when I make the left turn out of my driveway. That road is a side road in a development, so a quick forward-and-reverse lets me pivot the trailer to hitch up the opposite side. It's so much easier...

Disconnecting the bars at the campground is a little more interesting because there's less space to do this, plus I don't want to block the road for any length of time.

[Maury82]

Maury82 wrote:

ScottG wrote:
I have to jack my combo up a lot too. At home when I leave, I pull the front of the truck just off the curb so the back end is sitting high.

I plan to screw two 2x10 in. together, and roll back up on the boards to raise the backend up a bit to help ease the tension.

That is exactly what I did for my B.O...used two 2x12 screwed together, with the lower board sticking out six inches further than the top board to keep the tires from spinning.

[gmw_photos]

memilanuk wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
Chrispitude, it looks like you have a near perfect setup there. You are very close to 100% FALR which, to many of us, is the goal.

"FALR"?

Front Axle Load Restoration

100% FALR would be getting his weight distribution hitch adjusted so that when the trailer is hooked up, the front ( steer ) axle weighs the same as is did as the truck sits without the trailer.

His truck weighed 3320 on the front axle by itself. He is now adjusted to where the front axle is at 3260. That means he has restored approx 80% of what he had lost. He may want to re-adjust to get the front axle back to 3320, which would be 100%.

The truck manufacturers typically call for between 50% to 100% FALR. He may be good set as it is now. Driving it will help determine that.

[73guna]

gmwphotos,
It will be interesting to hear your results.
Definitely post back with results.

[memilanuk]

gmw photos wrote:
Chrispitude, it looks like you have a near perfect setup there. You are very close to 100% FALR which, to many of us, is the goal.

"FALR"?

[gmw_photos]

Chrispitude, it looks like you have a near perfect setup there. You are very close to 100% FALR which, to many of us, is the goal.

As to mkirsh's theory that heavier bars will allow us to hook and unhook bars with less tongue jacking, for a given WD, he may be on to something.
When the weather cools off and I have some time, I will do some testing at the CAT scale, because I have a blue ox, and I have a set of 550 pound bars for one trailer, and a set of 1000 pound bars for a second trailer. So I can test them back to back on the same trailer and do some measuring. It's gonna have to wait for cooler weather though, busy right now.

Will get back to y'all.

[chrispitude]

Alright, finally got to the CAT scales. Here's how everything sits unhitched:



Here's what happens with the trailer on the ball with no weight distribution:



Here's what happens with the weight distribution chains set by estimation:



Where things stand,

• The front axle could use a little more weight transferred to it.
• I'm right at my rear axle rating (GRAWR) of 4000lbs.

On my next trip, I'll try moving up another chain link - although I have no idea how I'm going to get those bars on, having to lift it that much higher!

[silverfz]

Airbags. Most SUV suspension is more comfort based then towing heavy loads. So when you hitch to the ball. Too much sag is going on now you are picking up the load to put the bars.

I use airbags at 20 PSI as helper springs for WDH and comfort at load. Remember to readjust WDH after inflation and then use the same inflation.

[mkirsch]

Sorry, I did not realize that the hitch head angle on the BlueOx could not be changed.

HOWEVER, I still stand by my assertion that heavier bars is the answer.

With heavier bars, you leave the chain longer to get the same weight distribution. Longer chain, less jacking.

[73guna]

mkirsch wrote:
73guna, what's your point? You trying to "catch" me?

Well okay, you got me. I don't have a Blue Ox. I also don't have the OP's problem. I'm trying to help.

The principles are the same no matter what WD hitch you have. You get more weight distribution action in one of two ways:

A. By tilting the hitch head to angle the bars toward the ground.
B. By using heavier bars.

I suspect that the OP's setup has the hitch head angled quite steeply, hence the need to jack the truck and trailer so high. He's sized his weight bars by the ADVERTISED tongue weight of the trailer, not the actual weight, so you can't ASSUME that he has the right weight bars for the application here.

Regardless, using the next size heavier weight bars, and readjusting the hitch head angle to be less severe will reduce the amount of jacking necessary, and fix the problem.

Just a simple question, not trying to start something as these forums can get off track in a hurry. I dont want that to happen.
I have issues with my BO also, so Im trying to figure things out and help also.
Respectfully, here is my take on heavier bars to combat jacking the trailer so high.
The BO has a fixed hitch head angle, that is fixed, you cant change it.
Changing to heavier bars (in my opinion) will make it more difficult to turn the latches because you have a bar that is stiffer then the lower rated bars making it harder to achieve that flex and turn the latches.
The design of the BO is one that requires the bars to bend/flex to achieve proper sway control and weight distribution.
I think I get what your saying, heavier bars will not require as much tension as lighter bars, you will have a steeper bar angle using less chains links and therefore easier to turn the latches.? Correct?
It seems as if both of us are going on theory and no proof as if this would work or not.
At the end of the day no one will know until its tested.
Im not one who likes to throw parts at things to fix them because money dont grow on trees for me.
Maybe someday, someone will try heavier bars and we will see the results.
Ive called BO and got no where, as have others.
If the designer wont offer help then I guess its up to the rv owners to figure things out and nothing will get resolved arguing over it.

[memilanuk]

mkirsch,

I'm actually not the OP, just someone who joined in after it started. I do have kind of the same thing going on though.

*I* didn't select the bars, or set them up initially - the dealer did. And yes, I have some concerns about the way it ended up.

The listed GVWR for my trailer is 8800 lbs... I'm going to take a wild guess and say the dealer figured 10% of that and picked the 800-1200 lb bars. Given that this model has most of the water tanks forward of the axles, that might not be a good guess. Your suggestion about heavier bars might be spot on.

I don't have a scale weight with the WDH disengaged, but I do have ones with it hooked up, and just the truck on its own. I gotta say, the numbers I'm seeing don't make much sense. The front axle weights are pretty much the same regardless of trailer or no. The rear axle weight goes up a crazy amount with the trailer hooked up (with WDH) - like 1500-1800 lbs. But the combination of the trailer axle weight plus the additional weight on the rear axle doesn't seem plausible either, not without *all* the tanks full, which they are not

[mkirsch]

73guna, what's your point? You trying to "catch" me?

Well okay, you got me. I don't have a Blue Ox. I also don't have the OP's problem. I'm trying to help.

The principles are the same no matter what WD hitch you have. You get more weight distribution action in one of two ways:

A. By tilting the hitch head to angle the bars toward the ground.
B. By using heavier bars.

I suspect that the OP's setup has the hitch head angled quite steeply, hence the need to jack the truck and trailer so high. He's sized his weight bars by the ADVERTISED tongue weight of the trailer, not the actual weight, so you can't ASSUME that he has the right weight bars for the application here.

Regardless, using the next size heavier weight bars, and readjusting the hitch head angle to be less severe will reduce the amount of jacking necessary, and fix the problem.

[73guna]

mkirsch,

What is the tongue weight of your trailer and what size of bars do you have on your Blue Ox?

[mkirsch]

Changing to heavier bars WILL change everything...

The heavier bars will not need to flex as much, so you can install them at a less severe angle to achieve the same weight distribution. Closer to horizontal. Less angle means less jacking.

...and you're going by the ADVERTISED hitch weight? You know they're never even close to right. If you weigh it you may well find that you're on the high side of the current weight range. What's the next step up? 1000-1400lb bars?