Camco EAZ-LIFT R6 TT Hitch

[richardcoxid]

Hi there Guy and Gal RVers

After 20 years owning/using a 32’ 5W we are in the process of down sizing to a 28’8” OAL TT (24’ box length) Specificity an Outdoors RV, Timber Ridge 24RKS.

Does anybody here have any first hand experience/knowledge with SPECIFICALLY the- CAMCO EAZ-LIFT Re Curve R6 hitch with 1000/1200# spring bars?

I am not a fan of the TT Sway Control that you have to manually re-adjust when backing in to a camping site. The EAZ-LIFT automatically “locks” for straight towing and then automatically “disengages” when turning.

Thank you very much for your time!

Richard Cox

[philh]

I have the R3, and in general love it. What I don't like about the R3, and is different from the R6, the R6 has a cam lock for the friction. R3 requires an allen wrench. If I have to disconnect with the trailer being at an angle to the truck, I have to loosen the bolt so I can straighten the hitch out later. What ends up happening, I just leave it loose most of the time.

[Huntindog]

Rover_Bill wrote:

carringb wrote:
I haven't been able to find much actual info on the hitch, besides their terrible promotional videos. How does this bearing "push" anything? That's not how typical bearings work... Does it have some sort of ramp or cam built in?

See this video at about about 1:54 and 3:40 minutes.

Turning the on/off cam engages the leaf springs under the single ball shown in the bottom plate. The underside of the bar holders are slopped to work with the ball bearing and exert the resistance/push force. There are two cam's - one for each bar.

IMO, it is another marketing gimmick. In the past, the DC was looked at by an engineer on this site. He did all of the calculations, and the cams did not really add much. The DC is a friction based system..... And I believe the Camco to be the same.... If one really stops blindly accepting the marketing propaganda and thinks about it with a critical mindset.... It makes sense.
If these cams really had enough force to"push" a trailer back into alignment, then towing in low traction situations would have rigs driving right off the roads on curves. There have been exactly zero reports of this happening. So the aligning force can not be much.
This is not to say that these hitches do not work well.... They obviously do. They just do not do it in a the way the marketing suggests.

They are first, and foremost friction based systems.

[Rover_Bill]

carringb wrote:
I haven't been able to find much actual info on the hitch, besides their terrible promotional videos. How does this bearing "push" anything? That's not how typical bearings work... Does it have some sort of ramp or cam built in?

See this video at about about 1:54 and 3:40 minutes.

Turning the on/off cam engages the leaf springs under the single ball shown in the bottom plate. The underside of the bar holders are slopped to work with the ball bearing and exert the resistance/push force. There are two cam's - one for each bar.

[carringb]

Rover_Bill wrote:

carringb wrote:
...The R6 hitch is still predominantly friction based, so you'd have to "turn it off" in wintry conditions....

EAZ-LIFT has two versions of their ReCurve hitches - R3 and R6. The R3 version is friction based. The tighter you screw down the clamp the more friction is exerted to keep the trailer from going out of alignment (and more friction to keep the trailer from RETURNING into alignment). You must manually totally loosen the screw clamp to turn off sway control.

The R6 control uses two SPRING LOADED bearing for control - one under each bar. The bearings help resist the trailer from going out of alignment but once it is out of alignment (less than 10 degrees) the bearing actually help PUSH the trailer back into alignment. If the trailer is more than 10 degrees out of alignment (as when turning) the bearings are disengaged and there is no extra force on the hitch. You can manually engage one bearing for partial sway control, two bearings for full control, or leave both bearings disengaged for no control.

I haven't been able to find much actual info on the hitch, besides their terrible promotional videos. How does this bearing "push" anything? That's not how typical bearings work... Does it have some sort of ramp or cam built in?

Regardless, I was basing my post on their website which says: The sway control can easily be turned completely off in dangerous or icy road conditions. IMO, if anything has to be adjusted for winter towing, and you tow in the winter anywhere in the NW, this might not be the most appropriate hitch.

[Rover_Bill]

carringb wrote:
...The R6 hitch is still predominantly friction based, so you'd have to "turn it off" in wintry conditions....

EAZ-LIFT has two versions of their ReCurve hitches - R3 and R6. The R3 version is friction based. The tighter you screw down the clamp the more friction is exerted to keep the trailer from going out of alignment (and more friction to keep the trailer from RETURNING into alignment). You must manually totally loosen the screw clamp to turn off sway control.

The R6 control uses two SPRING LOADED bearing for control - one under each bar. The bearings help resist the trailer from going out of alignment but once it is out of alignment (less than 10 degrees) the bearing actually help PUSH the trailer back into alignment. If the trailer is more than 10 degrees out of alignment (as when turning) the bearings are disengaged and there is no extra force on the hitch. You can manually engage one bearing for partial sway control, two bearings for full control, or leave both bearings disengaged for no control.

[carringb]

Do you plan on any winter towing? The R6 hitch is still predominantly friction based, so you'd have to "turn it off" in wintry conditions.

I have the Blue Ox on my ORV (38' overall) and it works fine. Maybe not the best sway control, but it works fine and there's nothing to worry about in winter. I had the Reese Dual cam previously, and liked it better for strong crosswinds, but it would bind on super tight turns and pop a bar out. But it's not a problem with most combinations, since most trucks won't turn sharp enough to do this unless you aren't paying attention when backing up.

[richardcoxid]

Thanks to ALL who have responded to my original post!

I guess that I should have included more information in my question.

Sometime back in the late 80’s or early 90’s We purchased a 26’(?) Road Ranger TT from a local dealer (no longer in business) included in that package was a WD hitch with a Sway Control feature (brand unknown)

What I remember is that it was a round spring bar that attached from the bottom of the hitch. At the flat end of the spring bar was a flat topped pyramid of a “sticky soft white metal” that mated with an inverted flat topped pyramid which “locked” the TT/TV in the anti sway position. When you turned the TV/RV direction, the lateral movement of the spring bars caused the slope of the pyramids to “unlock” allowing non-resistance to turning the unit.

Guess that I am somewhat biased in my thoughts, even though it was primitive compared to what is available today, it worked, “locking” for towing and “un-locking” when turning. The CAMCO R6 would be the modern version of what I remember.

The Reese Straight Line Dual Cam hitch is another one that locks/un-locks. However, it is some what more expensive (not really an issue), more complex, slightly heavier, difficult on the initial set up and adjustment, though after initial set up, hooking up really isn’t that difficult.

[sgfrye]

you are going to get a ton of answers to this question but here is my 2 cents with this same setup.

our first TT was a 33ft, approx 7500lb loaded to camp. had one sway bar.

towed like a dream with a ford f250 gasser. when we traded that TT in on a 38ft approx 9500lb TT i had the dealer move the hitch to it off old TT.,

same setup, same results, tows great after about 15k miles total on both Trailers.

easy to hook up and disconnect. its a tried and true system.

YMMV is my disclaimer

[Rover_Bill]

I've had my ReCurve R6 with 1200# bars since 2016 and have over 20,000 miles towing. I LOVE it and highly recommend it! You can have perfect weight distribution if you take the time to set it up correctly. The sway control really does work and you don't have to worry about it when making tight turns and backing up at gas stations or into parking spots. The design of the bars gives you extra clearance where other WDH would drag.

My major dislike is that you need a separate hex key to engage/disengage the TWO sway control dials. Order a few extra keys (I lost 2 already). Engaging the sway control is very easy when the TV and TT are perfectly aligned or more than 10 degrees out of alignment (i.e. turning). It's VERY VERY difficult when they are just slightly out of alignment.

The R6 hitch is heavier then most other WDH. A HitchGrip helps installing/removing the hitch from/to the receiver.

[badercubed]

I highly recommend a Blue Ox Swaypro. Worked great on my 10,000lb TT and now on my 5000lb TT. No noise, great towing experience and easy to setup.