Equal-i-zer vs Dual Cam

[Prior_Pete]

I've asked about hitch preferences before but now it is time to finally make a decision and I'm looking for the voice of experience. I have been towing for 15 plus years with a Reese dual cam, trailers weighing from 4500 lb up to my current 9000 lb. Trailer is 36 ft long and has a hitch weight of around 1100 pounds. I'm happy with the Dual cam but as I have increased in weight I have had to change the bars. This particular set of bars has a very short tail piece behind the detente where the cam sits. DW has commented a couple of times on how it sometimes looks like the bars are going to completely disengage from the cams when I am backing at a tight angle. I really don't want to have to take the bars off to backup but if I have to I'm thinking The Equalizer bars would be a whole lot easier than the Dual cam. Is the Equal-i-zer vs Dual Cam debate as simple as 6 of one, half a dozen of the other or in your experience do you find one superior?

[lane_hog]

I'm a 15 year DC user, and I'm sticking with it. We have a 30ft trailer coming in at 7800lbs on the scales, and the dual cam is the only reason I attempt pulling with a F150.

I have to almost jacknife to get into my driveway, and I've never lost a bar doing that move.

That said... in 15 years I've lost one bar and one cam.

The bar was lost in transit back in 2004 or 2005. I called Reese to order a replacement, and they replaced it at no cost and also sent me a redesigned head as well.

Last week, I lost a cam between gas stops. There's no thread left in either of the holes where the bolts were, so either there wasn't much of a thread to begin with, or there was a force strong enough to strip the threads and allow the bolts to drop. The cam itself stayed attached via the chain, and there's no visible damage from having hung freely for however long it had been free, or around the bolt holes.

Once a set of rivet nuts arrives, that cam will be back on the frame and I hopefully won't need to think twice about it for another 10-15 years.

[CharlesinGA]

dodge guy wrote:
I would stick with the DC. The EQ has the potential to do the same thing. Between the 2 the DC Is the better sway control hitch due to it wanting to pull the trailer back to center, whereas the EQ wants to hold the trailer at the position it stopped at.
Stick with the DC. In the 15 years I towed with mine I never dropped a bar, even in tight backing maneuvers!

I have never used a Reese DC but the concept is far superior to the Equalizer, which I have one of and used a couple of times and learned to hate. Its just a form of friction anti sway control.

Charles

[aftermath]

wopachop wrote:
I seeked out the equalizer brand after my husky hitch got stolen. Found one used for a good deal.

Overall its sorta primative. Doesnt like sharp turns or changes in elevation. I have zero experience with the dual cam. Can only say the equalizer ain't that great and I would look to a different brand.

To the OP, It sounds like you have experience with your DC and I didn't detect any big criticisms other than the upgraded bars. I would say you probably need to follow up with the manufacturer about your concern. You certainly could go to a different hitch but it would end up costing you more to do so.

I am an Equalizer user and towed a hybrid with my Toyota 4Runner. Towed it for 5 years under all sorts of conditions including one trip in almost gale force winds. Never had a problem. Moved to a larger trailer that came with a heavier Equalizer. Have over 50K miles on this trailer, again with no complaints.

From everything I have heard or read both of these hitches are good, they have lots of followers. The quote above is rubbish in my opinion. "Primitive"? Do you know how long this brand has been around and how it continues to rate very high with trailer owners? "Doesn't like sharp turns"? What are you talking about? "Changes in elevation"? What? Are you saying that they don't work well in mountain passes or are you referring to uneven campsites? I can attest that both of these are false. As a matter of fact, hooking and unhooking on uneven ground is one of the strong points of this hitch.

You might not like the Equalizer but.....at least try to give a fair review.

[Huntindog]

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

I still don't understand what you disagree with.

Sway forces were brought up and they're more prominent in a straight line with the DC.....straight line would indicate roads with higher speed limits.
Sway control is a non issue at slower speeds
on winding roads at slower speeds in my experience.

Ok let's dumb it down.
Sway issues, dog wagging the tail, loss of control of trailer is ONLY done at speed where other large vehicles have influence over control......speed is a major player.
If we we were all on backroads then all WDH companies would never exist, easy enough?

I still don't get your point. One would never get a road hazard caused flat if one stayed parked all the time either.
Obviously the goal is to be able to travel while avoiding sway.
A glance at any map shows that roads are anything but straight. So curves MUST be negotiated.
The original friction sway control bars all come with a warning: "Disconnect in rain or slippery conditions." This because in some situations the control can prevent the negotiation of a turn. with that system, disabling the sway control leaves the WD function intact. One cannot seperate the sway control from the WD functions with any of the integtreted sway control hitches... Yet they are able to negotiate turns without problems in slippery conditions....This gives a clue as to just how much anti sway forces are present.

I can't imagine why anyone would unhook a WDH in rain, not heard that before.
The hitch itself does more than mitigate sway,setup properly it returns weight to front axle which in my mind, would be safer in Slick road conditions.
My Reese loses everything without trunnion bars.

I am sorry. I thought you knew what a standard friction control bar is.... Most people that have one of the Integreted sway control hitches know this, as that is generally what they started with... At this point I will bow out, as without putting a lot of time and effort into explaining it to you.... This conversation has no meaning.

Happy camping

[TurnThePage]

I've been towing with the Equal-I-zer brand hitch for about 17 years now and it's worked perfectly in ever situation I've managed to get into, including nearly jack-knifing the trailer while backing into tight and unlevel spots. It's a fine hitch, except that it gets a little noisy during slow maneuvers.

That said, I think the dual cam hitch works well too. You already have it...

[ktmrfs]

CaLBaR wrote:

Prior Pete wrote:
I've asked about hitch preferences before but now it is time to finally make a decision and I'm looking for the voice of experience. I have been towing for 15 plus years with a Reese dual cam, trailers weighing from 4500 lb up to my current 9000 lb. Trailer is 36 ft long and has a hitch weight of around 1100 pounds. I'm happy with the Dual cam but as I have increased in weight I have had to change the bars. This particular set of bars has a very short tail piece behind the detente where the cam sits. DW has commented a couple of times on how it sometimes looks like the bars are going to completely disengage from the cams when I am backing at a tight angle. I really don't want to have to take the bars off to backup but if I have to I'm thinking The Equalizer bars would be a whole lot easier than the Dual cam. Is the Equal-i-zer vs Dual Cam debate as simple as 6 of one, half a dozen of the other or in your experience do you find one superior?

I would stick with your DC setup and not worry about dropping a bar in tight backing up situations. I have been using the DC setup for 14 years and had some tight situations to back into and even in the early days a jacknife situation where I had to pull forward to straighten up and never dropped a bar. I have 1500 lb bars on my current setup and still no issues. I would stay with what has worked very well.

x2. we've logged over 50K miles with our outback using a DC, worked great, never an issue even with sharp backing angles. If you go with the 1500lb bars I advise you to get the updated frame brackets that go with the 1500lb bars. the brackets for lighter bars have been known to bend, the updated 1500lb brackets have additional gussets added.

[CaLBaR]

Prior Pete wrote:
I've asked about hitch preferences before but now it is time to finally make a decision and I'm looking for the voice of experience. I have been towing for 15 plus years with a Reese dual cam, trailers weighing from 4500 lb up to my current 9000 lb. Trailer is 36 ft long and has a hitch weight of around 1100 pounds. I'm happy with the Dual cam but as I have increased in weight I have had to change the bars. This particular set of bars has a very short tail piece behind the detente where the cam sits. DW has commented a couple of times on how it sometimes looks like the bars are going to completely disengage from the cams when I am backing at a tight angle. I really don't want to have to take the bars off to backup but if I have to I'm thinking The Equalizer bars would be a whole lot easier than the Dual cam. Is the Equal-i-zer vs Dual Cam debate as simple as 6 of one, half a dozen of the other or in your experience do you find one superior?

I would stick with your DC setup and not worry about dropping a bar in tight backing up situations. I have been using the DC setup for 14 years and had some tight situations to back into and even in the early days a jacknife situation where I had to pull forward to straighten up and never dropped a bar. I have 1500 lb bars on my current setup and still no issues. I would stay with what has worked very well.

[kellem]

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

I still don't understand what you disagree with.

Sway forces were brought up and they're more prominent in a straight line with the DC.....straight line would indicate roads with higher speed limits.
Sway control is a non issue at slower speeds
on winding roads at slower speeds in my experience.

Ok let's dumb it down.
Sway issues, dog wagging the tail, loss of control of trailer is ONLY done at speed where other large vehicles have influence over control......speed is a major player.
If we we were all on backroads then all WDH companies would never exist, easy enough?

I still don't get your point. One would never get a road hazard caused flat if one stayed parked all the time either.
Obviously the goal is to be able to travel while avoiding sway.
A glance at any map shows that roads are anything but straight. So curves MUST be negotiated.
The original friction sway control bars all come with a warning: "Disconnect in rain or slippery conditions." This because in some situations the control can prevent the negotiation of a turn. with that system, disabling the sway control leaves the WD function intact. One cannot seperate the sway control from the WD functions with any of the integtreted sway control hitches... Yet they are able to negotiate turns without problems in slippery conditions....This gives a clue as to just how much anti sway forces are present.

I can't imagine why anyone would unhook a WDH in rain, not heard that before.
The hitch itself does more than mitigate sway,setup properly it returns weight to front axle which in my mind, would be safer in Slick road conditions.
My Reese loses everything without trunnion bars.

[Huntindog]

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

I still don't understand what you disagree with.

Sway forces were brought up and they're more prominent in a straight line with the DC.....straight line would indicate roads with higher speed limits.
Sway control is a non issue at slower speeds
on winding roads at slower speeds in my experience.

Ok let's dumb it down.
Sway issues, dog wagging the tail, loss of control of trailer is ONLY done at speed where other large vehicles have influence over control......speed is a major player.
If we we were all on backroads then all WDH companies would never exist, easy enough?

I still don't get your point. One would never get a road hazard caused flat if one stayed parked all the time either.
Obviously the goal is to be able to travel while avoiding sway.
A glance at any map shows that roads are anything but straight. So curves MUST be negotiated.
The original friction sway control bars all come with a warning: "Disconnect in rain or slippery conditions." This because in some situations the control can prevent the negotiation of a turn. with that system, disabling the sway control leaves the WD function intact. One cannot seperate the sway control from the WD functions with any of the integtreted sway control hitches... Yet they are able to negotiate turns without problems in slippery conditions....This gives a clue as to just how much anti sway forces are present.

[kellem]

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

I still don't understand what you disagree with.

Sway forces were brought up and they're more prominent in a straight line with the DC.....straight line would indicate roads with higher speed limits.
Sway control is a non issue at slower speeds
on winding roads at slower speeds in my experience.

Ok let's dumb it down.
Sway issues, dog wagging the tail, loss of control of trailer is ONLY done at speed where other large vehicles have influence over control......speed is a major player.
If we we were all on backroads then all WDH companies would never exist, easy enough?

[Huntindog]

kellem wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

Sway forces were brought up and they're more prominent in a straight line with the DC.....straight line would indicate roads with higher speed limits.
Sway control is a non issue at slower speeds
on winding roads at slower speeds in my experience.

I still don't understand what you disagree with.

[kellem]

Huntindog wrote:

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

Sway forces were brought up and they're more prominent in a straight line with the DC.....straight line would indicate roads with higher speed limits.
Sway control is a non issue at slower speeds
on winding roads at slower speeds in my experience.

[Huntindog]

kellem wrote:
I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed

What exactly do you disagree with? Speed wasn't even brought up.

[kellem]

I disagree with the theory.

When pulling a trailer, especially highway, truck and trailer spends most of the time oriented in a straight position where antisway can most benefit.

On more rural roads, slower roads, heading to a campground/state park, sway isn't an issue.

Another words, antisway is much more beneficial at speed and where trucks are passing or being passed