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?

[Huntindog]

Mike134 wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

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!

This is a common misconeption that the manufacturer is happy to let happen. Makes for good marketing to those that do not think it thru.
First off the cams do not exert that much centering force to "pull" the TT back to straight. If it did, then you could not use it in slippery conditions as you would not be able to negotiate a turn....This is NOT a problem with the DC, so that means the cam force is minimal. Years ago we had a longtime resident engineer, Ron Gratz that did the calculations on the anti sway force of standard friction controls(single and dual), the DC, and the Equalizer. He stated that the primary anti sway force on all of them was....Friction. They were all pretty close.(standard dual) Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.
Second, one has to realize that sway is a back and forth motion, that increases with each cycle. A push away from center is not sway. The DC resists a motion away from center, and assists a motion towards center. IOW, there is a slight amount of resistance as the TT moves away from center, (beneficial) and a slight amount of assistance back to center,,,(Which is not beneficial), as that is part of a sway cycle. Fortunantly, the centering force is not that great, so it doesn't cause the sway motion to increase. The EQUALIZER provides equal resistance to sway in both directions of a sway cycle. Bottom line is thay both do a good job, they just do it differently

The difference to me when I used WD came down to other factors. The Equalizer has better ground clearance, so I went with it.
No issues with backing up. Had three different sizes over 25+ years, and they all performed well.

The DC works both ways.what goes up (the bars on the cams) must come down (the bars on the cams) yea it will still move, but the resistance to movement is much higher than the EQ which will want to stay where it stops. Simple physics.

So in theory the DC hitch will want to decrease sway forces as the bars climb "uphill" away from center yet increase sway forces as the bars ride "downhill" returning to center vs the EQ that tries to stop movement equally both directions.

In theory yes. BUT just how much is dependant on how big a difference one believes the cams actually make. If one believes it has a lot of anti sway force when moving away from center, then the opposite has to be true.

[Mike134]

dodge guy wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

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!

This is a common misconeption that the manufacturer is happy to let happen. Makes for good marketing to those that do not think it thru.
First off the cams do not exert that much centering force to "pull" the TT back to straight. If it did, then you could not use it in slippery conditions as you would not be able to negotiate a turn....This is NOT a problem with the DC, so that means the cam force is minimal. Years ago we had a longtime resident engineer, Ron Gratz that did the calculations on the anti sway force of standard friction controls(single and dual), the DC, and the Equalizer. He stated that the primary anti sway force on all of them was....Friction. They were all pretty close.(standard dual) Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.
Second, one has to realize that sway is a back and forth motion, that increases with each cycle. A push away from center is not sway. The DC resists a motion away from center, and assists a motion towards center. IOW, there is a slight amount of resistance as the TT moves away from center, (beneficial) and a slight amount of assistance back to center,,,(Which is not beneficial), as that is part of a sway cycle. Fortunantly, the centering force is not that great, so it doesn't cause the sway motion to increase. The EQUALIZER provides equal resistance to sway in both directions of a sway cycle. Bottom line is thay both do a good job, they just do it differently

The difference to me when I used WD came down to other factors. The Equalizer has better ground clearance, so I went with it.
No issues with backing up. Had three different sizes over 25+ years, and they all performed well.

The DC works both ways.what goes up (the bars on the cams) must come down (the bars on the cams) yea it will still move, but the resistance to movement is much higher than the EQ which will want to stay where it stops. Simple physics.

So in theory the DC hitch will want to decrease sway forces as the bars climb "uphill" away from center yet increase sway forces as the bars ride "downhill" returning to center vs the EQ that tries to stop movement equally both directions.

[kellem]

I've only used (1) WDH in 27 years of trailer ownership and it's been the Reese DC.
Did snap a trunnion bar once making a sharp turn while truck was on a hump.
Never had a trunnion bar slip out.

My BIL likes his Anderson.

[wopachop]

Why is this site so different? Is it the owners just trying to save money and not pay for more advanced servers? I dont know squat about computers. But i camp with guys who own a different forum. The guy who is in charge with the servers is really smart. I hear them talking about forum stuff around the campfire. Seems like there is a ton of behind the scenes stuff us regular users dont ever see. We just complain when the site goes down for a couple hours. I did hear them talk about money and the forum owner does have a choice on what to pick. Makes me think whoever runs this RV dot net continues to choose the cheaper option. New users come here asking how to post a picture. Because theyre used to other forums where its so easy.

[Huntindog]

wopachop wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.

This site seems very old and outdated. Ive tried to search my own threads from 3 years ago and its a pain. Im on countless other forums and for some reason this one just seems old and slow.

Yes and it is too bad. There is a treasure trove of info that has been effectively lost.

I do not think that Ron Gratz is around anymore.
He was a legend here. He could actually do all of the calculations as to what the forces in play actually were.
By the time he got done explaining something, the debate was pretty much over.

[Huntindog]

dodge guy wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

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!

This is a common misconeption that the manufacturer is happy to let happen. Makes for good marketing to those that do not think it thru.
First off the cams do not exert that much centering force to "pull" the TT back to straight. If it did, then you could not use it in slippery conditions as you would not be able to negotiate a turn....This is NOT a problem with the DC, so that means the cam force is minimal. Years ago we had a longtime resident engineer, Ron Gratz that did the calculations on the anti sway force of standard friction controls(single and dual), the DC, and the Equalizer. He stated that the primary anti sway force on all of them was....Friction. They were all pretty close.(standard dual) Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.
Second, one has to realize that sway is a back and forth motion, that increases with each cycle. A push away from center is not sway. The DC resists a motion away from center, and assists a motion towards center. IOW, there is a slight amount of resistance as the TT moves away from center, (beneficial) and a slight amount of assistance back to center,,,(Which is not beneficial), as that is part of a sway cycle. Fortunantly, the centering force is not that great, so it doesn't cause the sway motion to increase. The EQUALIZER provides equal resistance to sway in both directions of a sway cycle. Bottom line is thay both do a good job, they just do it differently

The difference to me when I used WD came down to other factors. The Equalizer has better ground clearance, so I went with it.
No issues with backing up. Had three different sizes over 25+ years, and they all performed well.

The DC works both ways.what goes up (the bars on the cams) must come down (the bars on the cams) yea it will still move, but the resistance to movement is much higher than the EQ which will want to stay where it stops. Simple physics.

Yes it is... You pretty much said what I said using fewer words and less detail... I am not sure though if your intent was to agree, or disagree.The only point I disagree on is the words "much higher" Without any numbers that is subjective. IMO it isn't "much", otherwise as I said in my post, there would be trouble negotiating turns in slippery conditions.
Of course, your definition of "much" can be less than mine.
And no matter how you define "much" the DC will have more resistance moving away from center than it will moving towards center.... The thing that I think you may not be grasping is that "sway" is the TT swinging back and forth... So equal resistance in both directions as the EQUALIZER provides is beneficial at all stages of a sway event. While the DC provides more resistance during half of a sway event and less during the other half... Efectively it is a wash. Both have MANY happy owners.

[wopachop]

dodge guy wrote:
Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.

This site seems very old and outdated. Ive tried to search my own threads from 3 years ago and its a pain. Im on countless other forums and for some reason this one just seems old and slow.

[dodge_guy]

Huntindog wrote:

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!

This is a common misconeption that the manufacturer is happy to let happen. Makes for good marketing to those that do not think it thru.
First off the cams do not exert that much centering force to "pull" the TT back to straight. If it did, then you could not use it in slippery conditions as you would not be able to negotiate a turn....This is NOT a problem with the DC, so that means the cam force is minimal. Years ago we had a longtime resident engineer, Ron Gratz that did the calculations on the anti sway force of standard friction controls(single and dual), the DC, and the Equalizer. He stated that the primary anti sway force on all of them was....Friction. They were all pretty close.(standard dual) Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.
Second, one has to realize that sway is a back and forth motion, that increases with each cycle. A push away from center is not sway. The DC resists a motion away from center, and assists a motion towards center. IOW, there is a slight amount of resistance as the TT moves away from center, (beneficial) and a slight amount of assistance back to center,,,(Which is not beneficial), as that is part of a sway cycle. Fortunantly, the centering force is not that great, so it doesn't cause the sway motion to increase. The EQUALIZER provides equal resistance to sway in both directions of a sway cycle. Bottom line is thay both do a good job, they just do it differently

The difference to me when I used WD came down to other factors. The Equalizer has better ground clearance, so I went with it.
No issues with backing up. Had three different sizes over 25+ years, and they all performed well.

The DC works both ways.what goes up (the bars on the cams) must come down (the bars on the cams) yea it will still move, but the resistance to movement is much higher than the EQ which will want to stay where it stops. Simple physics.

[Huntindog]

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!

This is a common misconeption that the manufacturer is happy to let happen. Makes for good marketing to those that do not think it thru.
First off the cams do not exert that much centering force to "pull" the TT back to straight. If it did, then you could not use it in slippery conditions as you would not be able to negotiate a turn....This is NOT a problem with the DC, so that means the cam force is minimal. Years ago we had a longtime resident engineer, Ron Gratz that did the calculations on the anti sway force of standard friction controls(single and dual), the DC, and the Equalizer. He stated that the primary anti sway force on all of them was....Friction. They were all pretty close.(standard dual) Search doesn't seem to work very well here going back that far, as I can no longer find old posts.
Second, one has to realize that sway is a back and forth motion, that increases with each cycle. A push away from center is not sway. The DC resists a motion away from center, and assists a motion towards center. IOW, there is a slight amount of resistance as the TT moves away from center, (beneficial) and a slight amount of assistance back to center,,,(Which is not beneficial), as that is part of a sway cycle. Fortunantly, the centering force is not that great, so it doesn't cause the sway motion to increase. The EQUALIZER provides equal resistance to sway in both directions of a sway cycle. Bottom line is thay both do a good job, they just do it differently

The difference to me when I used WD came down to other factors. The Equalizer has better ground clearance, so I went with it.
No issues with backing up. Had three different sizes over 25+ years, and they all performed well.

[wopachop]

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.

[dodge_guy]

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!