Equal-i-zer wdh question

[leftybj]

I have a half ton truck and 28 foot trailer. I use an equal-I-zer hitch and am very satisfied. I am thinking of buying a larger truck. If I buy a truck that does not squat down when I hook up the trailer, I won't need tension to level everything out. Without tension on the spring bars I loose sway control. Anybody have experience with this?

[Majja13]

I went form a 2000 1500 to a 2015 2500 and kept my hitch. I have very little to no WD set up but it still does a great job of sway control.

[Huntindog]

Big Love wrote:
I don't think the original question was answered: how do you properly adjust an Equil-i-zer WDH if there is no significant squat or front end lift when load is placed? It seems that going to a scale would be the only way to find out if you are properly adjusted.

Don't eyeball it. Use a tape measure. I am on my second 1 ton dually.... You CAN measure it.

[leftybj]

Thank you all for the responses.

[Big_Love]

I don't think the original question was answered: how do you properly adjust an Equil-i-zer WDH if there is no significant squat or front end lift when load is placed? It seems that going to a scale would be the only way to find out if you are properly adjusted.

[westend]

My older F250 ('03)with camper and plow packages doesn't squat like described above. In fact, I like to keep about 300 lbs in the bed because it rides nicer. That's easy to do since it's also my work truck so I have a set of sliding drawers in the bed with tools and such.

Hauling a utility trailer doesn't squat the truck and I don't notice any front end difference. Hauling a 5000 lb RV does squat the truck and I can feel the front end and steering effected. An equal-i-zer WDH brings the weight back on the front axle and maintains usual steering capability. Without the WDH, it's driveable and not a white knuckle affair but I like the steering to be all it can be, especially in Winter driving conditions.

[hohenwald48]

Seems like, at the very least, that would put your headlights in the tree tops at night.

I haven't heard this being talked about as an idiosyncrasy of the F-250. I've been shopping for one so I guess I'll do a little more checking before I buy.

[wrvond]

Actually there is a TSB out to address just that issue. The F250 will squat under light loads, even though it has a tow package and truck camper suspension package. It has something to do with the size of the blocks where the leaf springs mount to the axle. The F250 has 2" blocks, while the F350 has 4" blocks.
Because of the expense involved in installing the 4" blocks, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to mess with it. It's entirely cosmetic, and the front doesn't come up at all.
The 650 pound tongue weight of that camper is well within the capacity of the truck.

Here you can see my Summerland Mini with it's 250 pound tongue weight does the same thing.

[PapaNIes60]

hohenwald48 wrote:
wrvond,
It might just be an illusion but the blue truck sure looks to be sitting a little nose high in your photo.

The F250 looks like it is squatting a bit. If this is the case I would not drive that set up until that is corrected.

[Ron_Gratz]

jmtandem wrote:
I would definately stay with the Reese Dual Cam as it works to resist the tendency for sway and the cams work to return from any offset or sway. This is not present in the Equalizer hitch that simply resists sway and also resists a return from sway.

It might be a matter of semantics -- but, the Dual Cam does not "work to return from any offset or sway."

The Dual Cam resists both moving away from centered and returning to centered.
It's just that the resistance to returning is less than the resistance to moving away from.

The resistance to sway is generated by friction force between cam and bar.
The cam/bar interface is subjected to less normal force (hence, less friction force) when the cam is moving toward the center of the "V".

Ron

[jmtandem]

wrvond,
It might just be an illusion but the blue truck sure looks to be sitting a little nose high in your photo.

X 2

[hohenwald48]

wrvond,
It might just be an illusion but the blue truck sure looks to be sitting a little nose high in your photo.

[wrvond]

Ha! Guess I showed my ignorance ! I did not realize the Equalizer worked differently.

[jmtandem]

I've continued to use the old (circa 1989) Reese dual cam WDH with sway control. In fact, I set the chains to the same links on each side with the F250 as I did on the F150.
My camper weighs the same as it always has, as does the tongue. The F250 has a lot more capacity than the F150 did, but I'm only using a fraction of that capacity. By setting the bars the same, I'm still distributing the same weight I always have between the front and rear axles.
While the F250 has electronic sway control built in, I prefer not to engage it, and allow the mechanical sway control of the WDH to handle it. Keeping in mind that I have never experienced any problems with sway, I suppose if it got bad enough that the mechanical couldn't handle it, the truck's on board control would take over.

I would definately stay with the Reese Dual Cam as it works to resist the tendency for sway and the cams work to return from any offset or sway. This is not present in the Equalizer hitch that simply resists sway and also resists a return from sway.
.

[wrvond]

leftybj wrote:
I have a half ton truck and 28 foot trailer. I use an equal-I-zer hitch and am very satisfied. I am thinking of buying a larger truck. If I buy a truck that does not squat down when I hook up the trailer, I won't need tension to level everything out. Without tension on the spring bars I loose sway control. Anybody have experience with this?

I went from this:


To this:


I've continued to use the old (circa 1989) Reese dual cam WDH with sway control. In fact, I set the chains to the same links on each side with the F250 as I did on the F150.
My camper weighs the same as it always has, as does the tongue. The F250 has a lot more capacity than the F150 did, but I'm only using a fraction of that capacity. By setting the bars the same, I'm still distributing the same weight I always have between the front and rear axles.
While the F250 has electronic sway control built in, I prefer not to engage it, and allow the mechanical sway control of the WDH to handle it. Keeping in mind that I have never experienced any problems with sway, I suppose if it got bad enough that the mechanical couldn't handle it, the truck's on board control would take over.