Equalizer vs Dual Cam

[aarond76]

I am currently pulling a roughly 9,000 lb 34' camper with a Reese Round bar WDH and friction sway control. My bars are rated at 1,000 lbs, I am sure tongue weight is substantially more but they seem to ride fine.

I want to get rid of the friction sway and go to either a Dual Cam or Equalizer set-up. If I stay with the 1,000 lb bars I can add the Dual Cam for around $200 so that is the cheapest option. However if I go to heavier rated bars I'm basically buying everything new and the cost is comparable between equalizer and a complete new dual cam set-up.

I had a 600/6000 lb Equalizer on a hybrid before and liked the set-up. The Equalizers were very popular with the hybrid people. It seems like the heavier campers tend to go with Dual Cam more often. Is one system better then the other when towing heavy? I want the nicest set-up I can get without going the $$$$ route of Propride or Hensley.

On the Reese hitches is there any performance difference between round bar and trunion bar? I see a fair amount of the trunnion bar 1,200 lb hitches complete with Dual Cam on Cragslist. The ball mount on our camper is attached to the top of the frame, I assume that limits me to round bar and the trunnion hitches are made for campers that have the ball mount on the bottom of the frame?

Alot of people say to add a 2nd friction sway bar with this long of camper. The only way to do that on a Reese hitch is to have someone weld another plate on the left side of the hitch head. By the time you do all that you might as well pay a little more for the Dual Cam so that is not really a consideration.

Thanks.

[_40Fan]

A little hint when installing the snap up brackets for a DC anti-sway system....

You don't have to drill the holes for the snap up brackets from the get go. In fact, my previous TT made the trip from Florida to Colorado with the PO. I pulled it up and down the Rockies for a few years, sold it, and it still didn't have the snap up brackets drilled and bolted (or welded). It made it extremely easy to readjust them when I bought the trailer and had to extend the cams and subsequently move the brackets to keep chains vertical.

[LarryJM]

jmtandem wrote:
In fact a poorly adjusted hitch of either type will be useless, as they both rely on TW for their anti sway properties.
So if one is not wiling/able to adjust them properly, they would be better served by a friction control, as it will provide some sway resistance even if the hitch setup is terrible.

Huntingdog,

Your point is well taken. I think and hope that all users take the time to be sure the hitch is set up properly so it will work at it's best.

While I agree TW is critical to anti sway and properly trailer handling in general it is my belief that TW is less important st it plays a part in the working of the anti sway features in the Equal-i-zer hitch. This is because most of the anti sway is provided by the pivots in the hitch head. I'm not saying TW doesn't effect the anti sway or more properly sway mitigation it's just there is a significant component of it there that is not dependent on TW.

Larry

[jmtandem]

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[Huntindog]

Quote from above post: "What is a little unnerving to me is that I have towed 'on the ball' and with the Equalizer hitch and cannot tell any difference in sway mitigation. If this hitch really worked I am sure I would feel something in the steering or in how the tow vehicle and trailer work together. Again physics vs. seat of the pants. Where is the sway benefit for those with properly loaded trailers with about 13 percent on the tongue?" Actually, both the DC and the Equalizer rely on proper setup to function properly. In fact a poorly adjusted hitch of either type will be useless, as they both rely on TW for their anti sway properties.
So if one is not wiling/able to adjust them properly, they would be better served by a friction control, as it will provide some sway resistance even if the hitch setup is terrible. And I live where the great American author Mark Twain in his book Roughing It wrote about how hard the Washoe Zephyr winds blow. And they blow much of the time.

[fla-gypsy]

My point is that the amount of tension on the chains has a direct impact in the performance of it's ability to prevent sway from occurring. Hence my assertion that proper installation, sizing, adjustment, and use, make it a great system. When I see those claiming it fights turns and they "know" how much friction is being created then I know they have no experience with this system. Each individual set up of the Dual Cam will be by it's nature providing different values of sway resistance. There is no "single value" number that can be applied to this system. I don't have to be an engineer to see the obvious. There are many people on this forum whom I consider experts on the different systems and I respect their varied opinions but when something works well it doesn't really matter what the friction number is. There are lots of folks happy with their Equalizer systems and Dual Cam systems and each application of those systems is affected by many other factors the foremost of which is proper tongue weight.

[LarryJM]

The point being addressed here is how much the indent design contributes to the overall performance of the DC system and both I and huntingdog believe it is a lot less than the friction of the DC system whereas you think it's performance is more from the chains and force of the indent system than friction. I simply don't buy your assertion that real world experience can differentiate how much the overall performance is from the inherent friction of the DC system or from the chains and force of the indent in the DC system and especially going as far to say that the friction is the minor contributor in the overall performance and for someone to believe the opposite view is "INCORRECT" (i.e. WRONG). This is the point of the disagreement and I have to trust and believe those who IMO are capable (i.e. Ron Gratz) to properly analyze and assign numbers to the various parts of the DC system.

Larry

[Wishin]

Love my dual cam compared to a single friction sway control. I installed it myself and find it is easy to use. 1-2 times per year or if I've made a change I'll double check the cams are straight as I pull out of my drive. Using it is easy and it works great. I have no experience with the Equalizer but most people seem happy with them. Certainly some people have had issues setting up the dual cam but I've set up mine and helped my cousin as well and neither of us had any issues and we both are very happy with the stability of our tow vehicles pulling our trailers. He pulls a 28' trailer with an older Tahoe (97 I believe).

[MackinawMan]

MontanaCamper wrote:
MackinawMan Thanks for your input. We have roughly the same size trailer and truck, yours a 1 ton mine a 3/4 ton..but a question for you is..why did you pick up the 1400/14000 equalizer instead of the 1200/12000 that would work with your trailer...

Well, before we purchased the Eagle back in 2010 we had a 33' Cherokee that weighed in at around 7,000 lbs when loaded. We had purchased the Cherokee back in 2004 and used our old Reese "bar and chain" WD system and the separate friction control arm too. At the time we towed with a diesel Excursion and it towed pretty well, but I wanted better. In 2007 we bought the 1200/12000 lb Equalizer to use with the Cherokee...worked beautifully.

Then in 2010 we sold the Cherokee and purchased the Jayco Eagle. The seller included his 1400/14000 lb Equalizer in the deal and since I had kept our 1200/12000 from the Cherokee I had both of them. I actually set the 1200/12000 lb Equalizer up on the Eagle and towed with it. The tongue weight of our Eagle when loaded is right around 1250 lbs. (I have a Sherline Scale) and the 1200/12000 hitch worked fine. However, I didn't need two so I decided to sell one of them.

I had already talked to Equalizer about the 1200/12000 and how it would work with our tongue weight being around 50-100 lbs. over it's rating and they said it would be fine. I also asked them about the tongue weight being under the 1400/14000 lb max rating as I had heard if your bars were "too stiff" you might damage the frame of the TT.

The told me I would be fine with both. I just decided "bigger was better" and in the end if we purchased an even bigger TT I would have the heavier Equalizer I could use.

Hope that helps...and wasn't too long-winded.:B

[jmtandem]

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[MontanaCamper]

MackinawMan Thanks for your input. We have roughly the same size trailer and truck, yours a 1 ton mine a 3/4 ton..but a question for you is..why did you pick up the 1400/14000 equalizer instead of the 1200/12000 that would work with your trailer...

Like I said, I am reading all I can about these and still undecided on what to use... I do know, that I want to get rid of my WD hitch that I am using now..

[MackinawMan]

All I say is that we tow a 9,000 lb. 35' Jayco Eagle with the Equalizer and it tows fantastically.

Easy to hook up, easy to unhook...easy to set up as well.


That's all I have to say about that...

[steeleshark]

I am surprised you have had a poor experience with Equalizer. I have several friends that use it and have nothing but good things to say. That is why I bought one. The Equalizer has been built since the 60s. If it did not work, it would not have lasted this long. Could it be possible that other factors could have been at play like poor hitch setup and/or trailer loading if you had sway issues with the hitch? It seems this is just like another Ford vs Chevrolet discussion.

[jmtandem]

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[APT]

APT wrote:
It's really getting picky between the two. Both have many happy owners. Pick the cheaper one?

And as it often comes down to the details, nuances, and who has a bigger ...

In the real world, they are both very effective and few complaints from owners of either one.

[LarryJM]

Huntindog wrote:
The DC is a friction based control as well. Ron Gratz our resident engineer has studied it in detail..Even once figuring out just how much anti sway the cams actually added to the system. It wasn't a lot as I recall. Good for marketing though. If one were to stop and think about it, the cams are touted as being able to force the TT/TV into a straight line....This is not always desireable. What about turning on a slick road? If the cams really did what they are marketed as doing, then there would be some incidents reported under such conditions.
There is not. Draw your own conclusions.

But the main reason I chose the Equalizer over the DC is a more important one to me. Ground clearance. A properly adjusted DC often has the bars hanging really close to the ground. That is a no starter with me.

The Equalizer does a fine job, and all of the parts tuck up nicely right next to the frame.

I choose the Equal-i-zer over the DC when we got our current trailer back in 2007 (neither the Blue-Ox or Anderson existed or were main stream at the time) for many of the same reasons as you and especially with my molded front propane/battery cover.

As you correctly noted the tauted indent/centering cam setup from the DC system might not be wanted or undesirable in low traction situations by putting extranious forces on the Sway system. I want my Sway system to stiffen up and resist any non TV induced movement and IMO the Equal-i-zer system is hard to beat when that is your main criteria ... of course the ultra premium, HA, Propride, Pull-rites are in a class by themselves and are non friction based for the most part.

My only complaint with the Equal-i-zer is the L bracket "L-pin" configuration. I like things tight and wish the "L-Pin" fit more snugly in the L bracket and I have even made some "shims" to tighten up that connection. Functionally the slop doesn't affect anything, but for me it could have been designed better for my liking.

Larry