Help setting hitch head angle

[HaulinBass02]

So we went to pickup out new/used Trail-lite 30BH today. I already thought I might need a longer drop hitch shank and it was confirmed today. Need to get about a 7" drop, basically I need to go down about 2 more holes on the shank that I don't have....
Regardless, we were still able to get hitched up and when I went to put the WD bars on I could barely get them in the 2nd link. The bars were also at a downward angle quite a bit.
The coupler is a bottom mount, meaning it is inverted and welded to the bottom of the frame rather than the top. So this already creates a weird offset for the WD system anyway. Do I tilt the hitch head forward towards the suburban to help the bars align more parallel to the frame and get more links on the bracket? What would be the best way to do this?

[HaulinBass02]

To slightly revive this thread, I finally got the longer drop shank in and was able to adjust the head down and check out the setup over all. Putting the chain in the snap up brackets in the 8th link (2nd from the end) was all I could do given the head position and angle due to the inverted coupler. But it redistributed the weight as it should using the instructions and direction offered by several members.

The longer drop allowed me to get the trailer level (as measured at the frame rails at front and rear of trailer) and for whatever reason it seemed like there was a lot less noise coming from the system this time around while turning etc. II felt a lot better with the tongue down as I'm sure it also helped put the right amount of weight onto the Suburban as well. No bucking and bouncing with it this time.

Got to figure out how to post the pics from my phone....

[HaulinBass02]

93Cobra2771 wrote:
The longer shank will make no difference in chain length. My advice: get the dual cam installed and start loving it. It is a great system.

I still need to be able to drop the hitch head more than the current shank will allow. As per my initial post, I am not able to do a full correct setup due to lack of current hitch adjust-ability. Once I do get it dialed in, it will have to work for a while until I can buy the Dual Cam setup. The chain length issue is because of the inverted coupler on the trailer frame.

[bjlakatos1]

The purpose of the adjustable head angle is two-fold: 1)adjust the angle of the spring bars and 2)provide angle adjustment to get the proper tension to distribute the hitch weight to front wheels and back to trailer wheels. The guideline is that the bars are parallel to the ground/trailer.

BARS ANGLED UP TOO FAR: Your hitch has a requirement for a minimum number of links that must be in between the bar and the snap-up hook to allow for turning as mentioned above.

BARS ANGLED DOWN TOO FAR: the bars may be exposed to hitting something on the ground.

[jmtandem]

The longer shank will make no difference in chain length. My advice: get the dual cam installed and start loving it. It is a great system.

Times Two!!!

I went to the Cequent (Reese) Dual Cam set up instruction and they recommend a rear hitch head tilt as well. They recommend about five links and as straight as possible (vertical) chains. (The exception to tilt is if you have a bottom ball coupler.) There are also several good You Tube videos on how to set up the dual cam. Good luck.

[93Cobra2771]

The longer shank will make no difference in chain length. My advice: get the dual cam installed and start loving it. It is a great system.

[HaulinBass02]

I have to take the trailer and get it inspected here today or tomorrow. I will post some pictures of the setup, even though I won't be completely set right, you can see what I'm talking about with the WD bars. The only way I could engage the 2nd to last link was by jacking up the trailer/truck.
Once I get the longer shank in this week I'll redo the whole setup and see if it is any better.

[93Cobra2771]

Are you jacking the trailer/truck up when trying to engage the chains? This makes it easier to hook up. On bottom mount couplers, I'm not so sure you need them to be perfectly level - you have tons more clearance than a regular setup. The goal on level is to avoid the ends of the bars from hitting the frame during off camber/turns, etc.

You will have more links under tension than on a top mounted coupler. It is highly doubtful you are hitting anything during turns, as the bottom mount coupler gives a ton of clearance. You are likely hearing the friction slider. They can make a "popping" sound at low speed during cornering.

The dual cam setup is a far superior system to your friction slider setup.

[HaulinBass02]

93Cobra2771 wrote:
You might need to SLIGHTLY loosen your friction bar if it isn't straightening properly. Or, tap your trailer brakes and see if it straightens out. I could see that happening with lighter weight trailers, but would be unusual on heavier trailers, IMO.

My trailer wasn't set up properly hitch wise and didn't have a whole lot in it. That's why I was curious if a friction sway control could do that. When I corrected the opposite direction it would drive straight and not pull.

So, in reading all of the setup stuff, I'm not sure there is enough chain on the existing WD bars to get it set up properly. The bars ride slanted up towards the rear with the head tilted slightly to the back in the 2nd loop from the end. I think that puts it in the 7th loop IIRC.
Is it possible to replace the chain with a longer one to get the setup right? There is a lot of popping and noise going on back there compared to my other trailer which makes me believe I'm hitting the frame on turns. My only other option would be to go ahead and get the DC setup and forgo trying to adjust what is there. It seems to setup and work better with the inverted hitch coupler anyway...

[93Cobra2771]

You might need to SLIGHTLY loosen your friction bar if it isn't straightening properly. Or, tap your trailer brakes and see if it straightens out. I could see that happening with lighter weight trailers, but would be unusual on heavier trailers, IMO.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Haulin,

I figured it was a misworded typo. Lol

I have heard of that happening a little with the friction sway bar. Maybe more common with the E4 or Reese SC style systems, but don't see why it couldn't happen with the side mount models also.

[HaulinBass02]

Sorry if I said round trunnion bar! I know the difference I just typed incorrectly! I have round bars.
As far as the shank and head are concerned, I've already flipped it from where it was and dropped the head as low as it will go. I have a new longer drop shank on the way.
I'll spend next weekend and get the hitch setup better. Probably won't get a dual can anytime soon but at least the WD will be setup right and be a little more stable back there.
On a side note, have any of you ever had a friction sway control "stick" and cause the trailer to track funny? It seemed that after a hard turn one way or the other, the trailer would tend to "push" the suburban the direction of the last turn! I could correct it by doing a small "s" turn but I don't ever remember that happening with our first trailer with a frictions type sway control. I tightened it per instructions on the control but I wonder if it was TOO tight?

[Need-A-Vacation]

Haulin,

You say round trunnion bar??? It is either a round bar system (bars insert into bottom of hitch head) or a trunnion bar system ( bars inser into rear of hitch head).

As JM mentioned, the different style hitches may not result in the bars being parallel to the trailer frame.

If you do have the round bar system, that model will usually result in the bars being parallel to the trailer frame, or very close to parallel.

If you have the trunnion system, the bars are angled down. Depending on the coupler style (top, mid, bottom) the bars will be angled a little different to make sure they clear the trailer frame.

Here is a pic of our Reese Dual Cam Trunnion system.



Just make sure whoever installs the Dual Cam system they know what they are doing if it is the bolt on system with the adjustable cam arm. When the dealer installed my system they screwed it up. They didn't bolt the cam brackets on the trailer frame properly. As a result, one of the brackets bolts stripped out, and actually bent the cam arm. As crazy as it may sound, I have actually gone old school and found a nib original, u-bolt model Dual Cam. I haven't gotten a pic of the installed system yet though.

As long as the dealer gets the cam and bracket warrantied, I'm considering having a u-bolt style bracket made for the adjustable cam arms.

[93Cobra2771]

FYI - hitch height is the last thing you adjust. You adjust hitch angle and such until you have the correct amount of weight distribution. Then you adjust the hitch height.

It would be helpful for you to post a pic of your setup. Those bottom mount couplers can be a bit of a bear to get set correctly due to being so unique.

Also, check your hitch and make sure it can't be flipped to add more drop. Some can, which helps fix the problem.

The dual cam setups actually work very well with the bottom mount couplers due to the extra clearance they provide.

The links listed earlier in this thread are excellent sources.

[HaulinBass02]

jmtandem wrote:

On a similar note, how much of a difference does it make if the chains aren't perpendicular to the frame? The snap up brackets look like they need to be moved forward to get the chains more vertical but I may wait until I get the dual cam and reset everything

If it was my hitch, when setting it up I would try for as vertical as possible.

Yeah that may be a little problem, propane tank brackets may prevent that. I have to look at it a little better here tonight.