Reese Dual Cam wearing out?

[TJHUB]

I purchased a Reese Dual Cam hitch in 2008 that was originally mounted on a Puma TT. The hitch was transferred to my 2010 Jayco in 2010, which has about 300 lbs more on the tongue.

Last year, I noticed that my truck was sagging a little more than usual. Today, I decided to try a little more pressure on my bars, so I tried moving up a link on the chains. The left bar required a "normal" amount of pressure to latch into place. The right bar seemed way too much, so I left it in its normal chain link. It seems the left bar has worn far more than the right.

My question is, what wears out? The bars look new in almost every way, so is it the receiver that's worn? Is that normal? Should I replace it?

Thanks.

[TJHUB]

I was new to TT's in 2008, and was never instructed to grease anything on the hitch. I also neglected to read the manual as well. I remember not lubing the bars the first year or so. Since that time, I've kept everything greased, but I have never lubed the cams in any way. But my TT gets a very short camping season here in Wisconsin. Not just because of the weather, but mostly due to kids in sports. What I'm saying is that we don't camp often (3 times last year). I tow about 300 to 500 miles per year maximum.

As it turns out, we are leaving this morning for a camping trip. I won't have time for photo now, but I will when we get back. I did a simple test with both bars, and both bars hang about an inch lower in the head on the right side. It would seem the bars are fine, but the head might be worn on the left side? This also explains why the pressure on the bars feels similar when the left bar is one link higher on the chain. The truck also sits better with the left bar up the one link.

Other than that, the hitch appears to be adjusted perfectly. There is a little cam wear, but not much at all. The bars look great.

[myredracer]

The bars should only be lubed with Vaseline as per Reese instructions. This was covered in another thread in the past week. Maybe in the towing forum? A very thin layer of lithium grease *may* work, but I would read what was said about lube in that thread. Lube is usually only used if there is objectionable noise - friction is needed as part of the operation of the dual cam hitch.

If you have higher TW, what rating are your spring bars and what is the new actual TW? Maybe you need higher rated bars? You can flip the cam arms from left to right to get back to a new surface. Cam arms do wear excessively but I think it takes a lot of miles and/or high TW. I could be wrong, but I think the bar "notches" don't wear as fast. Also, don't forget to mark your bars left and right so they stay matched to the wear pattern on each side (maybe you knew this already).

I think it would help to post photos of the wear on each bar/cam surface and a side photo of the TV & TT hitched up to see how it looks.

[DavidP]

Not sure what style DC you have but mine is round bar with 1000k bars. The bores the bars slide in on the hitch head can wear as well as the contact point on the bars. The saddles and portion on load bar that ride in the saddle wear also. I have had mine since 05 and it seems to wear evenly. Any slight wear mine has makes no difference. If anything eventually I may have to provide more tilt on the head from bars fitting looser in the bore. With friction comes wear but it would take a long time to wear one out completely.
The area on the round bars that need to be checked periodically are the grooves in the top of the bars that keep them from falling out of the hitch head. I have read other posts where they have cracked. IMO there should be a pin as a failsafe as well.

[93Cobra2771]

Are the ends of the bars lubed heavily where they go into the receiver head? If not, they need to be.

I would suggest checking the head for wear/cracks/bending and make sure everything is square and true.

Also, keep in mind - any time your load changes, your cams need to be adjusted so they are perfectly centered in the saddles. If your truck is sagging more, and there are no signs of problems with the head, you likely have added more load than you realize, or your rear suspension is getting a bit tired.