travel trailers

[rmgozia]

Novice - Need to know what size equalizer hitch to buy. the trailer I am buying has a tongue weight of 580 lbs.

[Hannibal]

I bought a Reese HP trunion style with cams integrated into the spring bars just in case I decide to add the dual cam arms later for sway control. I'm toying with the idea now as our last trip was pretty windy. Not scary but constant minor steering corrections got a little annoying. I went with 800 lb bars for our 7-900~ lb tongue weight. It tows and rides very well with these. If I ever need higher rated spring bars, that's all I'll need to buy with the Reese HP. The head is rated for up to 1700 lbs tongue weight. Second choice would be the Equalizer with 1k lb bars.

[SoundGuy]

old guy wrote:
i would consider buying something higher than a 1000 lb hitch, if you by chance buy a bigger TT a few years down the road you only have to buy one hitch.

BAD IDEA. 😞 It would appear the OP will be running +/- 600 lbs gross tongue weight with this trailer he's interested in so if the 600 / 6,000 lb Equal-i-zer isn't sufficient at most he'd be best to go with the 1,000 / 10,000 lb Equal-i-zer as the next step up is the 1,200 / 12,000 lb version which would be WAY to stiff for a 4500 lb trailer. If upgrading in the future is his concern then he'd be better off with a Blue Ox Sway Pro, with which the only parts needing replacement when moving to a different weight category are the springs bars ... with an Equal-i-zer he'd have to change the head as well, which in turn means he might as well sell it used and buy an entirely new unit.

[old_guy]

i would consider buying something higher than a 1000 lb hitch, if you by chance buy a bigger TT a few years down the road you only have to buy one hitch.

[DutchmenSport]

BillyW wrote:
I would get the Equal-I-zer rated for 1000/10,000 lbs.

Agree! ^^^^^

[Lynnmor]

You want the bars to be no higher capacity than necessary. When you know what the tongue weight is, then buy the correct bars. The bars need to flex and heavier than necessary is not better.

[SoundGuy]

rmgozia wrote:
I will be pulling it with a Ram 1500 4x4 with a 5.7 Hemi. The only downside is the rear end ratio of 3.21.

So it's not a toy hauler ... as I said, unusual numbers for a trailer like this. :h With a "total dry weight" of just 3500 lbs I'd expect most owners would be towing somewhere around 4500 lbs which in turn suggests a gross tongue weight of around 600 lbs @ ~ 13% of gross weight, loaded and ready to camp.

RAMs aren't known for generous payload capacity so along with that seriously non-tow friendly 3.21 axle ration it's just as well you're sticking with a relatively light weight trailer. 😉

[jerem0621]

If you are talking a standard weight distribution hitch then I would shoot for something in the 750 -800 lb range. I would use two add on friction sway bars if you go with a standard hitch. I personally would go for the round bar version as I like the tapered spring bars since they give a little better ride (imho)

If You are looking for the Equal-I-zer brand then you should be looking at the 1,000 lb model.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[TurnThePage]

I would get the Equal-I-zer rated for 1000/10,000 lbs.

[rmgozia]

I will be pulling it with a Ram 1500 4x4 with a 5.7 Hemi. The only downside is the rear end ratio of 3.21.

[rmgozia]

FYI. The model is a Riverside Retro 195.

[rmgozia]

FYI. The model is a Riverside Retro 195.

[rmgozia]

Gross Trailer Weight Rating 7580
Trailer Dry Weight 3472
Carrying Capacity 4108
Hitch Dry Weight 580

Would not expect to carry more than 1000 lbs. in trailer at the most.+

[hohenwald48]

Yeah, sounds like a toy hauler. Hopefully he can tell us the weight of what he's going to put in it.

[afidel]

That's got to be a toy hauler, lots of CCC and an unusually high dry tongue weight.