# But The Dealer Set It Up For Me!!



## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

You see virtually everyone on this board â€" especially the newbies â€" state that they have just bought a trailer and have a laundry list of mods. Yet adjusting their trailer hitch to operate within specifications and tolerances is no where on it.

I would bet if someone took a poll that 98% of the hitch setups that leave the dealership are so far off that basically they are ineffective.

In fact â€" you have to ask yourself â€" â€œhave I ever taken the time to read the Brake Controller and hitch/WD/Sway setup manual?â€.

If the answer is no then you probably have thrown away good money on a hitch that is setup incorrectly â€" and are probably not getting the performance or safety out of your hitch that you should.

My neighbor down the street just bought a new Thor (but not Outback). He is very proud of it and will be taking it along with my family in out Outback to Gardner State park tomorrow. The dealer he bought it from is a very large and well trusted dealer and set it up for him. My neighbor got a Prodigy brake controller and a Reese WD and Dual Cam.

Immediate mistakes I found was:

1. His brake controller was set on B1 and not B2
2. His hitch ball, when the truck and trailer was both level â€" was 8 inches higher then each other (suppose to be Â¾ to 1â€ for the Reese setup)
3. With his trailer being level and the top of his hitch receiver ball being 17 inches off the ground â€" his Reese WD bars should be 5 Â½ inches off the ground with the slack out of them but with no load â€" his was 11 inches (thus making his WD performance ZERO)
4. When he put his trailer load on the TV his back end sank 3 inches and his front end raised 1 inch.

Anyway â€" took less then 30 minutes to adjust and we took it back out â€" towed TOTALLY different â€¦ and now his truck sets Â½ inches lower all around and tows like a champâ€¦

SO â€" if you havenâ€™t read the hitch manual or actually gone out there and measured your hitch, ball, squat, etc etc â€" your TT and TV ainâ€™t getting what they deserveâ€¦

Just my .02


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## cookie9933 (Feb 26, 2005)

Ghosty makes a very good point. I would hope that 98% aren't set up terribly, but from the accounts here, many apparently are.

When we picked up our Outback, Lakeshore RV installed the Reese equipment that I had bought elsewhere (Lakeshore doesn't sell Reese). But I had read the Reese literature in advance and had a good understanding of how it should be set up. I assisted in loose fitting some of the parts and I watched the tech carefully to be sure he was getting it right.

When we left with our new Outback, the WD and sway control were doing their jobs as expected. Moral to the story: read your literature and know how these components work and how different settings will alter performance. As they say, it's not rocket science.

Bill


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## kjdj (Sep 14, 2004)

Brake control set to B2 ? Thats alot of pre load. Seems High. 
I run with no B setting. 
Are the trailer brakes adjusted correctly?


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

I've got ours set on B1.

Ghosty's right, take the time to read and set up your systems right and you will be rewarded with a stable and safe towing setup .

Mike


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

The B1, B2 or B3 setting is more of a personal taste issue then a requirement. There are recommendations for starting points based on your combination but you can set it where ever it works best for you. I run no boost and am very happy with the responsiveness of the control.


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Funny, I was just reading the settings this morning.
trailer weighs less than TV = boost off or B1
trailer weighs the same as TV = boost off or B1 or B2
trailer weighs up to 25% more than TV = B1 or B2 or B3
trailer weghs up to 40% more than TV = B2 or B3
trailer weighs over 40% more than TV = B3
These numbers are from the prodigy setup table, so depending where you fall on the chart you may have a choice. kirk


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