# Broken L Bracket



## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

While returning from a trip this past weekend to Starlite Camping Resort in PA, made a left hand turn with the trailer and heard a loud pop. After investigating, I found the L bracket holder had completely snapped off. Fortunately, I was about 10 miles from home, and still had the other side holding with no issues.

I've attached some of the pictures. I've called equalizer and they are sending me some replacement parts (new style brackets) free, but, wanted $$ for the back brackets even though they were bent claiming that they can be reversed or hammered out.


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## TexanThompsons (Apr 21, 2009)

I am starting to get some serious indentions in various aspects of my equalizer hitch. The "L" pin and bracket both are showing signs of wear. Then again, I wonder if the soft rear suspension of my excursion could be leading to increased torque on the bars. I know I have spent the better part of a day trying and adjusting to get that excursion level with my equalizer with no luck. The hitch keeps me straight so that works for me for now. Now, onto deciding which route to take in updating my rear suspension


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

That looks nasty!
I'm also surprised at the bends in your "L" pins. After one year, mine still look like new.

TexanThompsons, I wonder if lubricating the contact areas would prevent some of the wear. I bought some of the Equal-i-zer lube, when I bought the hitch. I smear some on about every fifth time I use the hitch. You just have to be careful not to grab the bars where the grease is. Messy!


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

My biggest concern here is safety - I've had this setup for 3 years, its worked great. This year is when I noticed the bending of the bolt heads and the brackets. I know there was a post awhile back about torquing these bolts and, after speaking to support @ equalizer, they told me they should be torqed to 50 ft lbs. I was asked to provide measurements from coupler to L bracket and my length was within what it should be. My take is that if something that strong breaks - then it should all be replaced - at no charge. They opted to replace everything free of charge except the back brackets. My biggest concern being is that if the front broke after 3 years of use - then then I would presume the back brackets would be weakened too. I did opt to spend the extra $$ to have the back brackets sent for piece of mind.

*I am just curious for those that have different brands of hitches how you have fared with them over the years? *and have had any problems like this. If you recall, my whole hitch head was bent - click here - about 2 years ago - to which progress replaced the whole hitch.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Rick I am really shocked to hear the bracket broke, but I'm more concerned with how the link plates are bent. How long have they been like that? After the head problems and this I'm thinking something isn't set up right, but I don't know what. I might be inclined to call and talk to somebody a bit higher up and share you concern for safety after having two major components fail on you. The EQ hitch has a good reputation, I can't say I've read about major problems with it over the years I've been of various RV forums. I had my PullRite SuperGlide 5er hitch fail, and I know how uneasy I was towing after that even though more of the parts were replaced.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Rick, I have to ask. Is it possible that you had the tilt on the hitch head (number of washers) adjusted so that you were over loading the brackets? The only reason I ask is that this seems to be an isolated incident. Haven't seen any other reports of this problem on the forum.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

The hitch is setup with no extra washers, etc. During my last PA state inspection, I asked the inspection station to check my hitch setup and make sure it was ok - they reported back no problems (they are an RV dealership). When the passenger side L bracket snapped, I was making a left hand turn. A turn that I would not consider any different than any turn that I have made. The equalizer is noisy on turns - which - I was told was normal. I will try to cal equalizer today and talk to someone about my problems to see what they say.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I have worked with Daniel Hicken in their customer service department. You might want to ask for him.


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## Braggus (Aug 8, 2010)

Keep us up to date, I have the same hitch so I'm going to follow this thread closely.


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## DieselDave (Apr 6, 2008)

There were a lot of sharp turns and steep grades getting in and out of Starlite. I actually had the passenger side bracket twist and slide back on the frame on my equalizer last weekend. I had the tools with me so I just loosened the bracket and put in back in place Sunday before we headed out. Glad you were able to get home safe and it was great seeing you guys again. Hopefully you weren't late for your cookout.

David


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

DieselDave said:


> There were a lot of sharp turns and steep grades getting in and out of Starlite. I actually had the passenger side bracket twist and slide back on the frame on my equalizer last weekend. I had the tools with me so I just loosened the bracket and put in back in place Sunday before we headed out. Glad you were able to get home safe and it was great seeing you guys again. Hopefully you weren't late for your cookout.
> 
> David


Dave, yes, there where and your TT was much longer than mine!. I've camped at Starlite several times over the last 3 years - along with some other campgrounds with sharp turns in the area - never had any problems. The hitch did not break at Starlite, but, close to home on another turn that I didn't think was very sharp.

I called equalizer yesterday and, as mentioned earlier, they are going to send me the replacement parts - free of charge. In turn, I am going to send the pieces back to them - so that we can investigate further. They believe what may have happened is that my L bracket - and braces - may have slid back some in travel. If you notice the scrape marks looking from the top down - my brackets did move some, but, still where within spec?


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

rdvholtwood said:


> My biggest concern here is safety - I've had this setup for 3 years, its worked great. This year is when I noticed the bending of the bolt heads and the brackets. I know there was a post awhile back about torquing these bolts and, after speaking to support @ equalizer, they told me they should be torqed to 50 ft lbs. I was asked to provide measurements from coupler to L bracket and my length was within what it should be. My take is that if something that strong breaks - then it should all be replaced - at no charge. They opted to replace everything free of charge except the back brackets. My biggest concern being is that if the front broke after 3 years of use - then then I would presume the back brackets would be weakened too. I did opt to spend the extra $ to have the back brackets sent for piece of mind.
> 
> *I am just curious for those that have different brands of hitches how you have fared with them over the years? *and have had any problems like this. If you recall, my whole hitch head was bent - click here - about 2 years ago - to which progress replaced the whole hitch.


I have had with my Reese dual cam hitch an incident in which the pocket for the sway/weight bar on the hitch head snapped off completely. I had it happen when making a turn inside the campground, I heard the normal popping an squeeking noises then I hear a different nise and the sound of metal rolling. I got out and found my 1200lb bar on the ground. I am not sure what caused it to happen, but I picked up a new hitch head, and continued on. I did notice it starting to happen again, but I noticed that it seemed to be right after my trip off the island, which means driving though NYC with the trailer, I had done the same trip just before the last hitch broke as well. I now keep an eye on the hitch, and have made a few adjustments to it in hope of preventing it from happening again.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

I am almost wondering if just taking off the bars at check-in at the campground. Most campgrounds that I have been in have pretty sharp turns. I am sure after awhile that it probably puts so much stress on the bars that eventually they break.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

My snap up bracket failed when going from a parking lot to a road way that was significantly lower. Way over stressed and by the time I knew it I was already committed to the route and just hoped for the best.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

CamperAndy said:


> My snap up bracket failed when going from a parking lot to a road way that was significantly lower. Way over stressed and by the time I knew it I was already committed to the route and just hoped for the best.


I've always thought that a steep change of angle, such as road to driveway, would put tremendous stress on the WD bars. It makes you think it would be a good idea to take Rick's suggestion and remove the bars when you enter a campground. It could save an expensive or inconvenient part breakage. Of course, if the TV's suspension isn't up to the task, you might be dragging the back bumper around the campground!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

duggy said:


> My snap up bracket failed when going from a parking lot to a road way that was significantly lower. Way over stressed and by the time I knew it I was already committed to the route and just hoped for the best.


I've always thought that a steep change of angle, such as road to driveway, would put tremendous stress on the WD bars. It makes you think it would be a good idea to take Rick's suggestion and remove the bars when you enter a campground. It could save an expensive or inconvenient part breakage. Of course, if the TV's suspension isn't up to the task, you might be dragging the back bumper around the campground!








[/quote]

This is what it looked like. I did not have a chance to disconnect before I saw the change in elevation.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

duggy said:


> My snap up bracket failed when going from a parking lot to a road way that was significantly lower. Way over stressed and by the time I knew it I was already committed to the route and just hoped for the best.


I've always thought that a steep change of angle, such as road to driveway, would put tremendous stress on the WD bars. It makes you think it would be a good idea to take Rick's suggestion and remove the bars when you enter a campground. It could save an expensive or inconvenient part breakage.* Of course, if the TV's suspension isn't up to the task, you might be dragging the back bumper around the campground! *








[/quote]

That is true, however, mine does go down some, but, not that low!


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## sdizzyday (Feb 13, 2008)

Not to be a smart alec, bit if someone's TV can't pull their OB around The campground without the WD bars, they have bigger problems. I usually remove th bars before heading into my site. Some of the steep grade changes at our usual campgrounds can make removing the bars difficult, so I do it where it is flat.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

sdizzyday said:


> Not to be a smart alec, bit if someone's TV can't pull their OB around The campground without the WD bars, they have bigger problems. I usually remove th bars before heading into my site. Some of the steep grade changes at our usual campgrounds can make removing the bars difficult, so I do it where it is flat.


Not sure if I agree with this statement. Sure, you could take off the wdh bars on any TT/TV combo and it will just sag more (heck aren't that what bump stops are for?)








However, you'll be way overloading the rear and way unloading the front. 
Can it do it for short term? Probably.... 
Should you have to do it? NO!

My Equalizer brackets were sliding on the tounge no matter how much I torqued them. The bars were cutting into the L brackets, and the L Pins were bending. Before you say I'm overloaded, I've weighed in the tounge at a whopping 475 lbs







(with a shureline tounge scale.....) and the hardware is the same between my Equalizer and the bigger ones. I just replaced it all with the new hardware and the new material is considerably thicker...








Here's hoping it doesn't happen again.


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## TexanThompsons (Apr 21, 2009)

So, if I could just find a way to get a 5th wheel hitch on my excursion, I'd be set.

Based on what you all are saying, I have a feeling I'm in for a failure soon as I have considerable wear on my L-brackets, tension bars, and the L-pins. So much so that I need to take some pics and get ya'lls feedback.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

TexanThompsons said:


> So, if I could just find a way to get a 5th wheel hitch on my excursion, I'd be set.
> 
> Based on what you all are saying, I have a feeling I'm in for a failure soon as I have considerable wear on my L-brackets, tension bars, and the L-pins. So much so that I need to take some pics and get ya'lls feedback.


I am not really sure that is the case - when the equalizer was first purchased - there where no "torque" requirements for the L brackets. I know before every trip I snugged up on the bolts and this may have caused some problems. I did notice they moved somewhat from the scratches on the OB tongue. Progress manufacturing thinks this is why mine failed - even though I was within specs (distance from coupler to L bracket). Most, if not all, the campgrounds I've been to have some pretty tight turns. I am sure that this stress didn't help either.

I am being sent a new design of L brackets from Progress along with torque specs. They are telling me this new design is better than the old L bracket design. My thoughts where to take off my tension bars when I check in to keep the extra stress off the bars from the tight turns.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

rdvholtwood said:


> So, if I could just find a way to get a 5th wheel hitch on my excursion, I'd be set.
> 
> Based on what you all are saying, I have a feeling I'm in for a failure soon as I have considerable wear on my L-brackets, tension bars, and the L-pins. So much so that I need to take some pics and get ya'lls feedback.


I am not really sure that is the case - when the equalizer was first purchased - there where no "torque" requirements for the L brackets. I know before every trip I snugged up on the bolts and this may have caused some problems. I did notice they moved somewhat from the scratches on the OB tongue. Progress manufacturing thinks this is why mine failed - even though I was within specs (distance from coupler to L bracket). Most, if not all, the campgrounds I've been to have some pretty tight turns. I am sure that this stress didn't help either.

I am being sent a new design of L brackets from Progress along with torque specs. They are telling me this new design is better than the old L bracket design. My thoughts where to take off my tension bars when I check in to keep the extra stress off the bars from the tight turns.
[/quote]

My thought on this is that if it isn't broken then don't fix it. The fact that they had in hand a new design of bracket and more installation information in the form of torque specs then this issue has happened before and often enough that they saw a need for this redesign. Personnally if I had an Equal-i-zer of the old style I would write to them and request the new replacements before the old ones failed.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

CamperAndy said:


> So, if I could just find a way to get a 5th wheel hitch on my excursion, I'd be set.
> 
> Based on what you all are saying, I have a feeling I'm in for a failure soon as I have considerable wear on my L-brackets, tension bars, and the L-pins. So much so that I need to take some pics and get ya'lls feedback.


I am not really sure that is the case - when the equalizer was first purchased - there where no "torque" requirements for the L brackets. I know before every trip I snugged up on the bolts and this may have caused some problems. I did notice they moved somewhat from the scratches on the OB tongue. Progress manufacturing thinks this is why mine failed - even though I was within specs (distance from coupler to L bracket). Most, if not all, the campgrounds I've been to have some pretty tight turns. I am sure that this stress didn't help either.

I am being sent a new design of L brackets from Progress along with torque specs. They are telling me this new design is better than the old L bracket design. My thoughts where to take off my tension bars when I check in to keep the extra stress off the bars from the tight turns.
[/quote]

My thought on this is that if it isn't broken then don't fix it. The fact that they had in hand a new design of bracket and more installation information in the form of torque specs then this issue has happened before and often enough that they saw a need for this redesign. Personnally if I had an Equal-i-zer of the old style I would write to them and request the new replacements before the old ones failed.
[/quote]

You can contact them for the new replacements - call for price as I thought for awhile they were running a special - but not sure.

As I was noting that my bolts had bent heads on them, I was getting ready to replace the set, but, it wasn't the bolts that broke!


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Back when we had our Outback I had done some testing for the old company, Linden Hitch (I think). They'd given me some L brackets with Teflon strips attached that would help it move easier and quieter... never did help being quiet but seemed to help with the movement. I don't recall if I gave those to Jim when I sold it or not though.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Nathan said:


> My Equalizer brackets were sliding on the tounge no matter how much I torqued them. The bars were cutting into the L brackets, and the L Pins were bending. Before you say I'm overloaded, I've weighed in the tounge at a whopping 475 lbs
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm wondering if the excessive wear some are experiencing is not due to overloading (tongue weight), but steep head angle causing high load on the bars and brackets. I have mine set fairly light, because with the 3/4 ton it seems like enough. I'm not noticing any wear, beyond scuffing the paint off and making the surface shiny. Maybe on softer suspensions, like I expect your Flex has, the need to increase the WD pressures causes significantly more wear. I wonder if the plastic sleeves would help with that. Also, do you lube the wear surfaces very often?

Just a few thoughts, as I read about bent "L" pins and worn brackets.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

I received my new brackets today and found them a lot better to install than the others. Progress did not include the lock washers with my kit - as shown in their installation diagram. They had mentioned that since I am torquing the bolts to around 50 ft -lbs that I did not need the washers. I am going to get the washers and install them - as I think the original problem may have been from the bolts coming loose and the brackets moving - which may have caused the break.

Duggy - I have a 3/4 ton to and I have mine dialed in to as close as the ideal measurements for front and back should be. I've tried different combinations and the one I have now is the best. I am down a bit in the back - but thats ok for me now.

I asked Progress if I should replace my L pins that are are somewhat bent, but, again I was told no need to replace them. I keep an extra set in the truck - just in case.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

rdvholtwood said:


> I received my new brackets today and found them a lot better to install than the others. Progress did not include the lock washers with my kit - as shown in their installation diagram. They had mentioned that since I am torquing the bolts to around 50 ft -lbs that I did not need the washers. I am going to get the washers and install them - as I think the original problem may have been from the bolts coming loose and the brackets moving - which may have caused the break.
> 
> Duggy - I have a 3/4 ton to and I have mine dialed in to as close as the ideal measurements for front and back should be. I've tried different combinations and the one I have now is the best. I am down a bit in the back - but thats ok for me now.
> 
> I asked Progress if I should replace my L pins that are are somewhat bent, but, again I was told no need to replace them. I keep an extra set in the truck - just in case.


Yeah Rick, I was just wondering out loud what might cause some of these problems. Maybe my time will come too. So far, my brackets have stayed tight on the trailer frame, and there doesn't seem to be any abnormal wear. I did have one more washer in the head, when I was still using my 1/2 ton van, but I only towed the trailer about 500 miles with that van. I've probably hauled it 1000 or so miles, with the 3/4 ton van. I'm going to be dragging it over 1500 miles in the next couple months. Hopefully not, but maybe that will turn up some issues.


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

rdvholtwood said:


> I received my new brackets today and found them a lot better to install than the others. Progress did not include the lock washers with my kit - as shown in their installation diagram. They had mentioned that since I am torquing the bolts to around 50 ft -lbs that I did not need the washers. I am going to get the washers and install them - as I think the original problem may have been from the bolts coming loose and the brackets moving - which may have caused the break.
> 
> Duggy - I have a 3/4 ton to and I have mine dialed in to as close as the ideal measurements for front and back should be. I've tried different combinations and the one I have now is the best. I am down a bit in the back - but thats ok for me now.
> *
> I asked Progress if I should replace my L pins that are are somewhat bent, but, again I was told no need to replace them.* I keep an extra set in the truck - just in case.


Thanks. Glad to hear you don't have to update the pins too. I too keep an extra set.... I also have an L bracket that looks like it has a small crack in the same area as yours. Could be just the paint, but I'll have to look closer. Been thinking about replacing them.....


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