# As I Suspected, The Equalizer Hasn’T Been Set Up Correctly For The Whole Summer.



## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Since I bought a new truck over the winter I figured I would have an Equalizer dealer check my setup on our first trip out this year. The nearest dealer is about 40 miles away but wasn&#146;t far off our route for our first outing. They said everything looked good and sent us on our way. I had thought that the front of the truck looked high but the authorized dealer said it was right so I didn&#146;t think twice about it. See my signature image.

So now we are storing the 21RS until the PNW rally in October. Hadn&#146;t noticed it before but there is a truck scale not too far from home so I decided to get the weights. I first weighed yesterday, just me and the truck. On the way to the storage lot this morning, I weighed me, the truck and the Outback. The truck has about 3/8 of a tank of gas and no other cargo besides me and the cap on the back. The Outback has pretty much everything we camp with except for food, clothes and the bikes in the front. The fresh, grey and black water tanks are all empty, the batteries are installed and there is one full and one 1/4 full propane tank on the front.

Truck and trailer specs:

Truck:
GVWR, 7000 lbs
GAWR FRT, 3950 lbs
GAWR RR, 3950 lbs
Towing capacity: 9500 lbs
GCWR, 15000 lbs

Trailer:
GVWR, 6500 lbs
Shipping weight per brochure, 4720 lbs
Tongue weight per brochure, 340 lbs

Here are the actual weights with driver:

Truck only:
Front axle, 3360 lbs
Rear axle, 2620 lbs

Truck with trailer:
Front axle, 3180 lbs
Rear axle, 3380 lbs
Trailer axles, 4840 lbs

The trailer is only 120 lbs over shipping weight. When I hook it to the truck it pulls 180 lbs off the front axle of the truck and adds 760 lbs to the rear axle. If the added weight were properly distributed, I should end up adding approximately the same amount to both axles shouldn&#146;t I? I am currently running with 5 washers. I don&#146;t think adding a couple more washers is going to make that much difference. I am assuming that I probably need to raise the L brackets on the trailer a notch. May have to add the washers too. The tongue height is pretty level as it stands so I don&#146;t think that changing the head height is the right way to go.

I&#146;m looking for input from those with experience.


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## jake's outback (Jul 24, 2010)

HMMM... I was just at the selling dealer this past week and had a similar question. I measured the the height of the wheel well at the center line of the wheel and had 39 1/4 inches before trailer and when I put the trailer on I have 2 3/4 inches of drop. I notice an unloading of the front suspension. So I asked the installer who said that when you look at the side of the bars hey are parallel with trailer frame and the spacing between the trailer frame and the bar is the same for the length of the bar. I have no pictures but will take some once I start looking into this more.

we have the same TV but we have a 260FL with 785 lbs of tongue weight and am wondering if I.m set up right. We plan on going out next weekend and I've pulled it in it's current configuration with no real issues, but i question my set up as the equalizer web site shows about 1 inch of sag...

I will do what you have done and do some weight measurements and see what I get, may take a week or 2.

Have you tried touching base with the manufacturer?

My coworker gave me a super-spring he no longer required and will repeat measurements once installed. It will be interesting if we get the same info or direction on our setup!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

jake said:


> I.m set up right.


Basically the answer is going to be no. If you noticed any nose up on the TV then you have not got the hitch set up correctly. You either need more head tilt to the rear or stronger WD springs. What size bars do you have?


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## jake's outback (Jul 24, 2010)

I just checked my invoice and it does not say but I was told 1000lbs. Are the bars stamped?
Boy this embarrassing I don't really know what I have guess the blinders were on WRT the hitch and we were focused on the TT...


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

The best approach would be to get out the instuctions and set it up yourself. The instructions are very specific and not hard to follow. Once it's set up properly your truck and trailer will be nice and level with good sway control. I've been very happy with our equal-I-zer.

Mike


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## jake's outback (Jul 24, 2010)

camping479 said:


> The best approach would be to get out the instuctions and set it up yourself. The instructions are very specific and not hard to follow. Once it's set up properly your truck and trailer will be nice and level with good sway control. I've been very happy with our equal-I-zer.
> 
> Mike


 Yes good point, just waiting for them to dry off if you have seen my earlier post today about leaking...









I will post what I do.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

My bars have stamping in the bars that lists the weight range and the date of manufacture. Check the bars carefully for that info--paint may have gotten into the stamped info.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

As already mentioned, the instructions have excellent directions.

Adding or subtracting even one washer has a measurable effect on the attitude of the truck. I had five washers installed for my 1/2 ton van and used it once that way on my new 3/4 ton van. Then I removed one washer, on the thinking that with the heavier rear suspension, I should be able to leave a little more weight on the rear of the TV. The ride of the van is more comfortable this way, than it was with more weight sent forward. With this setup the rear wheel well measurement drops 1" lower with the trailer attached, and the front wheel well is no change from unhitched.

The instructions tell you to add or subtract washers first, and if that doesn't do enough, then start changing heights at the "L" brackets.

I believe the 1000 pound bars are 1 3/8" square tubing, and the other weights are bigger or smaller accordingly.

Doug


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

camping479 said:


> The best approach would be to get out the instuctions and set it up yourself. The instructions are very specific and not hard to follow. Once it's set up properly your truck and trailer will be nice and level with good sway control. I've been very happy with our equal-I-zer.
> 
> Mike


Mike is correct. I removed the round bar system and installed the Equal-i-zer hitch on my truck and trailer in the (level) street in front of my house. (See the photo in my signature) It took about four hours, once I rounded up all the tools.

My trailer tongue is 3/4" lower than the rear of the trailer frame when hitched up. Both of my truck axles are compressed equally so that the truck looks level - just 1-1/2" lower. I tweaked the hitch setup a bit on the next couple trips until I got everything pretty near perfect and now the trailer and truck are nicely balanced with no porpoising.

You can download the installation instructions from the Equal-i-zer website - a pdf document. Then print it out and start from the beginning. Don't assume that the dealer did anything correctly. I was next to a guy in the Black Hills this past summer and the dealer had installed the L-brackets too far back, causing the spring bars to come off in a tight turn. We readjusted his in the nice level campsite and he left a happy camper!

The Equal-i-zer is a great hitch and once you get it set up properly, towing becomes a pleasurable experience.









Mike (too)


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## jba4ever (Jul 16, 2006)

jake said:


> The best approach would be to get out the instuctions and set it up yourself. The instructions are very specific and not hard to follow. Once it's set up properly your truck and trailer will be nice and level with good sway control. I've been very happy with our equal-I-zer.
> 
> Mike


 Yes good point, just waiting for them to dry off if you have seen my earlier post today about leaking...









I will post what I do.
[/quote]
This is the best thing to do. Then you will know 1st hand. I downloaded the instructions from Equal-i-zer's website and went through our setup. Needless to say, I changed more than one thing with the way our hitch had been installed. Also, found Equal-i-zer to be helpful with questions, etc. I emailed one of their engineers in tech support, he offered a lot of knowledge and info you don't get in the guide. He ask me if I would send him pictures of everything hooked up, I added measurements, etc. and he responded with his observations. Of the things I changed, the one which stood out to me the most was I needed to move my "L" brackets back toward the camper several inches. The dealer obviously knew they need to be back, because they mounted them touching the battery storage frame and must have said that's good enough. Where they actually needed to be mounted, I had to take a few extra minutes and move where the battery cable, circuit breaker/fuse were clamped/mounted to make room for the brackets. He saved 30 minutes on the installation time and I was none the wiser...until I looked into it myself. I did not think our setup towed that rough until I pulled out after the new setup. I always thought the ones who said, "I don't even know it's back there", either took liberty in their storytelling or were just plain forgetful. I am not going to say I don't feel it, but I will say it feels like we (truck and camper) are now trying to go camping together instead of each having different plans!


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

A couple more questions.

My hitch head is set up with 5 washers. According to the instructions it can take up to 8. I wasn't given any more washers when I purchased the hitch. I understand they are somewhat special, hardened washers. Should I get more from Equalizer or pick them up at a specialty fastener store? If so what is the size?

How hard is it to tighten the through bolts in the hitch head by yourself? The manual says 320 ft*lbs of torque. If I am using a breaker bar to apply that kind of load, how hard is it to keep the bolt head from spinning?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Use grade 8 washers and those will be fine. To get the correct size, take yours apart and measure what you have and go from there.

For the nuts/bolts standing 200 pounds on the end of an 18" breaker bar gives you more or less 300 ft/lbs of torque. Holding the back wrench on the bolt should not be too hard but use a pipe around the wrench and let the pipe go against the ground.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Stopped on the way to camp on Friday and had our dealer readjust the Equalizer. They raised the ball 2-1/2" which is way more than I expected they would and the setup looks much better. Was able to weight the tandem on the way home We were pretty much fully loaded except for a little food and fire wood. The front axle has the same weight as the truck when it is unloaded now. Before the trailer was actually taking weight off the front axle. The rear axle went up substantially but that is because the truck was unloaded the last time it was weighted. The trailer had about 400 lbs more weight than the last time it was weighed. When you look at the setup, the truck is much more level than my sig pic and the trailer looks pretty level too.

I am now at the top of holes in the shank so there is no more adjustment that I can get there. The L-brackets are set to keep the bars level with the trailer frame. I think I need to add some washers to help push some load forward.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

thefulminator said:


> Stopped on the way to camp on Friday and had our dealer readjust the Equalizer. They raised the ball 2-1/2" which is way more than I expected they would and the setup looks much better. Was able to weight the tandem on the way home We were pretty much fully loaded except for a little food and fire wood. The front axle has the same weight as the truck when it is unloaded now. Before the trailer was actually taking weight off the front axle. The rear axle went up substantially but that is because the truck was unloaded the last time it was weighted. The trailer had about 400 lbs more weight than the last time it was weighed. When you look at the setup, the truck is much more level than my sig pic and the trailer looks pretty level too.
> 
> I am now at the top of holes in the shank so there is no more adjustment that I can get there. The L-brackets are set to keep the bars level with the trailer frame. I think I need to add some washers to help push some load forward.


Glad to hear that everything seems to be set up correctly now. As, from previous posts, I am not sure my setup is correct after snapping an L bracket recently. From your earlier picture, it looks like you are still using the older style L brackets. The newer ones are much nicer IMHO. I still think that the front of my TV needs to come down some - and - it sounds like maybe another washer may do the trick. The only question is though is I think that will put me at either 7 or 8 washers - which I think is a lot. If I move the L bracket up one - it seems to be more level, but, my spring bars have a curve to them. Progress told me that this is OK? I am not sure - is it?

Here are some pics of my setup. This shows the setup without the L bracket being moved up.
Rick


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I'm not completely convinced that the height is correct but it is better than it was before. When the truck was loaded, the top inside of the receiver tube was 17" off the ground. The dealer measured the trailer hitch height as 24-1/2" so there obviously needs to be a difference of a few inches from the top of the ball to the top inside of the receiver tube. Now I can't open my tailgate without hitting the ball. I may play with it before the next trip. Seems like I read somewhere on the forum about an approximate value for weight shifted forward for each washer installed. Will have to try to find that.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

You'll know once you take it out - thats the best test.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

It drives fine now but I know I am over loading my rear axle. I need to throw some more weight to the front.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

How do you know you are overloading your rear axle?


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

When I ran it through the scale on the way home I was 450 lbs over the rating for the rear axle.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

thefulminator said:


> When I ran it through the scale on the way home I was 450 lbs over the rating for the rear axle.


I read your earlier post saying the front was at the same height as without the trailer. With a 3/4 ton, I would normally think that should be perfect. That said, if what you're saying about your axle rating is correct, either you have a lot of weight in the rear of your truck, or there can't be a lot of payload capacity for your rear axle, which seems odd considering it's a 3/4 ton.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

rdvholtwood said:


> Here are some pics of my setup. This shows the setup without the L bracket being moved up.
> Rick


Your "L" bracket, in the pictures, is at the exact same height as mine. Considering we both have the same trailer, and both have 3/4 ton trucks, you must be sending a lot more weight to the front than I am. I'm running with four washers. The only other thing that could affect the overall setup, is the attitude of the trailer. Mine is about an inch lower at the front of the belt line, than the back. If yours is running a little nose high, that would require more washers to achieve the same weight transfer.


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## jake's outback (Jul 24, 2010)

Duggy I think he has a 1500 not a 2500, unless he has not updated his signature.

When I upgraded the TV I stopped by the dealed they unhooked me measured me up and the adjustment i did was agreed to by them. But this is the same place that I saw a traverse pulling a 250RS









Your set up seems to be good (IMHO) but i'm no pro. I have my own issue right now as I seem to be bouncing up and down. not serious but enough to notice, with a load of water going camping and MT coming home. So are you experiencing any of this at the new set up?

I have not added washers yet and I have 4 in place.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

jake said:


> Duggy I think he has a 1500 not a 2500, unless he has not updated his signature.
> 
> When I upgraded the TV I stopped by the dealed they unhooked me measured me up and the adjustment i did was agreed to by them. But this is the same place that I saw a traverse pulling a 250RS
> 
> ...


Oops, you're right. Rick has a 3/4 ton, but for some reason I thought thefulminator did too. Rick and I have also been discussing his setup. Gotta keep track of which is which.

As for your bouncing up and down, it's hard to say what's acceptable. We do have some of that as well. It was worse before I removed one washer. On our old trailer which was 3400 lbs dry, I didn't have any WD system. It actually hauled more smoothly than the Outback, and settled the rear of the van about 1 1/2 inches. I didn't mind that much drop, because that's not a lot lower than the van was all week with my tools and such in it. I remove about 500 lbs of stuff out of the van, before we load up for camping. For our vacation, I remove another couple hundred pounds of small stuff that I can't be bothered with on a normal weekend.

The weight distribution bars definitely transfer trailer motion to the TV. The ride is more jerky than without bars, but no doubt safer for handling and braking.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

duggy said:


> When I ran it through the scale on the way home I was 450 lbs over the rating for the rear axle.


I read your earlier post saying the front was at the same height as without the trailer. With a 3/4 ton, I would normally think that should be perfect. That said, if what you're saying about your axle rating is correct, either you have a lot of weight in the rear of your truck, or there can't be a lot of payload capacity for your rear axle, which seems odd considering it's a 3/4 ton.
[/quote]

Oops, I was thinking you had a 3/4 ton, until Pat showed me the error in my ways!









You're right, with a 1/2 ton you should be sending a bit more weight to the front axle. It would probably be nice to see about a 1/4 or 3/8 inch drop, I would think. Even that isn't likely to remove 450 lbs from the rear axle load. Might be close though!


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I measured the front and rear heights when I disconnected for the dealer to make the adjustments. The back end was about an inch lower because of the weight in the bed. Also all four of us were out of the cab so I figured the front would drop some when we all got in. When the trailer was attached, the front and rear both dropped the same amount. It was about an inch lower than the front without any of us in the cab.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

thefulminator said:


> I measured the front and rear heights when I disconnected for the dealer to make the adjustments. The back end was about an inch lower because of the weight in the bed. Also all four of us were out of the cab so I figured the front would drop some when we all got in. When the trailer was attached, the front and rear both dropped the same amount. It was about an inch lower than the front without any of us in the cab.


Sounds pretty good to me! I guess the big test now is to see how it drives. I'm betting you're going to see an improvement.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

It definitely drives better. Much less bounce. I just want the WD hitch to be doing it's job and throwing some more load forward. I sent Progress an e-mail asking the same question. Will post the answer when I get it.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

thefulminator said:


> It definitely drives better. Much less bounce. I just want the WD hitch to be doing it's job and throwing some more load forward. I sent Progress an e-mail asking the same question. Will post the answer when I get it.


Thats good to hear!

For those of us with equalizer hitches, this is a good topic. Once I take my TT and TV to the weigh station (tomorrow), I will start over and re-install my equalizer. The back of the TV is loaded as normal (with wood, coleman stove, etc) and the trailer is pretty much loaded except for clothes and refrigerated food. I currently have 6 washers (which I think is a lot for a 3/4 ton) and am going to try to add 1 more - I think its 8 max to see if it will level up anymore. As you can see from the pic, the TV nose is up and would like it down just a bit more.

If I adjust the L bracket up one, the spring bars look slightly curved, but the TV and TT look level. Progress mentioned that there was no problem with the curve in the spring bars - even though it seems like a lot of tension to me.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

duggy said:


> Here are some pics of my setup. This shows the setup without the L bracket being moved up.
> Rick


Your "L" bracket, in the pictures, is at the exact same height as mine. Considering we both have the same trailer, and both have 3/4 ton trucks, you must be sending a lot more weight to the front than I am. I'm running with four washers. The only other thing that could affect the overall setup, is the attitude of the trailer. Mine is about an inch lower at the front of the belt line, than the back. If yours is running a little nose high, that would require more washers to achieve the same weight transfer.
[/quote]

I thought about this more - I am not sure what height the rear of your TV is compared to mine. If this is the case, it may explain the difference in the # of washers that I have installed. I think by adding another washer it would level me out.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

With the truck loaded, it was 17" to the top inside of the receiver tube.


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