# Weight Distribution Bar



## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Man, 
This has NOT been my day to drive!! Maybe 1 1/2 hrs. sleep, last night, but had hooked up the camper (properly) before I went to bed, last night. I learned something the hard way, today.........do NOT make too sharp a turn (as in a U-turn, at an intersection). I had done this before, with no problem. Did it, today, and guess what?? The weight distributing bar fell OUT of the hitch. 
Now, of course, I didn't notice this, and I was just driving down the street, and Jimmy proclaimed the camper was making a funny noise.







I said, "no, Jimmy, somebody's just breaking up the street somewhere with a jack hammer!"







Well, the traffic light in front of me turned red, and I stopped. The noise stopped. I started back up, the noise started back up. Too much of a coincidence, huh?








Got to the first place I could pull over, while Jimmy's going bezerk




























and I'm trying to calm him down





















. Sure nuff, when I had made that turn, the bar had turned to the notch in the hitch and fell out!! The bar took a beating, too!! It has this nice "engraved" shiny look, at the bend, now.








Just thought I'd share this with you guys. 
Darlene


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## old_tidefan (Nov 23, 2005)

The good thing is that tomorrow is a new day


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

What weight distributions system do you have? My Equal-i-zer's bars have pins in them so there is no way they can fall out. So did you tear the road up? Glad you caught it before it became to much of a problem and everyone is ok.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Yes what weight distribution setup you have I never heard of the bars popping out

Don


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

tidefan said:


> What weight distributions system do you have? My Equal-i-zer's bars have pins in them so there is no way they can fall out. So did you tear the road up? Glad you caught it before it became to much of a problem and everyone is ok.


It's the round weight distribution bars. There's no pins in them. There's a pin on the tongue, but none on the hitch part, where they slide up. You line them up with a notch in the hitch holes and that locks them in.
I don't care about the road, but I put a ding in my shiny Dodge Ram bumper......poor baby!!







You have to get on your hands/knees to see it, but I know it's there. It's just a vehicle, though.







Thank goodness for Jimmy's "big ears"!!







He hears everything he's NOT supposed to!!
Darlene


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Glad to hear everything turned out ok







Sorry about your pretty truck









Do I see a future Equalizer owner here?


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

skippershe said:


> Glad to hear everything turned out ok
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You see a future something owner here. A semi, to my left, also realized he was missing his exit, to my right, on the way home. He swerved in front of me, slammed on his brakes and I, in turn, had to slam on mine. He MADE his exit!!














Meanwhile, I was trying to keep the TT from flipping, as it was swerving like crazy, all over the interstate!! The dealership stuck me with a Reese friction bar, and, believe it or not, that's all several of the dealerships/RV stores recommend!! However, I read, with my own two eyes, that it's not recommended for TT's over 26', so there WILL be a change, when I get it out of the shop. Also gonna get a slide awning for the superslide. It gets nasty, and moldy, and that doesn't help my allergies. ACHOO!!!








Darlene


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

I think mine are the draw-tite. They have a label on them, but they're in the camper, 50 miles away, and my brain...........well, it's fried!!





















Good nite, everybody!!
Darlene


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## Camping Fan (Dec 18, 2005)

sgalady said:


> You see a future something owner here. A semi, to my left, also realized he was missing his exit, to my right, on the way home. He swerved in front of me, slammed on his brakes and I, in turn, had to slam on mine. He MADE his exit!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow!







Glad you were able to get things back under control Darlene. You'd think a semi driver, of all people, would know better than to cut off somebody towing a trailer like that!











> The dealership stuck me with a Reese friction bar, and, believe it or not, that's all several of the dealerships/RV stores recommend!! However, I read, with my own two eyes, that it's not recommended for TT's over 26', so there WILL be a change, when I get it out of the shop.


It's amazing, and somewhat frightening, how many dealers seem to tell people all they need is a friction bar for towing even a large trailer. Put your foot down and tell your dealer you want a dual cam WD set-up or an Equalizer, and if they balk remind them the customer is always right!







Somehow I don't think you'll have any problem doing that given your past dealings with them.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Glad to hear the WD bars only took slight damage and that you were able to get things back in order.


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## paylorr (Sep 27, 2006)

Camping Fan said:


> You see a future something owner here. A semi, to my left, also realized he was missing his exit, to my right, on the way home. He swerved in front of me, slammed on his brakes and I, in turn, had to slam on mine. He MADE his exit!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow!







Glad you were able to get things back under control Darlene. You'd think a semi driver, of all people, would know better than to cut off somebody towing a trailer like that!











> The dealership stuck me with a Reese friction bar, and, believe it or not, that's all several of the dealerships/RV stores recommend!! However, I read, with my own two eyes, that it's not recommended for TT's over 26', so there WILL be a change, when I get it out of the shop.


It's amazing, and somewhat frightening, how many dealers seem to tell people all they need is a friction bar for towing even a large trailer. Put your foot down and tell your dealer you want a dual cam WD set-up or an Equalizer, and if they balk remind them the customer is always right!







Somehow I don't think you'll have any problem doing that given your past dealings with them.















[/quote]

Don't want to hijack this, but am I hearing (reading) that Equalizers don't need a seperate sway bar? Sounds interesting if true. My sway bar works well, but it is one more thing to hook up, I have to remove it to do any serious backing up, and one end is really tight up against the WDH bar bracket on the tongue (hard to get the safety pin in).


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

> The dealership stuck me with a Reese friction bar, and, believe it or not, that's all several of the dealerships/RV stores recommend


My dealership wanted to give me a friction anti-sway, too, when I bought my 31RQS. They said that's all they ever use and had no problems with them. I told them I wanted something better, so they threw in an Equalizer they just happened to have in stock.

Sorry you had some trouble. And I'm glad it wasn't more serious.

Mark


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## bentpixel (Sep 2, 2006)

The Hensely Arrow would have made that turn.









Glad only wits and a bar were damaged.

Scott


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

bentpixel said:


> The Hensely Arrow would have made that turn.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually Hensley's have a turn limit also and if you turn it too hard you can shear the strut pins (I think that is the correct name for them). Hensley's are very good but they are not impossible to break.


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## bentpixel (Sep 2, 2006)

CamperAndy said:


> The Hensley Arrow would have made that turn.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually Hensley's have a turn limit also and if you turn it too hard you can shear the strut pins (I think that is the correct name for them). Hensley's are very good but they are not impossible to break.
[/quote]
I have practiced forward lock to lock full circle turns on level ground without damage. It is alittle strange seeing so much trailer in the side mirror. The shear bolts are soft enough to fail first under extreme (jacknife) situations to save the struts. And I fear anything can break at some point.







Just sorry that sgalady had trouble on the road and glad noone was injured.


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## BenandTina (Jul 13, 2005)

Hi Darlene. 
We have the Reese Dual-Cam HP hitch. I had the friction sway bar when we got our 30RLS and on the highway we were all over the road. Since I bought the Dual-Cam we have no sway issues. With your camper you need more than just a friction sway control.
Ben


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## Reverie (Aug 9, 2004)

Darleen,

I had the same thing happen to me back in the Spring. Lucky for me, it happened as I was swinging the trailer around in the cul-de-sac just before backig into the driveway. KD asked me why something was hanging down and sure enough, it was my left bar (I turned to the left in the circle). Nothing damaged but my pride.

As for a bumper dent...

Two weeks after I bought the Tundra, KD backed it into a Jaguar. The bumper still had the dealer tag but was bent up and mashed a little. I leave it as a reminder...

Reverie


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Glad it for the most part turned out OK. Seems like a 1 min stop too calm Jimmys nerves when he heard the noise could saved the day







Coulda, woulda, shoulda, I know









John


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Verstelle said:


> Don't want to hijack this, but am I hearing (reading) that Equalizers don't need a seperate sway bar?


That is correct. There is a single bar on each side that serves both weight distribution and sway control purposes. And no chains to mess with! Very easy to set up, robrain. A great hitch!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

tdvffjohn said:


> Darleen,
> 
> I had the same thing happen to me back in the Spring. Lucky for me, it happened as I was swinging the trailer around in the cul-de-sac just before backig into the driveway. KD asked me why something was hanging down and sure enough, it was my left bar (I turned to the left in the circle). Nothing damaged but my pride.
> 
> ...


You know, Nickerie,
The weird thing was, here I was, as I said, in downtown Milledgeville, college kids all over the place, and NO ONE signalled me or anything to indicate there was a problem!! Glad KD had your back!! Don't ya wish you'd had hers when she hit the JAG??? OUCH!!
Darlene


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## ee4308 (Aug 23, 2005)

PDX_Doug said:


> Don't want to hijack this, but am I hearing (reading) that Equalizers don't need a seperate sway bar?


That is correct. There is a single bar on each side that serves both weight distribution and sway control purposes. And no chains to mess with! Very easy to set up, robrain. A great hitch!









Happy Trails,
Doug
[/quote]

Which hitch do you use?
Husky [ 11 ] [7.01%] 
Equal-i-zer [ 46 ] [29.30%] 
Reese [ 77 ] [49.04%] 
Draw-tite [ 10 ] [6.37%] 
Pull-Rite [ 0 ] [0.00%] 
Hensley [ 7 ] [4.46%] 
Other not listed [ 6 ] [3.82%]

I don't have to mess with my chains, just "hang 4" and chinch er up!


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## BenandTina (Jul 13, 2005)

Hi Eugene. Mine looks just like that. It is a great hitch.


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## Gemsters (Jul 7, 2006)

Hi Eugene,

Just wondering how much did your hitch setup cost?

Brent


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