Equalizer setup ?

[HIDE OUT]

Hi everyone. I just had an equalizer 4 pt. hitch installed at a dealer. as I was reading the manual it states that the best position for the L brackets is 32 inches from the center of the ball coupler but if there is an obstruction. that you can move it up to 27 inches no more. Mine were put at 29" on one side and 30" on the other side. when in fact there is plenty of room to put them both at 32" My ? is was there a reason for this or did they just not care and should I move them to 32" Thanks for any Help.

[DaGrinch]

Sounds to me like they didn't care... and yes, I would move them to the optimum 32", as the instructions state.

Just my $0.02... and I've been using the Equal-I-zer since '08.

[MOD Guy]

Sounds like a sloppy setup, like mine was. I would reset it to what the manual says. That's what I did with mine.

[Great Laker]

Mine were set uneven from the dealer also. There was no apparant obstruction on the shorter side. I strongly suggest you continue reading the set up instructions and assure everything is installed correctly and with your own measurements. You most likely will have to make a couple of adjustments to dial everthing in.

[HIDE OUT]

Thanks that's what I thought. everything else looked pretty good made sure TT and truck were loaded up to about 90% of total weight so they could set it up right. truck and tt looked pretty level. but I better check everything else.

[Signguy71]

Take the manual and start from the beginning and set the hitch up right. Seems like none of the dealers know how or care.

The dealer did mine and they didn't have any thing right.

[Pher1130]

Yeah I agree, the dealers either don't care or just don't know what they're doing on hitch setups. Read the instructions and watch Equalizer's online setup video. My dealer didn't set mine up right either. Mine were too far forward on the TT and they had the hitch too low on the shank. I fought that trailer for a 1000 miles towing home from the dealer.

Good luck!

[raspivey]

That's been my experience as well. I didn't know what to expect with my first trailer and went to pick it up with two different size ball mounts so I'd have four possible ball heights. The guy that did the PDI just glanced at them and picked up the 2" drop. Between the low ball and the nearly 2" squat, I was nose down by almost 6". I ended up with 3" of rise to nearly level it before going to a WDH. With the new trailer, I already had the hitch adjusted (similar tongue weight and mount height) so I just glanced to see that it was "close enough" and adjusted it slightly at the house. They would have just slapped that one on as well.

[dbarr]

Nothing like a couple of extra holes. I'd be getting some money back. Like dang near the entire cost of the parts.

[Devilscreekw]

I had a bit of an obstruction as well...Flagstaff mounts a ser# plate right over the 32" mark. I ended up taking a rat tail file to the drivers side mounting bracket bottom hole and extending it down about 1/4 ". Mounted fine after that. Get out your torque wrench and follow instructions.

My TT tongue height was 21". Because my Dodge 2500 is high, I had to use an aftermarket shank that I already owned for my old trailer. Worked fine as I needed a full 2 1/2" drop. I used 5 washers in the head, and placed the L brackets in the middle holes.

When hitched up, the front end height was identical to unloaded, and back end only down 1/2".

Just completed two eight hour pulls with the unit. Works FANTASTIC. I would highly recommend this hitch to anyone.

I towed the unit home originally with my 10,000 lb drawtite with 750 lb round bars and no anti sway. It was awful. Unit porpoised above 55 mph, and trailer swayed a bunch with semi traffic.

I could not believe it made so much difference. I set my cruise at 60 mph and can drive with one hand.

[Pher1130]

I'm still fine tuning my setup. The last thing I need to attempt is adding washers to the hitch head. The dealer put 4 in but want to add 1 or 2 more to see if that will help reduce the sway even more. Can someone confirm if adding washers only puts more weight on the front wheels of the TV or does it also do something else? I can't seem to find or figure out what the washers do. In case this helps or someone has the same setup, I have a 2009 Suburban 1500 4wd and a Palomino Solaire 317BHSK. Any advice on what specifically the washers help with would be appreciated.

[raspivey]

I have a different style hitch, so I'm not 100% positive, but most hitches that use washers for head adjustment use them as spacers to control the amount of front to back tilt you have. The farther back (bars pointed more to the ground) the head is tilted, the more leverage is applied when placed under load assuming you don't change anything else. The more leverage, the more weight is transferred. So , to answer the question, the washers are there to fine tune tension. Before you start adding more, I'd break out the manual and take some measurements hitched and unhitched so you have something for comparison.

[keith_h]

The hitch distributes weight to the front axles of your TV. The washer affect how much is transferred. You need to take measurements to determine how many washers are needed. As I recall the directions suggest starting with 4 for SUV's and 5 for pickup trucks. The minimum is 4 washers and the maximum is 8. After this you need to adjust the L-brackets. On my Explorer I have 5 washers. This brings my front end about 1/4" above its normal loaded for a trip height and my back end is about a 1/2" lower.

For the L-bracket position my installation guide says 32" for optimum and nothing less than 29" from the center of the coupler. They might have changed it since mine was manufactured but tell me the further back the better. I ended up at 30 1/2" due to the location of LP tank plate location.

[Pher1130]

Thanks for all the help. My L brackets are all the way back to 32 inches.