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Old 02-15-2018, 02:52 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by jayrodoh View Post
A lot of that noise comes from the spring bars sliding on the brackets that bolt to the trailer frame when you are turning. One poster described it perfectly earlier when they referenced the titanic groaning and creaking while sinking. The first time I pulled with an equalizer hitch I thought something was wrong too. I’ve found greasing the brackets on the trailer along with making sure the pivot points on the head are greased keeps it fairly quiet. You’ll find many many opinions on here on here when it comes to greasing the bars, it works for me and i don’t notice any reduction in sway control etc. It should be quiet on the straightaway though.

Regardless, your ball and coupler should not look like that. Enjoy the races and good luck with your repairs.
Be careful when lubricating WDH with built in sway control. Sway control with fastway e2 and some other hitches is achieved by metal to metal friction on the L brackets and some noise is perfectly normal. Fastway manual says lubricating L brackets is not necessary and could affect anti- sway performance. I have 2 point sway and some hitches have 4 point sway control. I only grease the ball and round bar pivot points. Agreed ground up Ball like the OP has is not normal even without grease.
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Old 02-19-2018, 07:49 PM   #42
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Ok here are my thoughts on what was wrong and yes i will take the blame. Went to hitch shop today, we did several things including weighing the tongue weight, I was shocked to see it at 1000 lbs. Trailer specs say empty tongue weigh is 730. We added an AC on front and today I had about 125 in the front storage. Now on the way from tampa we had a full fresh water tank, and prob 175 in the nose storage.
Truck tongue weight is 1050 so i was way over im sure, truck was level with weight distribution hitch and drove fine but I know i overloaded it by 500 lbs

I am not totally sure why ball got torn up but think weight did not help

I take most of the blame but also lay some on dealer, being new to this i trusted they would make sure everything was in spec. But ultimately it the pilot in commands fault. I sent the trailer home with my friend and his F350. I need to lower tongue weight by reloading trailer, and making sure no liquids on board. Yea i will be truck shopping.

Thank you to everyone for helping me, i hope to be able to return the favor to others as i become more of a pro
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Old 02-19-2018, 07:52 PM   #43
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I can't see that even 500lbs overweight would chew up a ball like that. So are they replacing the hitch?
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Old 02-19-2018, 08:10 PM   #44
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With a gross weight rating of close to 9500 pounds on the camper I would expect a young weight of up to 1500 lbs fully loaded
Dry weights are unicorns
Being over weight unless it was over the rate listed on the ball wouldn’t grind up a ball like that
Something is wrong and they need to find out as it isn’t just grinding on the ball but the coupler also
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Old 02-19-2018, 08:59 PM   #45
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Dealer has not seen hitch yet, having a hard time getting them to call me. receiver is welded so Im not sure how they will do that without cutting it off with a torch and welding a new on on, doubt Lazy days does that, would have to go to factory
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Old 02-19-2018, 09:07 PM   #46
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I know LazyDays in Tucson does hitch work/welding/cutting. So I would assume the one in Florida would. Also Camping World or most utility trailer sales do that.

Hopefully you can get this fixed under warranty and the dealer helps you out.
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Old 02-19-2018, 09:16 PM   #47
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Better be under warranty being its 10 days old
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Old 02-19-2018, 10:03 PM   #48
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I’m confused, what is welded onto your truck that is damaged?

Or are you referring to the coupler on the trailer?
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Old 02-19-2018, 10:13 PM   #49
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yes the receiver on the trailer is welded on
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Old 02-19-2018, 10:20 PM   #50
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Commonly called the "coupler."



Some are bolted to the A-frame, some are welded.
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Old 02-19-2018, 10:26 PM   #51
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Originally Posted by fairpilot View Post
yes the receiver on the trailer is welded on
Ok, that helps clear things up and this may help you when talking with the dealer or factory rep. If you tell them that your receiver is damaged then they're going to be confused as well.

Receiver = Mounted to your truck, it "receives" the shank that has the ball/WD hitch head mounted to it.

Coupler = Mounted to the trailer, it couples the trailer and truck together.

Not trying to be pedantic here, just trying to save you time and frustration in the future when trying to explain this to someone that's not there in person.
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Old 02-20-2018, 12:56 PM   #52
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Thanks , got it. More new lingo
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Old 03-27-2018, 07:38 PM   #53
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So update on hitch, nothing spectacular but I think it was either a weld bur up in the coupler or a tongue weight issue, we traveled from Daytona to Tampa again this time with no water onboard, a new ball and a small amount of grease on ball. No issues when we arrived, ball was in great shape, so either the bur was destroyed or getting tongue weight corrected solved the issue thank you for all the input and advice.
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Old 03-27-2018, 07:41 PM   #54
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Good to hear, thanks for following up and letting us know!
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Old 03-27-2018, 08:16 PM   #55
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I've found that my 4 point actually makes more noise when the pivot points aren't lubed well enough than from the L brackets. In fact, it's "almost" silent when the head is greased up fully.

As to the ball wear, I'm like others. I've got a cheaper chrome ball with 1000 lbs on it and it's worn where the plating has flaked off, but nowhere near chewed up.
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Old 03-27-2018, 09:03 PM   #56
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I have a newer ball that looks almost identical, cheap plating flaking off and grinding things up. Not even a WD hitch ball at that.


so do I, both are Curt 2" balls. Plating is gone from the contact surfaces in less than 20 miles, and the underlying metal is pitted. Th receiver is new, and the balls were lubed with white lithium grease. Never had this happen before.
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