Stupid question about round bar Reese

[VTX Al]

Originally Posted by phone man

My problem is to get the entire rig leveled, my bars tend to point up, even with the hitch head tilted all the way back. I have bars rated for 10K GVW and 1K hitch weight. I have a Lacrosse 296 with a dry hitch weight in the mid 600's. Although I have never weighed my TT, I don't think I have put over 1200 pounds of stuff in it.

This indicates to me that you may have a problem with the INITIAL hieght of the TV ball vis-a-vis the hieght of the trailer coupler socket. With both TV and trailer parked on level ground, but not connected together, and the trailer adusted to level fore and aft, measure the distance from the ground to the top of the trailer coupler and the distance from the ground to the top of the ball when installed on the TV. They should be very close to the same distance. If not, then the ball hieght on the TV must be adjusted up or down. After hooking up, with both the TV and trailer adjusted to near level with the spring bars/chains (using the 5 link minimum rule), if the bars are not approximately parallel with the A-frame of the trailer, then this is where the TILT adjustment comes into play. The "tilt" adjustment should be the last one to be set, not used to compensate for a mis-adjustment somewhere else.

If all else fails, I would suggest taking your rig to a Hitch Shop and having it set-up correctly. You could have this done by your dealer assuming that you trust the 17-year old, part time employee, who is assigned to the job.

...VTX-AL

[tentcamper1]

[QUOTE=mtnguy;127139]Lou, I am going to have to respectfully disagree with this part of your post.

You can't use the bumpers as a basis for the measurements. The fenders in line with the axles need to used. I tried to use the bumpers the 1st time I checked my WDH, and was getting all sorts of weird readings. Because of the distance between the bumpers and the axles, the raising or lowering of the opposite end of the tow vehicle will affect the bumper measurements, but not the fender measurements at the axle axis."

going to defend Lou here, I had my Reese dual cam installed by Elkhart Hitch (shameless plug) and they used the bumpers to measure. I was getting concerned watching them because everyone says use the fenders but they did a great job - towed awesome on the interstate and county roads. works as good as everyone says they do.

[phone man]

Thanks for the replies. I probably won't have the TT loaded for a trip until October so I will probably start from scratch and start over. Hopefully I will get it right eventually.

[kandl]

Originally Posted by phone man

...when I try to go up a chain length on the spring bars, the start to point upward.

phone man, it's ok for the spring bars to point upwards somewhat provided that there are at least five (5) chain links between the spring bars and the snap-up brackets. I run the same system but with the addition of the dual cam sway control and on occasion the dictates of TT loading demand I pull up an extra link in which case the bars are pointed upwards. Not appreciably but evident in profile.

How has the TT has been handling with your current config?

Cheers

[Jeep4Two]

I know this thread is a tad old, but here's something to consider.

It's my understanding (from lots of reading recently regarding WD Hitches and towing) that if you have a 'self leveling suspension' or other automated vehicle leveling system on your Tow Vehicle that you must DISABLE or DEFEAT that system when towing with the WD Hitch.

Reason being the WD Hitch needs to be adjusted after adding the load. Automatic systems will increase suspension pressures (shocks, airbags, whatever system is used for the auto leveling) when the trailer is loaded making it impossible to properly setup your WD Hitch and get the weight distributed properly.

I'm wondering if that new 'Active' suspension may be part of the issue. Is there a way to defeat it while towing to see if your problems are solved?

[Coops1]

I would leave my Escalade running while I hooked it up for the best results, as far as I know there is no way of turn it off without pulling a fuse and that would send the computer into a frenzy.