When was the last time you retorqued your WDH?

[quicky06]

Be honest. How long has it been?

Reason I ask I my cousin sent me a text saying I should check mine. He had an issue driving back from Florida to southern IL.

Checked mine today 12k lb equalizer hitch. The pivot bolts for the bar sockets are supposed to be 60 ft lbs. I have digitall torque wrenches for work the give live torque readings. One was at 55 ftlbs. The other was at 13 ftlbs. Just got back from a trip and had more noise on tight turns then normal, it makes sense now. It’s only a year old and we haven’t ventured too far yet. Trailer only has 2200 miles on it

Tomorrow I’m going to take the hitch head apart and run everything through a parts washer, then degrease and reassemble. Think this will happen every 6 months now.

So go check your hitch.

[primo20]

good point. I've noticed my hitch-ball on my head loosening in the past. blue ox.

[lbrjet]

You should have noticed a huge difference in resistance when pushing the bars on the L brackets. I check the torque on the socket bolts before every tow and torque to 55.

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

You should have noticed a huge difference in resistance when pushing the bars on the L brackets. I check the torque on the socket bolts before every tow and torque to 55.

Actually I didn’t when I picked the trailer up. But did when I unhooked in the driveway.

And just an FYI the stickers say a minimum of 60

[Velosprout]

I retorqued mine last year before my last trip. One of the L-brackets on the tongue (Fastaway E3 trunnion bar hitch) had moved slightly, so I loosened, re-tightened, and then checked everything with a Kobalt torque wrench.

[Poper]

Never thought to check, until I saw actual “wiggle room” of the ball. enough to slide a dollar bill between the actual ball base and the hitch head itself.
Only evident As I took load off going upward to unload the bars of the 12k Equalizer.
This is the large 1-15/16 socket?? Not sure of size now a Special narrow wall used 3/4” drive breaker with pipe and not having a torque wrench capability there is formula using distance from head and weight (me) standing on pipe. It worked but Requires some crazy 450 ft lbs torque not sure now, but it was plenty loose.
Gotta check specs on other bolts as mentioned. They seem sloppy where bars insert to receivers..
May not be an issue of safety etc but certainly may effect efficiency of the wdh..

[Filterman]

Common problem if you do a lot of towing. Torqued mine up a couple of years ago and put Loctite on them. End of problem. Probably have 20000 miles if towing since then.

[itat]

I check mine a couple times a year but I take the torque wrench with me every trip. We don't do nearly as many trips as some people here seem to. We're still working full time.

[HDU]

X2 on the Loctite. I used Loctite Blue (removable) 3+ years ago. Must be around 50k miles on the WDH without any regression.

[CedarCreekWoody]

I torque the pivot bolts each time I mount the hitch on my truck.

[card16]

Checking the tire pressure and torque on the wheels each trip, and it makes sense to check the torque on other areas that may require it while you already have the tool in your hands.

[pt1655]

quicky06, thanks for the great tip. Never gave it a thought and I know what I'll be doing tomorrow! Thanks again, Happy Camping!

[Bluepill]

My cheat to get 450 Ft. Lbs:

350 Lb. tongue weight plus my dainty wife on the trailer tongue. Coupler contacts pipe wrench at 12" from center of ball. Used loctite.



Marked the shank and the nut with white index paint. If it moves, it has loosened. Then ran a bead of silicone caulk for extra measure

[wingfield4601]

Equal-i-zer 4 point, check hitch ball and shank bolts at beginning of season. Retorque if needed. Keep a check throughout season and monitor hitch head adjustment bolt. In my opinion if you find it loose alot, might have some movement. Torque tension bars and L brackets every tow along with lug nuts. Now not sure if this is correct but I torque tension bars after placement on L brackets but before I put load on hitch? I feel if you torque after load applied, your not getting a true torque due to the tension applied.

[marcfriedman]

Interesting!! My diesel/ truck guy ( farm vehicles, commercial haulers/ also good friend) used an impact driver for every nut on the Reese torsion bar and ball etc. Same way they do ball joints and all suspension parts

Do u check the torque of your ball joints every morning?

I'm not trying to be rude here!

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by marcfriedman

Interesting!! My diesel/ truck guy ( farm vehicles, commercial haulers/ also good friend) used an impact driver for every nut on the Reese torsion bar and ball etc. Same way they do ball joints and all suspension parts

Do u check the torque of your ball joints every morning?

I'm not trying to be rude here!

No for a couple of reasons.

Your balljounts have cotter puns to stop them from coming apart if they do loosen.

The bolts I was referring to being loose squeeze the hitch head agains the bar socket. This is a wear area with metal on metal friction. So I’m order to keep the required friction they should be re torque periodically.

[marcfriedman]

It is interesting to consider wear on the ball and the receiver ( or whatever the part of the trailer that drops onto the ball of the hitch is called) I guess ideally that point of contact could be designed differently. I'm unsure how much can wear and erode there. Can the ball actually wear the entire receiver so thin as to compromise the integrity? It is just some moderate grade of steel probably imported ! But still that's the wear point. How is the nut underneath holding the ball to the hitch to the truck get into play? That nut ,my mechanic, went to town on with both truck quality wrenches ya k ow mayco and snap on stuff that are out of the consumer price range unless u r Jay leno, ( long long levers ) and impact drivers powered from a gigantic air tank.

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by marcfriedman

It is interesting to consider wear on the ball and the receiver ( or whatever the part of the trailer that drops onto the ball of the hitch is called) I guess ideally that point of contact could be designed differently. I'm unsure how much can wear and erode there. Can the ball actually wear the entire receiver so thin as to compromise the integrity? It is just some moderate grade of steel probably imported ! But still that's the wear point. How is the nut underneath holding the ball to the hitch to the truck get into play? That nut ,my mechanic, went to town on with both truck quality wrenches ya k ow mayco and snap on stuff that are out of the consumer price range unless u r Jay leno, ( long long levers ) and impact drivers powered from a gigantic air tank.

I am not taking about a ball but. On an equalizer hitch there are bolts that secure the sockets for the bars. Those sockets use metal on metal friction as one part of the hitches away control.

[marcfriedman]

Ok next time I use my toy hauler I'll look! I keep it in another state because northern CA camping isn't suitable to anything over 24 ft at most where we like to camp. So we rough it in our tiny four wheel which only works if it is nice outside.