Travel Trailer Weight Distribution Hitches

[WannaBeFree]

I'll hopefully be pulling a 4000 pound 23' travel trailer soon and want to get a weight distribution hitch.  As I'll be boondocking I've excluded some products due to ground clearance.  I'm considering the Blue Ox SwayPro and the Husky Center Line.  If anyone has had negative or positive encounters with these products I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks

 

[AngryVanMan]

I upgraded to the Blue Ox from an old Curt with a friction sway control add-on and I am very much a fan of the Blue Ox system.  They have a good selection of spring bars, the trunnion bars come off easily, and the main thing I like is rotating trailer brackets, compared to the flip up "ball-busters" as I like to call the other chain-link style I had.  Expensive though.

The Husky looks ok but I have no first hand experience.  I can see that adjusting tension would take a few seconds longer as you have to slid the bracket assembly up and down and then flip the trunnions up onto the bracket with the wrench lever thing.

 

[SoulRaven]

We use the Equalizer and have been pleased with that. We compared the ones available years ago, probably 15 years ago and liked it best.

 

[StarEcho]

I am using an Fastway E2, which is a sway control and weight distribution in one. Less expensive than the Equalizer brand - but 2 point vs Equalizer's 4 point sway control. For my single axle trailer though, it is more than enough. It is very easy to set up and use.

 

[WannaBeFree]

Thanks StarEcho. I was talking with a dealer which mentioned they could install an E2 for me. Now I know what they were talking about

 

[rdhetrick]

I don't have experience with the two you mentioned, but I can say that I had a Reese with the integrated sway control and loved it.

With a 23' trailer, it's not a huge deal, but if you ever went bigger, the integrated sway control is much better than the friction bars.

 

[cyeaste]

I have the Blue Ox on my Minnie Drop..(2800 lbs, 3500 GWVR)....Love it! Worth every dime.

 

[ArtW]

I saw a pickup pulling a TT down I 10 the other day, WD hitch with friction sway control, and the tail was wagging the dog a fair bit, which was surprising as the trailer wasn't a lot bigger than my 20 footer, but with dual axles

 

[AngryVanMan]

Yeah, proper loading makes way more difference than any hitch ever could, at least regarding the sway part. If you lack the tongue weight for the speed you're traveling, and/or move your mass away from the vertical axis about the axles increasing the moment of inertia in that horizontal plane, you're asking for it. That being said, WD and sway control are a nice set of features that can extend the safe dynamic range of your vehicles towing speed capability, which is quite handy in legal high-speed towing locales like the US.

 

[highdesertranger]

AVM is right an improperly loaded trailer will sway no matter what. also most trailers built today have a design flaw, the tongue is to short. that coupled with improper loading causes problems. highdesertranger

 

[ZoNiE]

X2 on the Equal-i-zer. They clunk a bit, but they do double duty for WD and Sway control.

 

[Travelmonkey]

I have a Husky Centerline on my Lance 2185 travel trailer (~25' and 6000#). It seems to control sway and is supposed to help distribute weight to the front axel. It is easy to hook up. It uses tension bars and not chains. I had the dealer install as something is supposed to be complicated on the aluminum frame of the Lance.

The Equilizer is the other brand people seem to like.

 

[hepcat]

I've got thousands of miles and nearly thirty years' experience with the Reese Dual-Cam, mostly on Airstreams from 16'-34' (I've had several...  a 1970 23' Safari single axle for over ten years.)  They're bullet-proof, easy to set up, and work as advertised for both weight distribution and sway control.  

HOWEVER...  the last travel trailer I bought in 2012 was a 19' MPG by Hearland that I towed with an '07 Toyota FJ 'Cruiser.  I sold the MPG/FJ setup when I bought my b-van last year.  Anyway,  I found an Andersen No-Sway hitch display at an RV dealer, and it looked really slick, so I ordered one for the FJ/MPG.    The Andersen was easy to set up, is clean, noiseless, and weighs a fraction of what the Reese Dual Cam did.   Over about ten thousand towing miles over three years, it convinced me that I'll never buy another Reese.

I ought to buy stock in Andersen...  but I don't have any connection with them.  They've just invented a better mousetrap, and it works great.

Any of the name-brand hitches will work; but some do work better than others...  and I'm sold on Andersen now.

 

[coolmom42]

When the trailer is wagging the dog so to speak, even with a WD/sway system, the system is not set up correctly... low tongue weight, trailer nose-high, are the most common culprits.  Sway control/WD is great but like anything else you have to use it right.

I've used the Equalizer hitch and it works great.  The big disadvantage is that the hitch head is HEAVY.  I have a hard time picking one up, much less getting it in the receiver.  If you have a bad back it's not what you want.  And that weight consumes a chunk of your cargo capacity.  

I'm going to look into an Anderson for my possible RV/SUV combo.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-weightdistribution.aspx

 

[WannaBeFree]

hepcat,

Andersen No-Sway looks interesting but it seems you need to readjust the chain tension each time you reconnect the trailer.  Also, I don't see how you can disconnect the triangular base plate without releasing the tension on the chains. I found several videos were the Andersen No-Sway is installed but not disconnection/reconnection.

 

[hepcat]

hepcat,

Andersen No-Sway looks interesting but it seems you need to readjust the chain tension each time you reconnect the trailer.  Also, I don't see how you can disconnect the triangular base plate without releasing the tension on the chains. I found several videos were the Andersen No-Sway is installed but not disconnection/reconnection.

Yes, you need to loosen the chains and adjust the chain tension each time you hitch up, but it's merely a matter of turning the nut at the end of the connector on each side.  I bought a $17 wratcheting end box wrench that fit the bolts and it takes mere seconds to snug up and loosen.  Once I had it all figured out, I could do it in about half the time it took me to hitch up my Reese Dual-Cam setup. 

The key to putting the triangle on easily is dropping the connector on the ball and fastening it.  Then you jack the tongue up with the tow vehicle attached two or three inches until the yoke slides over the bottom of the ball pin.  It sounds a lot more complex than it is in practice.  In practice, it's quick, clean, and easy process.

The only time it gets dicey is when you try to hitch up at an angle...  the setup just doesn't go together well then.  It really wants to be nearly in-line to be hitched properly.  That said, so do most of the other hitches on the market.  In total, the process, weight, and cleanliness of the Anderson are SO superior to any of the other weight distribution/sway control hitches on the market that for me, there's just no contest.  There's no lubrication used anywhere on the Anderson.  That alone for me was a major benefit. BUT, the ability of the hitch to keep the trailer in line with the tow vehicle was amazing. As I said, I towed the 19' MPG with an '07 FJ 'Cruiser... short wheelbase, tall center of gravity vehicle, and it was as stable as towing with my Nissan Titan felt.

 

[Royce]

I tow a '77' 6-meter Minuet, by Airstream, with a 2005 Jeep Wrangler. The Minuet came with a Reese hitch. I didn't like the way it worked. Sold it and bought an Equal-I-Zer. The Equal-I-Zer has been easy to use and performs excellently. http://www.equalizerhitch.com/About Equal-i-zer/fourpoint.php Eight years of summer time towing about 2,000 miles each summer and never a bad experience. The sway control is spot on.

 

[WannaBeFree]

Thanks hepcat,

Great detail on using the Anderson

Does the act of adjusting the chain tension impact the weight distribution (pushing more of the hitch weight from the rear axle to the front axle and lower the headlights)?

 

[WannaBeFree]

Thanks Royce,

Sounds like the Equal-I-Zer is solid.  Thanks