Community Forums

plasma800 · 07-04-2016, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

Thanks for all the advice. I have not had much experience setting up an equalizer hitch, so I'm listening carefully to all.

If the pictures are clear enough, the truck is riding low on the back, but also riding low on the front too. That kinda puzzles me, unless it simply indicates that both the front and rear truck springs are too weak.

The equalizer hitch is the 1200 lb one.

I spent a little time looking it over tonite, and I realize that there's no hope of lowering the hitch to clear the tail gate. I'm stuck with that. The way Dodge designed the tail gate makes this worse. The tail gate is very rounded outward, probably for strength, but that makes it hang down into the hitch area.

I understand what you're saying about the truck being light for the load. I'm just a little perturbed that these trailers are marketed as the light series, the sticker on the outside of the trailer says 'half ton ready'. The hitch dry weight is advertised as 623 lb, yet the sticker inside our kitchen cupboard says the hitch dry weight is 723 lb. Oh well.

Having said that, I am very impressed with how this truck handles this trailer. At times I can forget that the trailer is even there. I can only imagine the improvement if the back end of the truck is lifted up properly.

Jim

This looks too low... i bet they make a stinger that is longer.. or taller rather so that you could move the hitch head higher up the stinger to level the trailer up.

As far as your CPAPS go.... I, myself, would have zero problem leaving a Honda generator running in my pickup trucks bed overnight.... although it would probably run out of gas before the night was up.

So your unit has no inverter?

1bigmess · 07-04-2016, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brulaz

You just can't trust the marketing materials and salesmen.

Yup. The marketing fluff isn't detailed enough, and the salespeople don't know the details at all, or they won't talk to you about them. The devil of this stuff is buried in all of the details.

Papa_Jim · 07-05-2016, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plasma800

This looks too low... i bet they make a stinger that is longer.. or taller rather so that you could move the hitch head higher up the stinger to level the trailer up.

As far as your CPAPS go.... I, myself, would have zero problem leaving a Honda generator running in my pickup trucks bed overnight.... although it would probably run out of gas before the night was up.

So your unit has no inverter?

I thought about the stinger. It would probably enable me to get the trailer sitting closer to level. I'm not sure it would help with getting the truck sitting closer to level. I'm kinda in that place in my thinking that says the rear coil springs on the truck are either too soft or have too much length to settle before they have any strength. The truck dealer is adamant that the truck's tow rating well exceeds the tow demands of this trailer. Hmmmmm.

I'm wondering about doing something like this. What do you think?

https://www.airliftcompany.com/vehic...m-1500/2014/#l

We have the Honda 3000 generator. The one night we ran it for our CPAPs, it used about 1/2 tank of fuel on ECO mode, which was basically idle speed because the load was so small.

I guess these trailers are designed for folks using them for weekend outings. There are no 12V plug ins. There are few 110V plug ins. I was surprised to learn there is no inverter. So, as the trailer is supplied new, I need shore power or generator or solar power to have 110V at the plug ins.

We'll get there. As with all things, it just takes a little patience and a lot of time.

Jim

plasma800 · 07-05-2016, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

I thought about the stinger. It would probably enable me to get the trailer sitting closer to level. I'm not sure it would help with getting the truck sitting closer to level. I'm kinda in that place in my thinking that says the rear coil springs on the truck are either too soft or have too much length to settle before they have any strength. The truck dealer is adamant that the truck's tow rating well exceeds the tow demands of this trailer. Hmmmmm.

I'm wondering about doing something like this. What do you think?

https://www.airliftcompany.com/vehic...m-1500/2014/#l

We have the Honda 3000 generator. The one night we ran it for our CPAPs, it used about 1/2 tank of fuel on ECO mode, which was basically idle speed because the load was so small.

I guess these trailers are designed for folks using them for weekend outings. There are no 12V plug ins. There are few 110V plug ins. I was surprised to learn there is no inverter. So, as the trailer is supplied new, I need shore power or generator or solar power to have 110V at the plug ins.

We'll get there. As with all things, it just takes a little patience and a lot of time.

Jim

I unfortunately don't know anything about airbags. But I do know there are a couple of popular truck forums, and a couple of popular dodge ram forums... and I bet there's some guys there that really know that truck specifically.

brulaz · 07-05-2016, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

...
The truck dealer is adamant that the truck's tow rating well exceeds the tow demands of this trailer. Hmmmmm.
...

Problem is probably more your truck's payload, not tow rating.
With it all loaded up, especially with that trailer's tongue weight, you are most likely over your GVWR and maybe rear GAWR and hitch receiver ratings.

LT truck tires and suspension upgrades like air bags will help.

1bigmess · 07-05-2016, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

The truck dealer is adamant that the truck's tow rating well exceeds the tow demands of this trailer. Hmmmmm.

Because, among other assumptions I am making, the dealer is telling that the total weight is fine (it more than likely is), but they know nothing, or don't want to tell you anything, about the weight ratings of the truck axles.

What is your front axle weight rating?
What is your rear axle weight rating?
What is the unloaded weight of each axle?
What is the loaded with trailer and camping gear weight of each axle?

The devil is in the details.

Air bags will not increase the weight rating of an axle, only help level it off.

LBZYA · 07-05-2016, 09:25 PM

And bed caps are not light by any means.

Red_5 · 07-06-2016, 03:05 PM

I'm having a similar issue with my 23DBS and Equal-i-zer. It tows fine but I'm not sure it's setup properly. They do make a longer shank but that will also add more leverage. I'm debating raising my ball height both because I want to be able to open my tailgate while hitched and the trailer seems to tow fine currently.

BTW, I emailed ORV before buying my trailer and they told me the hitch coupler height was approximately 22" to the center of the coupler. I'm not sure how they measured that because I'm closer to 29".

I don't know why this photo is loading upside down, I've tried two browsers to post and neither works. Hopefully you can tell from the pic the how the trailer sits while hitched.

Natebert · 07-06-2016, 03:48 PM

Lift your truck a couple of inches, then you can drop the hitch down a notch, problem solved for me. (I like the clearance that ORV trailers provide and is the MAIN reason why I chose them.)

brulaz · 07-06-2016, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red_5

I'm having a similar issue with my 23DBS and Equal-i-zer. It tows fine but I'm not sure it's setup properly. They do make a longer shank but that will also add more leverage. I'm debating raising my ball height both because I want to be able to open my tailgate while hitched and the trailer seems to tow fine currently.

You should raise or lower the ball to get your trailer level or slightly tilted down in front.

BTW, I emailed ORV before buying my trailer and they told me the hitch coupler height was approximately 22" to the center of the coupler. I'm not sure how they measured that because I'm closer to 29".

I don't know why this photo is loading upside down, I've tried two browsers to post and neither works. Hopefully you can tell from the pic the how the trailer sits while hitched.

The bottom of my leveled trailer's frame is ~21 off the ground. From there it's 6" to the top of frame which is about the top of the coupler.

When the ~1300# of trailer TW is put on the ball, the coupler drops maybe 3", and then the WD bars raise it up ~ 1.5". So the coupler ends up about 1.5" less than level when it's all set up.

Red_5 · 07-06-2016, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brulaz

The bottom of my leveled trailer's frame is ~21 off the ground. From there it's 6" to the top of frame which is about the top of the coupler.

When the ~1300# of trailer TW is put on the ball, the coupler drops maybe 3", and then the WD bars raise it up ~ 1.5". So the coupler ends up about 1.5" less than level when it's all set up.

I followed the directions when setting up my Equal-i-zer and when hitched the the tongue looks pretty level. It's the rest of the trailer that looks to be raked. I'm not sure it's enough of an issue to warrant an adjustment but thought I'd ask for opinions here. Thanks

brulaz · 07-06-2016, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red_5

I followed the directions when setting up my Equal-i-zer and when hitched the the tongue looks pretty level. It's the rest of the trailer that looks to be raked. I'm not sure it's enough of an issue to warrant an adjustment but thought I'd ask for opinions here. Thanks

I agree, your trailer does seem to have a pretty steep rake to it. At least it's tilted down to the hitch. Hard to tell with photos though.

If you can find a level parking lot, try measuring to the frame front and back. 0-2 inches lower in the front would be fine I think.

Papa_Jim · 07-06-2016, 08:39 PM

I too thought the hitch height was going to be about 22".

The bottom of my leveled trailer's fame is 25 1/2" off the ground. From there it's 6" to the top of the frame, and about another 1/2" to the top of the coupler. That makes a trailer hitch height of 32"!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!

For a trailer advertised as a light weight trailer for 1/2 ton use, the hitch height amazes me!

Jim

Oldelevatorman · 07-07-2016, 12:35 AM

The more you put in the back of your truck decreases your payload so you may be close to being overloaded imho! Have you weighed the truck with everything in it, including full gas? If you do then subtract that weight from your trucks GVWR to get its payload. From that number take the tongue weight and actual hitch weight and hopefully you still have some payload left for safety sake!