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Old 12-04-2017, 05:06 PM   #1
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Adjustments for sway bar/wd hitch. I’m on the road.

Hi everyone,
My wife, daughter(1yr old) and I are currently traveling. We started in south Tx and are currently in the smoky mountains in Tn. I noticed that my sway bars weren’t sitting flush on the mounts and was also rubbing pretty good where the sway bar attaches to the hitch.. I put a little grease on to see where everything was making contact. Curious if y’all think I should bring the ball up to the top hole to make things flush or at least attempt to. This is how it was set up from the dealer.

Thanks!
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:02 PM   #2
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the wear on the shank bars... look normal.. but NEEDS to be greased regularly ,,, as does the hitch Ball..
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Old 12-05-2017, 02:19 AM   #3
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You need the owner's manual for that hitch. You don't grease where you put it on the "L" brackets, you've now reduced the effectiveness of any sway control that hitch ordered you.

Get and read the owner's manual.
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Old 12-05-2017, 06:34 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1bigmess View Post
You need the owner's manual for that hitch. You don't grease where you put it on the "L" brackets, you've now reduced the effectiveness of any sway control that hitch ordered you.

Get and read the owner's manual.


I wiped off the grease and this is what I have.
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Old 12-05-2017, 06:49 AM   #5
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I am fairly new to all this RV stuff but I would not think that that much rubbing damage is not normal. If you have the manual there might be something in there that mentions this. If not, I would simply call the manufacturers customer service number and send them the pictures. I'm sure that they will help you get it straightened out or at least refer you to a dealer in the area you are near. Good Luck....
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Old 12-05-2017, 07:03 AM   #6
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I think that the bars are running at an extreme angle relative to the ground. We need to see the setup while attached ready to go.

Yes, steel on steel friction is a cheap way to make a product and it will get ugly.
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Old 12-05-2017, 11:26 AM   #7
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Those brackets seem awfully low. On my trailer I had a hole or two above the bolts.
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Old 12-05-2017, 12:58 PM   #8
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On my rig the hitch manual indicated the ball height is used to level the trailer when hitched.

My hitch manual indicated the head tilt adjustment is used to ensure the bars are near parallel to the ground.

The only other adjustment is bracket height. Check the manual for recommendation.
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Old 12-05-2017, 03:27 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by bjlakatos View Post
On my rig the hitch manual indicated the ball height is used to level the trailer when hitched.

My hitch manual indicated the head tilt adjustment is used to ensure the bars are near parallel to the ground.

The only other adjustment is bracket height. Check the manual for recommendation.


That makes sense that the head tilt works with the spring bars
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Old 12-05-2017, 10:38 PM   #10
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You need to get the bars parralel to the frame so they ride more evenly on the brackets. A shot of the whole truck and trailer plus a shot of the entire tongue area with the hitch all hooked up would help to assess your setup. I will say that if the trailer is even remotely close to your tow vehicles towing limit the dealer did you a huge disservice by selling you a cheap hitch rather than a hitch with built in sway control like an Equa-lizer 4 point or a Blue ox.

The paint on the brackets and bars is supposed to wear off and the sway control works better after it does because the steel on steel provides more friction.
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Old 12-05-2017, 10:45 PM   #11
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I went through the manual and the guy who set it up did it wrong. The ball is up 2 1/2” higher than it should be. That was the only thing I found out before it started raining. I’m going to wait till our next stop to work on it so I can really work out the kinks with this hitch. In this pic I have the trailer leveled with the ground. Next pit stop will be a Walmart or something so I have asphalt to work on.
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Old 12-05-2017, 11:06 PM   #12
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There you go!
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Old 12-06-2017, 12:26 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by keymastr View Post
I will say that if the trailer is even remotely close to your tow vehicles towing limit the dealer did you a huge disservice by selling you a cheap hitch rather than a hitch with built in sway control like an Equa-lizer 4 point or a Blue ox.
Yeah, the Fastway E2 is an economy hitch with two-point sway control. It works better than a hitch with sway bars, but not as good as the more expensive Equal-I-Zer with 4-point sway control.

Here's his hitch, available online for less than $300. https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/...-hitch_94-7263

And here's the much better Equal-I-Zer from the same source for almost $500:

https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/...-i-zer_94-6478
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Old 12-06-2017, 10:57 PM   #14
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Glad you found the manual. It will take a couple adjustments to dial it in. Mine was wrong from the dealer as well. Then when I got the weight transfer correct the trailer was no longer level so I had to lower the ball height which messed with the weight transfer. All in all it took about an hour or so to get it right but it tows great now.

The angle of the head affects the weight transfer and so does the bracket height. The most important things are restoring at least half the front fender height and making sure the trailer is level as well as the bars.
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