|
|
12-04-2017, 05:06 PM
|
#1
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 13
|
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!
... pics below
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
12-04-2017, 06:02 PM
|
#2
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Upper Right Ohio.. or?
Posts: 447
|
the wear on the shank bars... look normal.. but NEEDS to be greased regularly ,,, as does the hitch Ball..
__________________
2012 Ford F 250,"XL" 6.2L Gas, 2 wheel drive. 156,000 miles
2005 Coachmen 29FKCS, Front Kitchen... 2005 Honda VTX1800F, 78,000 miles
N.E. Ohio in the Spring, Summer, Autumn.
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 02:19 AM
|
#3
|
Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Nowhere, now here. Freedom!
Posts: 4,602
|
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.
__________________
ORV 19B Full Timer from '15 to '20, '14 Ram 2500 Diesel and a GSD. Vancouver, WA
de K7NOL 146.52Mhz Safety? (CLICK ME!)
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 06:34 AM
|
#4
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 13
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1bigmess
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.
The first 2 pics are the left side and next 2 are right side
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 06:49 AM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Little River, S.C.
Posts: 573
|
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....
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 07:03 AM
|
#6
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,580
|
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.
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 11:26 AM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Roseville, CA
Posts: 598
|
Those brackets seem awfully low. On my trailer I had a hole or two above the bolts.
__________________
Jim & Linda Kelly
2017 Landmark 365 Newport
2015 F-350 DRW 2WD 14k GVWR, 5660 payload
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 12:58 PM
|
#8
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,194
|
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.
__________________
Brian
2016 RAM 3500 6.7L DRW
2018 Chaparral 360IBL, Andersen Ultimate II hitch
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 03:27 PM
|
#9
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 13
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjlakatos
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
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 10:38 PM
|
#10
|
Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,539
|
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.
__________________
2020 F28 RKS Titanium
2017 Creekside 23 RBS Sold
2016 F250 Super Crew XLT Overworked
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 10:45 PM
|
#11
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 13
|
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.
|
|
|
12-05-2017, 11:06 PM
|
#12
|
Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Nowhere, now here. Freedom!
Posts: 4,602
|
There you go!
__________________
ORV 19B Full Timer from '15 to '20, '14 Ram 2500 Diesel and a GSD. Vancouver, WA
de K7NOL 146.52Mhz Safety? (CLICK ME!)
|
|
|
12-06-2017, 12:26 PM
|
#13
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: HillBilly country, Smokey Mtns
Posts: 4,171
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by keymastr
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
__________________
Grumpy ole man with over 60 years towing experience. Now my heaviest trailer is a 7'x16' 5,000-pound flatbed utility trailer, my tow vehicle is a 2019 F-150 Lariat 3.5L EcoBoost SuperCab with Max Tow (1,904 pounds payload capacity).
|
|
|
12-06-2017, 10:57 PM
|
#14
|
Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,539
|
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.
__________________
2020 F28 RKS Titanium
2017 Creekside 23 RBS Sold
2016 F250 Super Crew XLT Overworked
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|