Community Forums

schrederman · 07-27-2014, 08:49 PM

Well, when I first got this it was fine. It's an Eaz-Lift, (round bars that taper to flat), and rated for 10K#. These days when hooking on, I notice one of the bars takes very little effort to hook on to the trailer while the other is still like they used to be and requires me to eat my Wheaties... Is it common for one of these to get bent?

rgvtexan · 07-28-2014, 03:02 PM

Put the easy one on first, does it make the other easier?
Lay them on top of each other to see if one is bent.

SmokeyWren · 07-29-2014, 09:01 AM

If the trailer and tow vehicle are not perfectly aligned with each other, and the rig is not parked on perfectly level ground, then one spring bar could require more strength to snap it up. Perfectly normal if you don't jack up the tongue jack at least a bit with the trailer tied on. If you jack up the tongue jack with the coupler clamped on, both sides should be easy to snap up.

Have you tried changing sides with the spring bars? I'm not familiar with the EAZ-Lift 5er hitch, but if it's like my Strait-Line then the spring bars can be installed on either side of the hitch head. If the same bar is harder to snap up regardless which side you install it on, that indicates you probably have a bent spring bar.

If one of the spring bars is bent, then that's a result of the inexpensive EAZ-Lift 5er hitch. Replace the whole shebang with a Reese Strait-Line or Husky Centerline or Equal-I-Zer. Yes, those three cost over $500 each from a discount source such as ETrailer.com or Amazon.com, but you get what you pay for. Note that Reese and Husky both make inexpensive 5er hitches to compete with the EAZ-Lift. But ignore those and insist on a Strait-Line or Centerline. Again, you get what you pay for.

schrederman · 07-30-2014, 04:27 PM

It's not a 5er... just a WD setup for a TT. I have changed sides and the easy one goes with the change. I did lay them out together, and one is bent. I'm not sure how that could have happened, but it doesn't speak well for the product, since the TT weighs about 60% of the WD hitch posted rating... Oh well... when I upgrade the trailer in a couple of years, I'll upgrade the hitch...

Thanks for the suggestions...

TDI-Minnie · 07-31-2014, 07:59 PM

I know I'm the proverbial black-sheep on this, but have you tried towing without them altogether?
I have never used a WD setup and love how planted the rear end of my truck is, and with the big diesel over the front wheels, a WD setup to offset a 6-700lb hitch weight has never made sense to me for a HD truck.
And with e-sway contorl I've never needed any of the mechanical devices either.
I've towed about 10k miles in the last 12 months like this. No sway or any other issues, but I do have a lot of truck for my trailer. Just my $0.02