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Old 05-09-2019, 04:50 PM   #1
SummitPond
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Question on WDH noise

I am new to WDH use; my former TT (19FBPR) GVWR (6,500) was exceeded by my TV curb weight (6,951) and no WDH was recommended by the dealer. For the new TT (GVWR 7,000) I have an E2 with 10K trunion bars. Is it normal for some "groaning" noise to occur? I only hear it when the windows are open. I suspect it is the friction part of the anti-sway, but just want to make sure. Thanks for your feedback.
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Old 05-09-2019, 07:24 PM   #2
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Yup. The E2 and the 4 pt hitch are noisy. No sneaking into a campground late or leaving early

At least for the 4 pt version, the pads they sell do quiet them down.
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Old 05-09-2019, 07:39 PM   #3
Logan X
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I use the equalizer 4 point. I liberally grease the where the top and bottom of the spring bar sockets make contact with the hitch and a light coat of grease where the spring bars sit on the L brackets. It has greatly reduced the creaking and groaning noises.
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Old 05-10-2019, 03:14 AM   #4
SummitPond
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GMcKenzie View Post
Yup. The E2 and the 4 pt hitch are noisy. No sneaking into a campground late or leaving early

At least for the 4 pt version, the pads they sell do quiet them down.
Thanks. Just wanted to be sure it was "proper" and nothing was wrong.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Logan X View Post
I use the equalizer 4 point. I liberally grease the where the top and bottom of the spring bar sockets make contact with the hitch and a light coat of grease where the spring bars sit on the L brackets. It has greatly reduced the creaking and groaning noises.
I use silicon motorcycle chain lube for "grease" on the ball. Do you think this is sufficient? I haven't tried greasing the sockets. I thought the friction between the bars and the L brackets is the anti-sway control mechanism - am I wrong here?

Thanks.
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Old 05-10-2019, 03:14 AM   #5
Tbos
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Question on WDH noise

A little dish soap on the L brackets will quiet them down too. It cleans up better than grease too.
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Old 05-10-2019, 05:04 AM   #6
MarkEHansen
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Uhhh, before you grease the location where the WDH spring bars ride on the "L" brackets, check with your WDH manufacturer.
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Old 05-10-2019, 06:21 AM   #7
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Wouldn't greasing the bars defeat the purpose of their anti-sway "friction"? I have the Husky version which is similar and it creeks and moans when turning and I've thought about greasing the bars but haven't yet.
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Old 05-10-2019, 06:24 AM   #8
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Yes, it would. You don't want to do that. Like I said, check with the hitch manufacturer.
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Old 05-10-2019, 06:38 AM   #9
chuckster57
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There are plastic inserts that you can install on the L bracket that eliminate about 90% of the noise.

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/store...et-jacket-pair
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:00 AM   #10
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Everyone who said not to lubricate the L brackets are exactly right. Equalizer recommends using plastic sway bracket jackets. I knew that, I was just testing everyone.

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/manua...ar-maintenance
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:11 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logan X View Post
Everyone who said not to lubricate the L brackets are exactly right. Equalizer recommends using plastic sway bracket jackets. I knew that, I was just testing everyone.

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/manua...ar-maintenance
I knew you knew that
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:16 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkEHansen View Post
I knew you knew that
Haha. Thanks for the correction, it’s good to learn new things.
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:18 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logan X View Post
Everyone who said not to lubricate the L brackets are exactly right. Equalizer recommends using plastic sway bracket jackets. I knew that, I was just testing everyone.

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/manua...ar-maintenance

You beat me to posting the equalizer manual. They also require/suggest greasing the contact points on the hitch head. I too thought the performance would be affected but it doesn't seem to be. Between using the plastic jackets on the L brackets and lubing the ball along with the suggested friction points I've eliminated nearly all noise from the hitch setup unless I get really off camber then some of the hitch parts, along with the trailer suspension, start protesting.
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Old 05-23-2019, 08:08 AM   #14
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I own a 2011 Bullet Premier 19fbpr. My gvwr is 7400 lbs. I use a standard Camco ezalift wdh with friction anti sway bar. The anti sway bar growns a little when first tightend down and when turning. This is normal. If you use friction bars sway control DO NOT LUBRICANT. THATS WHY THEY ARE CALLED FRICTION ANTI SWAY BARS.
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Old 05-23-2019, 02:48 PM   #15
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I may catch a lot of grief for this but I’m going to post it anyway. I have towed for years with the equalizer 4 point sway control and I have greased the L brackets the entire time. This included when I was towing with an F150, in the mountains, freeways, wind, etc. I never experienced any negative effect from greasing the L brackets, the trailer always felt like it was in lock step with my truck. I’m no physics expert, and I realize grease is the opposite of friction, but I feel like the downward force on the spring bars at the L brackets provides the sway control and the grease just quieted everything down. Again, there is an extreme amount of downward pressure on those bars and that is what provides the control. Metal on metal friction is usually not good.

Now, since this thread I have re read the manual and discovered that greasing the L brackets is not recommended so I am going to try towing without the grease. But, I feel like if it was a show stopper, however, the manual would say absolutely not to do it instead of not recommended.

And the manual does say to grease the friction points at the head of the hitch.
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Old 05-23-2019, 03:11 PM   #16
sourdough
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logan X View Post
I may catch a lot of grief for this but I’m going to post it anyway. I have towed for years with the equalizer 4 point sway control and I have greased the L brackets the entire time. This included when I was towing with an F150, in the mountains, freeways, wind, etc. I never experienced any negative effect from greasing the L brackets, the trailer always felt like it was in lock step with my truck. I’m no physics expert, and I realize grease is the opposite of friction, but I feel like the downward force on the spring bars at the L brackets provides the sway control and the grease just quieted everything down. Again, there is an extreme amount of downward pressure on those bars and that is what provides the control. Metal on metal friction is usually not good.

Now, since this thread I have re read the manual and discovered that greasing the L brackets is not recommended so I am going to try towing without the grease. But, I feel like if it was a show stopper, however, the manual would say absolutely not to do it instead of not recommended.

And the manual does say to grease the friction points at the head of the hitch.

Logan, get the little L bracket covers and it accomplishes the same as the grease without the mess. Here's a link from Amazon although I may have gotten mine from etrailer - don't remember.

https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-9...s%2C159&sr=8-1
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Old 05-23-2019, 03:14 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by sourdough View Post
Logan, get the little L bracket covers and it accomplishes the same as the grease without the mess. Here's a link from Amazon although I may have gotten mine from etrailer - don't remember.

https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-9...s%2C159&sr=8-1
I’m going to try those. Thanks for the link Danny.

My above post was just a little pushback to the never grease your friction sway control crowd.
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Old 05-23-2019, 04:06 PM   #18
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They (the dealer that installed it) told me to expect noise from my WDH when I towed a bumper pull. So when I heard a "noise' from the hitch area leaving a gas station in Albuquerque, it was the WDH right? Nope it was the propane tanks that were not secured (under the cover) after my "free fill up" from the dealer .They were dangling out of view from the rear view mirrors. After a few miles on I-40 I took the hint from other drivers, pulled over and discovered the tanks had been dragging on the pavement. I disconnected them and placed them into the back of my truck. 6 hours later in the parking lot of Camping World in Williams AZ, the service tech examined the bottles and carried one across the street to a vacant field. He was concerned about the second layer of metal on the tank being compromised. Got new tanks,the all thread bolt tightened and lock-tited (which the dealer did not do) and a new cover for the tanks. After a phone call to the dealer I was told to make a claim against the dealer for reimbursement of my cost. After the threat of lawsuit to the manufacture, they paid it.
I mounted a 4 ft. , 1/4 inch diameter orange rod vertical protruding out of the center of the tank cover. If it was missing,the tanks were missing. It was always visible in my rear view mirror. Day or night with the reflective tape attached.
So WDH noise? Maybe......
RMc
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Old 05-29-2019, 10:13 AM   #19
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Just out of curiosity and thoroughness I checked with Equalizer customer support on greasing the L brackets on their weight distribution hitch. They replied with the following:

Mike,

Thanks for contacting us, we do not recommend greasing the L brackets, yes it can lessen your friction on the brackets which will lessen the sway control a bit as well, however there is so much friction and pressure on the brackets that it will not be a big enough change to even be noticeably. the main reason we do not recommend it is just that greasing those just makes a big mess.

Thanks!

ref:_00Df44K5Mj._500f4IL7aZ:re

So I’m not sure about applying grease to any other WDH, but Equalizer says it doesn’t make a big enough change to the sway control to be noticeable.

I hope this helps anyone who is tired of everyone staring at them as they pull into a campground because their hitch sounds like it is being tortured!
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Old 05-29-2019, 04:22 PM   #20
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I can vouch for the hard plastic covers for the L brackets. Made a world of difference for us as far as hitch noise.
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