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Old 06-14-2021, 12:34 PM   #20
dalamarjj78
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Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Raleigh
Posts: 82
Quote:
Originally Posted by jxnbbl View Post
I also make sure the hitch is greased in the appropriate points before each trip.


I read an interesting debate about this a while back (lube vs no lube) The dealer told me NOT to lubricate, but after questioning this...it was don't lubricate until the paint is gone off the new hitch. I did start lubricating to minimize the noise with the equalizer lube. However, I believe the keypoint (not say this is the problem) is that there is some range of say 60-100ft pounds of torque that is needed at the hitch for each bar, below that and they don't do their job. You might want to check this before your next (short trip) to see if these need to be tightened.



Although I have not installed them, since I don't want to readjust everything I did buy some 'wear pads' for the L brackets.
I lubed the hitch because I figured if the manufacturer says you should then it's probably a good idea. Not to mention I never lubed my previous hitch and it was starting to collect rust pretty bad. I also bought the pads for the L brackets to minimize noise and they seem to do a good job.

It's interesting that you mention the torque for where you insert the bars. When I was walking through the initial setup they were torqued down so much I couldn't get the bars to move at all despite how hard I pushed.

I called Equalizer customer support and they told me those were often over-torqued at the factory and said to loosen them up and re-torque between 60 - 70 ft lbs. So I split it evenly at 65 ft lbs.

The bars are still stiff when trying to push them inward to connect to the L brackets but maybe I should try torqueing them down a bit more to see if that helps.
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2022 F350 XLT CCSB SRW 7.3L 4.30 Gears
2021 Keystone Bullet Ultra Lite 273BHS

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