WD Hitch ??????

[Hansel]

I've got a Reese WD hitch and when I put the torson bars on, one always seems to have more tension than the other, buy that I can connect the chains on the driver side and secure it and the passenger side I need to use the pry bar too help secure it.

Is there something wrong or is this normal??

[rpatron95]

When doing the WD and spring bars the actual camper tongue should be raised once hitched to add tension. The higher the tension (more chain links) the more the weight is moved to the front of the truck. The less weight you have on the bars the more weight sits on the hitch/tongue (fewer chain links).

The sides are pretty close without tension.

I just had this conversation at Camping World when I picked up my Outback 320BH.

Video, end has the hook-up process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpVbheV-wTA

[Hansel]

I leave 2 links hanging like the guys at the camper place said when I purchased it, just curious if one bar is defective because I can put on one with my hand and the other I need to use the pry bar they gave me.

[f6bits]

Are you parked dead straight with your trailer and level?

[SteveC7010]

Also, do you have the Dual Cam sway control?

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by f6bits

Are you parked dead straight with your trailer and level?

Yes it's level when hooking up

Originally Posted by SteveC7010

Also, do you have the Dual Cam sway control?

No, but i am thinking about adding that feature on

[Bob Landry]

Have you measured the height of the front fender both before and after hitching? The guys at the trailer place are blowing smoke. They have no way to know how many links on the chain it's going to take, mainly because they don'tknow how the trailer is going to be loaded.
I strongly recommend that you go to RV.Net and go to the towing section. There are a couple of great stickies, one that explains how WD works, and the other tells how to set it up. This thread is probably going to evolve to posts telling you to just try diffrent links until it feels right or even worse, until it looks good. That's not the way it's done. You have to know how much weight is being transfered to the front axle. Too little causes steering issues, toomuch causes excessive front end wear. A CAT Scale is bet, but measureing front fender height will get you very close.

Also, the bars should be stamped with the weight on them. They should be the same, but with the issues you are having, it pays to make sure.

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

Have you measured the height of the front fender both before and after hitching? The guys at the trailer place are blowing smoke. They have no way to know how many links on the chain it's going to take, mainly because they don'tknow how the trailer is going to be loaded.
I strongly recommend that you go to RV.Net and go to the towing section. There are a couple of great stickies, one that explains how WD works, and the other tells how to set it up. This thread is probably going to evolve to posts telling you to just try diffrent links until it feels right or even worse, until it looks good. That's not the way it's done. You have to know how much weight is being transfered to the front axle. Too little causes steering issues, toomuch causes excessive front end wear. A CAT Scale is bet, but measureing front fender height will get you very close.

Also, the bars should be stamped with the weight on them. They should be the same, but with the issues you are having, it pays to make sure.

Thanks for the info, the truck rides level, I do remember the guy putting the hitch on put some kinda tape or something at the top of my wheelwell's and had something on the trailer to measure if the truck and camper where level. But I;m going from memory of something that happened 6yrs ago, i will check out the rv.net place

[Bob Landry]

If the truck rides level when hitched, that's the first indication there may be a problem. The purpose of WD is not to level the TV. That may be an end result, but it's not what you are shooting for. The latest trend of thought is to get the appropriate amount of weight transfered to the front axle and let the rear take care of itself. The truck manual will tell you the height that the front fender needs to be returned to.

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

If the truck rides level when hitched, that's the first indication there may be a problem. The purpose of WD is not to level the TV. That may be an end result, but it's not what you are shooting for. The latest trend of thought is to get the appropriate amount of weight transfered to the front axle and let the rear take care of itself. The truck manual will tell you the height that the front fender needs to be returned to.

I think you are on too something with my set up, I will have to go get my truck manuel and on my next day off play around and do some measuring of the truck and camper. My truck doesn't ride with the nose in the air but my truck bed looks like it rides level so I'm guessing the truck is riding level.

Newbie here sorry for the stupidity

[Hansel]

I'm reading the truck's owner's book, and some of the wording is confusing me, sorry I'm not the smartest when reading and trying to comprehend it, the statement that is confusing me is:

Load equalizing hitch step #3, reads
Attach the trailer to the vehicle and adjust the hitch equalizer so that the front bumper height is within 0-13mm (1/2inch) of the reference point. After proper adjustment, the rear bumper should be no higher than in step#3

Make any sense???

Then they have a warning section,it state's

Adjusting the equalizer hitch so the rear bumper of the vehicle is lower or higher than it was unloaded will defeat the function of the load equalizer hitch and may cause unpredictable handling.

So if I understand this the front should raise up no more than a 1/2" and the back needs to stay exactly the same???

[f6bits]

Hansel, before hooking up, measure a point on the front bumper, like your license plate frame. Hitch up, and that’ll raise your front end. Tighten the WD hitch so the front end drops back down to within ½” of where it started.

Your back bumper should also have dropped. NOT RAISED (yeah, I’m shouting), but that’s what they’re talking about that it should be higher than in Step #3.

And that’s it. You’re right that the front should raise no more than ½”, but the back won’t stay the same. It’ll dip some (or a lot). If you get the front to less than ½”, but the back end has lifted, let us know. Most likely, it won’t.

The only other parameter is that your trailer should be level with the ground. Measure from frame to the ground at the front and rear end, then adjust hitch ball height to level it out. Trailer should be level, but if one hole is too high, and the other is too low, then pick the lower hole so the front of the trailer dips a little.

[Bob Landry]

All of that is correct except that you should use a point on the wheel well even with the front axle for your measurement point, not the bumper as that is where you are concerned about weight transfer. That may sound trivial, but allowing for the angle of the TV frame after the rear squats, that could be enough to throw you off. Don't worry about the rear squat. Whan the front is right, the rear is going to be lower than when unhitched.

[Jay D]

When I 1st set mine up, I measured from the top of the wheel opening to the top of the tire. Then hooked TT adjusted the WD then remeasured. At 1st the opening was like 7/8", readjusted the chains on WD and got it at 1/2". The back of the truck sits down a bit but rides nice when pulling the TT. Jay

[f6bits]

I also use the wheel well, but I was trying to be a good boy and take the manual’s point of view. I also try to nearly restore original front end height so as to offload some of the rear end weight. Restoring front end height puts the front end weight at what it is when I’m not carrying any load, so I feel that’s a more appropriate loading of the front axle.

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by f6bits

Hansel, before hooking up, measure a point on the front bumper, like your license plate frame. Hitch up, and that’ll raise your front end. Tighten the WD hitch so the front end drops back down to within ½” of where it started.

Your back bumper should also have dropped. NOT RAISED (yeah, I’m shouting), but that’s what they’re talking about that it should be higher than in Step #3.

And that’s it. You’re right that the front should raise no more than ½”, but the back won’t stay the same. It’ll dip some (or a lot). If you get the front to less than ½”, but the back end has lifted, let us know. Most likely, it won’t.

The only other parameter is that your trailer should be level with the ground. Measure from frame to the ground at the front and rear end, then adjust hitch ball height to level it out. Trailer should be level, but if one hole is too high, and the other is too low, then pick the lower hole so the front of the trailer dips a little.

In which way would I tighten up the WD hitch?? By the chains or adjusting the head on the hitch which has some big huge BOLTS???

[f6bits]

I’m not a Reese user, but I think it’s similar to my Equalizer. In that case, you need to use fewer links on the chain. If you’re using too few links, it’s time to adjust the hitch head.

Again, this is just speculation on the specifics. Hopefully a Reese user will jump in here.

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by f6bits

I’m not a Reese user, but I think it’s similar to my Equalizer. In that case, you need to use fewer links on the chain. If you’re using too few links, it’s time to adjust the hitch head.

Again, this is just speculation on the specifics. Hopefully a Reese user will jump in here.

You got it right.

One minor variation. If the OP has a ball platform that has the tilt adjust, sometimes it is necessary to adjust the tilt which changes the angle that the weight arms sit at. That in turn changes the number of links to take up when hitching.

So typically with the Reese's, first level the trailer and measure coupling to ground on a very level spot. Then adjust the ball platform so the ball height matches the coupling height plus an inch. When they adjust the ball height, pick a tilt setting that has the bars pointing down a bit. The end of the bar where the chain attaches should be several inches below the clip-up.

Then hook up, testing the number of links and the height of the fender wells of the TV as previously described in this thread. It may take several adjustments of tilt on the ball platform to get the TV to hunker down just right.

When it's all done, the TV and the TT should both sit pretty much level. The only variation would be a TV like mine where the rear end sits really high compared to the front end when empty. In that case, getting the front end back to normal height is what matters. The rear end can squat 4 or 5 inches and still be high compared to the front.

FWIW, I found several large box end wrenches with the right nut and bolt sizes for the adjustable Reese ball platform at yard sales around town. IIRC, a 1 1/8" will do the trick.

[Bob Landry]

The Reese round bars should be parallel with the trailer frame. The trunnion bars will actually angle down a little. This is so there will be no interference with the trailer frame. Also Reese recomminds a minimum of 5 links on the chain, and that's from the attacthment end, not the loose end. If you have enough chain length to get the proper WD and still have 5 links, that's good, otherwise you'll have to do it by tilting the ball. Tilting the ball towards the trailer oncreased weight transfer. If you can't get the right WD with the ball tils while maintaining 5 links, then you will need heavier bars.

Also, forget about getting the TV evel. That may not be possible to achieve and should not be a goal. All you want to do is return the original weight to the front.
Keep in mind that if you are going to use something like air shocks or bags to level the truck, you need to adjust the WD with them set the way you ae going to be when towing.

[Hansel]

This has gotten slightly off the original question is, why does one bar have more tension than the other?? this is before I put all the weight of the camper on the hitch. It's seems as one bar is tighter than the other