Getting my new Highwall popup (4000 lbs) has made me a believer in WDH. I wasn't convinced when doing the walk through, but the service department had me try an experment. They hitched up the Highwall to my Dodoge Dakota with a normal drop bar and sway bar and had me take it around the block a few times. Then they installed the Equalizer (600/6000) and had me do the exact same route.
I can tell you, its like night and day. With WDH, the highwall feels like its part of the trailer and the truck steers better with more weight on the front axle. More importantly, no sagging in the pickup truck bed. The dealer intentionally set the hitch high allowing for the pickup truck to be fully loaded and end up at level.
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The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything that they have! |
IMHO, a single friction bar anti-sway WDH is WAY inferior to the 4-point sway control Equal-i-zer.
and you'll probably have to unhook the friction bar to back up, most do. you don't with the Equal-i-zer.
for the extra $200, i think it way worth it and i love mine. i took my Roo through 50mph crosswinds and icy roads, in Wyoming, during a Nov. trip back home.
i don't think a cheaper WDH like the EAZ-lift could have handled it. the Equalizer saved our butts!
I know that some numbers and models have been bounced around. You may want to consider the Equial-i-zer 600/6000#, the 800/8000 and maybe the 1000/10000 if you plan on getting a larger RV in the future. We tow a HTT that sits around 5109# loaded and we use a 800/8000 with out any issues.
Here is a link to their website if you need more information. Check the "How it works" tab.
http://www.equalizerhitch.com/
I can't comment directly on the Equal-i-zer vs the EAZ-lift, but the one thing that strikes me looking at the pictures is the separate anti-sway bar. it's one more thing to hook up, adjust, and lose pieces to. Also, those friction sway bars only arrest sway once it starts, and if you don't have it adjusted right can do little to prevent it.
Both the Equal-i-zer and Reese Dual-Cam systems are supposedly designed to reduce or eliminate the conditions for sway to occur, so a separate sway bar isn't necessary.
I got the Equal-i-zer with my new HTT, and it does a great job. Except for the noticeable weight of the trailer when accelerating, you could almost forget it's back there due to the smooth ride -- no bucking or sway at all. If it weren't that, I'd probably have gone with the Reese Dual Cam setup -- I've heard good things from people who own those.
Mike,
The "round bar" style WDH w/ the friction sway control has been around for ever. That being said I have one that came with my Travelstar 197 (twin of the Jayco 19H) and it does the job. I have a few complaints with it. One is that the spring bars ride about 4-5 inches off the ground. There's nothing that can be done to change that because the trailer sits low to the ground.
The equalizer hitch will ride higher off the ground because the bars mount directly to the snap ups, no chains involved. It does not need to be removed or adjusted in inclement weather or when backing up. It will also provide 4 point sway control as opposed to the 2 point that the sway bar gives. The equalizer will also do a better job at eliminating the sway, where the sway bar will only work to dampen it after it has started.
Because I tow with a shorter wheel base vehicle I can feel it any time the trailer wants to start to sway. This is the main reason picked up the equalizer... just need to find the time to install it.
Just remember we are limited to under a 1k/10k hitch (there's a warning stamped on the frame)
Also heres a pic of how my current WDH setup. Theres nothing in the pic to give it scale to show how low the spring bars ride, but it gives you an idea.
The only that that is a bit unerving - and I have been told all WDH have this issue - is the creaking/metal to metal sound as the bars move on a slow tight turns.
I remember the words of the service tech who attached it to the truck...... "If is sounds like your bumper is being torn off - then the WDH is doing its job, it will quiet down by itself with use"
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The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything that they have! |
Equalizer or DualCam, I don't think you could go wrong with either. I towed the HTT one season with a sway bar & am now in my 3rd with the DC. Like everyone has said, there's a world of difference. I caught crazy crosswinds running along Lake Superior in the UP this summer & that trailer stayed right in line. I don't think our old swaybar could have handled those conditions. It would have been a very unpleasant, nerve wracking drive.
I'll just add a word of caution. Before ordering the Equalizer kit, go on their website & use their shank selector tool which gives instructions on measurements to take to make sure your setup can use the standard shank that is included with the kit. After crunching the numbers, I happened to be one in the small minority that needed a specialty shank due to the height of the backend of my truck & the coupler on the trailer.
In the end, I went with the old style DC since I could use my existing bars & hitch & didn't need to order another shank. Yes, I have scared the daylights out of some people because the DC is noisy in tight turns, but I'm very confident in its abilities.
This is an FYI story:
So I got the equalizer 1000k/10000k and it's defiantly a quality product, but. The rub on it is the mounts for the A frame. The bolt pattern doesn't properly fit the frame. The Jayco, and presumably the Starcraft frames are 4-3/8" tall and the closest bolt pattern for the equalizer is 5". The installation instructions clearly state that there should be no gaps between the frame and the mounting bolts. So now I need to fashion a spacer to fill the 5/8" gap below the frame and above the bolt.
[img width=640 height=420]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_d-jRnh_rVVQ/TbdZA4w3a4I/AAAAAAAAAPE/n22gqjs_8Pc/s800/BAL-Norco-Spacer-Options.JPG[/img]
I'm going to go with a block of some hardwood to get me going until I can get a steel spacer made. I had a metal supply cut some bar stock that i had given the dimensions, but it's a bit small and would need to be welded. I have the welding equipment, I just need the time.
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