I know Howard has had problems getting hitched up in the past and I'm not sure why. My tongue weight is at 1800lbs, and I don't really have any problems hitching up. The biggest problem I'm starting to have is the tongue jack is starting to strain to lift the trailer and truck, but I think the jack is under sized. I'm thinking about getting a 5500lb jack. I'm also using the Blue Ox.

You know, I never thought of that. He's towing with a Ford 450, so it might be the bars aren't actually doing anything for him, and since he has so much truck it doesn't matter.

*Edit: Just went back and watched those videos. The one from the top, he's already unhitching, and just moves it up to release more tension. The one from the bottom you can clearly see the bars have a bend in them, so they are being effective.

Al,
I can only write on the Equalizer since its all I've towed with. You can back up with this hitch without issue and with the Sway Bracket Jackets (a nylon pad the bars ride on) the hitch is completely silent. It must be greased at the truck side which I'm ok with but some may not be too fond of.

Jim

I think "better" is defined by each individual user.

I have only used Equal-i-zer and I am happy with it. I have backed into campsites and around corners without disconnecting it. I have not found it to be excessively noisy, but that is my perception.

As for downsides to the Equal-i-zer. I think the biggest "con" for me is that to set up the weight distribution, you have to disassemble the hitch head and add or remove washers. Once it's set up, you can also raise and lower the L-brackets if you need to make a change, but you are limited on how much change you can make. The other "con" might be that you can't replace just the spring bars with lighter or heavier bars as you can with some hitches. If you need a lighter duty or heavier duty hitch, you have to buy a new hitch head and bars.

But overall, I have no complaints, and I am a "happy camper" with my Equal-i-zer. LOL!

Bob

All,
The bars, engaged, definitely make a difference on my F-350 dually--I know from weighing the setup with and without the bars engaged. I get the right weight back on the front tires (and almost back to the normal fender height) for braking performance and headlight aiming, both important considerations.

As previously documented, I've broken my tongue jack due to the strain of lifting the trailer and truck combo with the WDH. How anyone can get those OEM Blue Ox chains attached (and unhooked) without jeopardizing their hands...well, they're a better person than me. As I wrote in one thread, my Dad was watching me one time as the chains went "BANG!" as they unhooked and he commented, "That looks dangerous." Yep.

Hands down the best upgrade for the Blue Ox is Lippert's Straptek setup. As I've documented at length, the Straptek transforms the Blue Ox into an almost ideal WDH. I'd bet that a large percentage of owners of the Blue Ox, if given the opportunity to actually test using the Straptek themselves (hands-on) would purchase and install the straps. They are that good. Worth every single penny.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Howard

I used an Equal-I-zer hitch for 12 years on our last trailer. I'm using the Blue Ox on this trailer only because Equal-I-zer didn't make a hitch to handle the tongue weight of the 315. I feel the Equal-I-zer performed better than the Blue Ox.

RJAPCOK

Thank you for your comments and observations. I have read references to WD hitch designs that do not allow for backing up without disconnecting sway bars. I sure would like to know what type that is so I can avoid it. However, it is likely that we will go with Equalizer based on comments made in this forum.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have not really been bothered by noise. However, I ordered a set of the "Sway bracket jackets" mentioned by Guest. I like to try new stuff!

I thought they got rid of the F450 with the 5th wheel? I haven't watch much of this season but I remember it being a SRW truck now.

You sir are correct.
according to https://www.keepyourdaydream.com/trucks/ he's towing with a 2019 F250 Platinum 6.7 diesel 3.55 gear ratio

With my Blue Ox hitch, for connecting I knew which link to be in. I would lower the tongue until the ball was inside the hitch, but not fully seated. I would then hook up the chains and essentially lift the rear of the truck as I rotated the loaders. There was a "sweet spot" where it was not too bad. On disconnect, I would raise the tongue until I noticed the receiver started to reverse loading (just before it starts to lift the rear of the truck) then I would release the tension on the unloaders. This resulted in the least amount of snap as the unloader broke over center.

It did help to keep the unloaders lubed up to make the unload snap much smoother. If I picked the rear of the truck, it did get much easier, but I felt the jack was already close to its capacity and did not want to blow it out.

This is a REALLY good observation.

So rather than guessing, I looked it up.

Jack is rated for 3500 lbs (https://www.granddesignrv.com/owner-...s/detail/40396) on my trailer. (Other trailers may have different jacks)
Tongue weight is around 900 lbs, leaving 2600lbs capacity left.

My truck 's total weight is about 4000lbs. Googling some Cat scale weights, the rear axle almost always weights 2400lbs.

To me, that means that the jack itself is not in danger of failing.

BUT (to @howards point) I think lifting 2400lbs via the (Class IV) tow hitch would be more than the rated amount of the hitch (I think this is 1000lbs, Toyota just says EXCEEDS Class IV, but does not meet Class V)

So, running the math. Using the trailer to relieve some pressure. GOOD. Using the trailer to get the truck in the air BAD. The real failure point in this situation is usually the tow hitch mounting to the truck.

Please excuse the full geek for a minute: The static rating of a hitch is most like 3x the published rating as the published rating must include many factors not limited to dynamic instantaneous impulse loadings (shock), fatigue ratings, and combination of loadings.

Still geek mode: Lets look at the jack. whole numbers used for reference. Axle to jack 10', to ball 12' and rear tires of trailer 15'. Jack is capable of 3500 lbs at the jack. that means is has a torque capability of 35000 lf*ft from the tires. Ball weight of 900 lbs is 10,800 lb*ft and 2000 lb axle weight is 30,000 lb*ft. by my math the jack is overloaded. 30,000+10,800=40,800 lb*ft which is 4,080 lbs at the jack. Now these are reference dimensions and you should use the actual dimensions. But its an easy misconception that the jack is rated for X, the ball weight is Y and the axle is Z. Since Y+Z is less than X all is good.

Hope this makes sense. It's all Physics. Think of it as one giant torque wrench with the center of the axles as the pivot point.

Welcome. I’m no tow or hitch expert so I’ll just say that I’ve been using a Curt Tru Track model 17500 WDH (10k) with our previous 30 ft Heartland Pioneer and our current GD 2250RK
and have had excellent results for the past two years.