Hitch Concerns

[Bruce Olive]

Ha! I’ll tell our friend he’s been doing it wrong. But watching his antics with banging the whale tail and torquing the nuts would put anyone off.

[Derek Johnson]

Make sure that you have the rubber pads that fit between the L-brackets and the bars. Grease the appropriate spots, which for me includes the hitch ball. If the hitch is adjusted correctly the front of the truck should be at the same height as it was before hitching the trailer and the back of the truck should only drop an inch or so. The trailer should be level or just slightly down in front. I had to play around with the number of washers and the height of the L-bracket to alter how the weight is transferred. We could not tow as safely with our F150 without the WDH as it transfers 200 lb. off the truck onto the trailer axles and 400 lb. to the front axle. The force down on the truck hitch is about 600 lb. when using the WDH (no front box on ours). Our loaded trailer weight is 6500 lb.

Our Equalizer hitch is the much lighter version and it tows fine. I like it. I think your bars are probably too heavy. Not sure if that is a welcome margin of safety or if it has a negative effect on how it tows.

Derek

[Tony192]

Thank You for the info. They didn’t give me any rubber pads. Where can I get them? And yes I do think they way overrated my hitch, it is 14,000 with 1400 lb. tongue weight. So the bars are extremely heavy.

[Tony192]

My trailer weighs a little over 7,000

[Derek Johnson]

Pads:

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/store...et-jacket-pair

Better hitch pins:

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/store...th-thumb-clips

[Defenestrator]

The Blue Ox is also worth a look. I find it way easier to hook up than the equalizer-style hitches, and it's fairly quiet (and doesn't need to be disconnected to reverse). The bars are pretty lightweight and easy to deal with. The stinger+ball is very heavy though, probably a good 20lbs more than the Andersen.

[Glenn Baglo]

I don't disconnect bars to reverse. My Pro Series WDH doesn't have sway bars ( they are an option ) and my Escape doesn't need them.

[giro53]

We use the propride and are very gappy with it. Installation a bit of a bitch and we use chains instead of cutting the fiberglass for the equalizer jacks. Would also check out the Hensley if you are looking in that class.
Both take getting used to hitching and unhitching but work beautifully once set up.

[Kevin7]

I had an Equa-li-zer hitch for my old dual-axle Shasta ( 5150# dry, 800# tongue?). Worked like a charm for over 15 years with minimal hassle, but the components were very heavy and don't even think about sneaking through the campground; she'd squeal, groan and pop to beat the band at every turn in the road! I had no complaints going down the highway, though; steady as a rock. I sold the hitch with the Shasta. My new trailer is a ton lighter and a single axle. After reading some (and wishing for something lighter) I decided on an Anderson hitch for the rig. Maybe 2400 miles in, I'm still trying to figure how to set it properly. I have been "that guy" who pounded on a drift pin through the whale tale (angle between tt and tow can be problematic), until I reread the instructions; now I keep the socket wrench in the back of the truck. Still, I can't say that it's performance fills me with confidence. I say this last part with further caveats: my rig has a Jack-E-Up installed, so I remove my front jack when I tow (allows me to lower my tailgate when hooked up); this makes it problematic to reset the hitch on the go (requires un-weighting the ball, according to mfg), I make do with chain adjustments without un-weighting. I did not add weldments to the trailer frame, also a mfg suggestion, so the frame brackets have "walked" on the frame (a common issue). I had to extend the chains on the hitch to accommodate various trailer obstructions, so now have a "weak link" to contend with. So, perhaps I'm not a stellar example? Also, the old trusty Chevy has had 2500# adjust-on-the-go Airlift air bags aiding the rear suspension since Shasta days, which would improve the performance of any hitch system. All that said, after the last tow in a stiff, gusty, Great Lakes shoreline cross breeze, I have to admit to wishing I had the Equa-li-zer back...

[Vicki Cobb]

We have a 2003 25RQ with a gross wt loaded of 7700 lbs and have used bar type Equalizer hitch. I have a small jar of hitch ball lube and a touch of that on the flat of the L bracket really quiets the squeeks. A little on the rub surfaces on the bar socket hinges also helps. The technique of lowering the coupler down over the hitch ball, locking it to the ball and then using the trailer tongue jack to raise the hitch ball and back of truck some makes it much easier to slide the bars up on to the L bracket. The hitch adjustment instructions are very specific as to how to measure how much load is to be transferred to the truck (measure rear wheel well height before and after adjustment).

[bigb]

I have been looking at the Anderson as well, as mentioned there are those that hate it and those that love it. Personally I have come to the conclusion that if you get it set up properly, and understand how it works it may be a great hitch. There is a pretty sharp guy on the Airstream forums who just finished setting up and testing one and he goes into great detail: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f46...ch-215476.html

There is another thread on the Anderson in the same forum just a couple threads down, it's been an ongoing discussion of the Anderson since 2015:https://www.airforums.com/forums/f46...ch-141594.html

The light weight and ease of hookup is a big plus. I do believe the Pro-Pride or Hensley are the best except for their weight (and cost), some 200 lbs, which is the only reason I am considering the Anderson. I mention cost but when making my decision cost will not enter the equation, how can you put a price on safety and peace of mind?

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by bigb

I do believe the Pro-Pride or Hensley are the best except for their weight (and cost), some 200 lbs.

75% of the weight stays hooked up to the trailer. The weight distribution bars stay hooked up so there is less to connect when hitching up. The weight distribution bars take care of the extra tongue weight anyway. The stinger that goes into the TV receiver is heavy but not like the other bar type hitches.

Here is a nice Kool-aide video. Try one of those lane changes and then get back to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FsR...ature=emb_logo

[Tug Hercules]

I have the same Bigfoot trailer, and I tow it with the Equalizer Brand of WDH. I would not personally use anything else.

The Equalizer is a well designed system.

Yes, the Bars are heavy, but saves going to the Gym.

[Tony192]

Thank You

[Moots]

Hi Tony,

We have a 2020 BigFoot 25RQ that we pull with the F150 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost. We have an Equalizer hitch 90-00-1000, which has a 10,000 pound limit on the trailer weight. The maximum gross weight on the BF 25RQ is 7,500 pounds. We have been very happy with the hitch. We are in Colorado, and have pulled the BF up I70, and through a lot of the mountains here in Colorado, and also through the Cascades. We have had the trailer in some pretty high winds, and it is very stable. We do get some noise on sharp turns, but we did add a sway bracket jacket, which helps some. Not the correct model, but it looks like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-9...48054702&psc=1

Hope you are enjoying your BigFoot!

Rob

[Moots]

Tony,

Vicki, in her post above, has great tips for using your electric hitch to easily hook up your stabilizing bars. And if you search online for lubricating Equalizer hitch, you will see where to apply a little grease to help with noise.

Good luck!
Rob

[Geronimo John]

Per the web, your trailer is a 7500 pound gross weight with a 650 pound tongue weight. You must use a WDH with your F-150. Now if you have a F-250 or F-350, you don't need it as Rapsy stated.

The Anderson WDH is actually easy to use, and is especially lightweight. The chains stay attached to the trailer, and the receiver hitch can be removed and stowed if desired. No double trouble with heavy bars. It also is not bad to look at as well.

When you set up the trailer and Anderson you will want to take note of how many threads you need to see outside of the nut when fully loaded and all being level. My Sequoia was all seven threads tight. My F-150 is only 3 threads showing out of the nut.

Having an electric jack on your trailer tongue makes hook-up easy. First loosen the chain end nuts. Run the nut all the way to the end of the chain bolt end. Then drop the tongue onto the ball, and lock it. Then raise the trailer/truck slightly with the tongue jack and this will cause the chains and their triangle plate to easily be connected to the Anderson receiver. With the chains still slack due to the tongue jack, it makes tightening the chains to your "set up thread count" a one handed effort. There is no reason to have to work hard, or fight the tension.

When you lower the electric jack, the chains will become very tight and you did very little work to get them to that state.

To unhook is the reverse. Use the tongue jack to loosen the chains, then further loosen them by running the nuts out to the end of their bolts. Then remove the pin from the Anderson Receiver. Not hard to do.... if you have an electric jack.

If not, good luck and enjoy those forearms you will have after a couple of trips.

Seriously, I have witnessed many Anderson WDH owners with huge forearms and a salty vocabulary. Once I showed them the easy way, their opinions and vocabulary generally changed a lot.

[Tony192]

Thank You

[pedalmike]

Hi Tony192.

I'm sure that if you get the Equalizer hitch parts that are appropriate for your size trailer, you can make the setup work. There are thousands of them in service. Don't skimp on proper setup. Take the time to get it right for your rig. Pay somebody to set it up right if you need to.

Andy Thompson from Can-Am RV is someone who extensively road tests all types of weight distribution hitches. The WDH he recommends is Camco's Eaz-lift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS2O1oJ7kXs

The tapered spring bars react better to changes in road surface and cornering loads than the square bars. They are also quieter when turning or backing.

The chains to set tension are much easier to adjust then the washer setup with the equalizer hitch. When you hitch-up or unhitch, you don't need to jack up your trailer tongue as much as you do with the Equalizer...you apply the final tension to the chains with a small bar.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Bigfoot 0995]

Sounds like the dealer installed to heavy a system, suggest you talk directly to Grant at Bigfoot Manufacturing as they would likely help correspond with your dealer to get the right Equalizer model/unit.

I switched from Equilizer to Blue Ox, did the home work so I got the correct weight/model of bars for our Bigfoot 25B25RQ. No squeaking, easier to hook up. Took a couple of times out to figure the chain setting best suited for the most comfortable ride.

Good luck