Never used one before. Read all the instructions I can get my hands on. Are there any pitfalls I need to watch out for when setting this thing up? Or any tips? Its a Reese Highperformance trunnion style with dual cam sway control.

I was fortunate to have mine setup for me... I bought a used travel trailer in 02 and the prev owner sold me the hitch setup and got it dialed in.... When I got new TT in 04 it swapped over with no changes!! lucky me

Anyway... although this may not tell HOW to set one up... there's a guy on rv.net who started a nice loooooooong thread on the "how it works". Skimming through this and seeing some of hte principles might help with the "how to set it up" questions..

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/14265335.cfm

Thanks Solid!

I followed the instructions that came with my Reese and luckily, it was perfect the first time.

You need to be VERY careful of what bars you are using. The Dual cam depends on tension at all times on the cams. You can "overhitch" and get into a situation where the cams unload under hard breaking (Nose of the tow rig dives under hard braking causing the hitch to raise and loss of tension on the the bars resulting in loss of effectiveness of the cams.

You must see 1.5 inches or more of deflection in the bars when you go from unloaded to loaded.

On a 1/2 ton vehicle or a car you would want a 750lb bar with a 700-900 ish lb tongue

If you are towing with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck you need to use a lighter rated bar. On my 3/4 ton burb with a 700lb tongue weight I use a 550lb bar with the DC. The lighter bar means the tail of the vehicle will have to raise higher before the bars unload enough to cause the cam to disengage.

Hope that makes sense. If it doesn't then put your bars loose in the trunnion and lift the rear of the vehicle with the jack and pay attention to the end of the bars in relation to the frame of the trailer as the rear of the vehicle raises. think about how the tension is changing in the Cam saddles. The same thing will happen under hard braking in an emergency and might cause the cams to disengage and cause you to loose sway control when you need it the most.

The DC is a great system. I have paperwork for DC from the late 50's that was with our 1959 Airstream. It was really designed to be used with a soft suspension car when it will need a lot of tension on the bars to level the vehicle. When you start towing with a heave sprung tow vehicle you can easily over hitch (stiffer bars then needed). My 3/4 burb with 700lb on the hitch only drops 1.5 inches. With 750lb bars it takes minimal effort to lock in the bars. They only deflect maybe 3/4 of an inch. With 550 bars I get about 1.5 inches of deflection at the tips.

I have to say, this was one of the most enjoyable tows I have done in a long while. Still have some minor adjustments to the cams. They are about 1/4 inch out from seating correctly. Gonna have to get the grinder after some weldments on the tounge to move them tho.

Thanks for the help guys.

The equalizer brand hitch is the answer and works awesome, by design, nothing is close. Good luck:)

I have never used one either. Are you sure you need one?

I have never used one either. Are you sure you need one?


He is towing this with a Nissan Titan.


http://image24.webshots.com/25/2/89/55/319728955bcnmPp_ph.jpg

I have never used one either. Are you sure you need one?

From my 05 2500 CTD Dodge owner's manual....

Equalizing hitches are required for Clas III or IV trailer hitches and tongue weights above 350 lbs....

Overly conservative by far IMHO....

There should be a weight rating stamped on the hitch you're using as well... Should have a value for dead weight.. And one for w/d hitch.

Regardless of the recommendations/ratings... Using one will make for a more stable tow. Especially true when you think about evasive or accident avoidance manuevers - since tongue weight is more evenly distributed over both tow vehicle axles.

I've towed both with and without... Many times it hasn't been necessary, but it sure does pull nice(r).

I have never used one either. Are you sure you need one?
Most definatly needed one! Last trip before this past weekend was a whiteknuckle nerve wracker to say the least. This past weekend was a breeze now that I have one. Best investment Ive made in this hobby so far. And I have to thank Dan Dibble for turning me onto WD with SwayControl.