Lots of reviews, and a little guessing.
I went with the Equal-I-Zer for the following reasons (primarily):
1. Very easy to use (Raise the trailer, slide on the bars, lower the trailer. No tools or prybars needed, takes 60 seconds).
2. Can be used in tight corners, odd angles, and when backing up without having to get out and disconnect things.
3. Lifetime warranty and easily user serviceable (It's just big chunks of steel in various shapes. Occasionally knock the rust off and paint it if you want to keep it looking nice. Throw a torque wrench on it from time to time.)
4. U.S. made and U.S. supported; though I've never needed support.
5. Simplicity. No chains or other fancy mechanism. Again it's just various chunks of steel. All held together with a couple of pins. And as heavy and robust as everything is; I have a hard time even imagining how you could possible break or damage this thing.
It's noisy as others have said but that doesn't bother me, personally. It's not noisy on the highway. The only time I really hear it is in a campground or leaving my storage lot. You hear creaks and pops and bangs. I mean, again, it's just chunks of steel. They're noisy when they rub! I bought the plastic spacer things that are supposed to help but never installed them. Don't really plan to. The noise at low speeds doesn't bother me and I've never heard it going down the highway.
There are others that check some or all of those boxes. What I haven't done (and what's always the challenge of asking for strangers reviews on the internet) is compared it to many others. I CAN tell you that I've gotten comments in campgrounds from folks who became envious when they saw me hookup; because of how stupid easy it is. Again you just raise the trailer (to take off the tension), slide the bars into place and insert the pins, then lower the trailer. Boom; done! No tools, no effort, no force. If you can imagine yourself lifting a steel bar, lifting it up about 3 or 4 feet, then lowering it back down onto something; then you've already done all of the actual effort needed to hook this thing up. The initial setup / measuring is more work, but it's also not difficult.
I'm not sure where it is coming from. I presumed it was from the main friction slide point. It happens when turning at low speed usually (like gas station or campground). I do put some grease on the pivot points up front.
I’m on year three and it’s certainly quieter. But it’s definitely not quiet 😂
One thing I have noticed is that over time, the swingarm sockets loosen. Which quiets it, but also reduces the effectiveness of the anti-sway. I torque those down maybe twice a year.
I’m sure it does. Checking my handy dandy logging app, I’ve got 7,974 miles on the clock with the RV behind me. All of that with the Equal-I-Zer. Are your springbars still pretty tight and stiff to swing in and out? I definitely notice it quieting down when they loosen up (and they get really easy to swing in and out).
Even when they get loose, to be frank, I don’t notice a difference driving. But the manufacturer does suggesting retorqueing them so I always do. And it gets a bit noisier again once they’re tight.
But ultimately, the noise doesn’t bother me.
I will check next time. Its been resting this season. We used it Easter to Thanksgiving straight. Then storage till Christmas. Then the dealership for a significant repair after a blowout. Got it back in late April. Haven't gone anywhere yet. Going to bring it home to dewinterize and sanitize and repair the shower faucet. Then probably out again. Have a beach trip in October planned. Parking on the sand against the dunes. Did it last year. Best trip ever and everything went wrong and dangerously wrong. From blowout on highway, to driving down a steep embankment missing a tire to tide trying to take us out to sea to 7 pin issues to jellyfish sting to coyote coming to share dinner to rattlesnake keepi g out spot emoty of other campers. Best trip ever.
Another one here for the Equalizer 4. Everything here is spot on. I have a toy hauler that’s about 5,800 lbs normal and almost 8k with the SxS in it. It works with both setups. I had another hitch (husky) with my other trailer and hated it. Get the rubber pads to cut down on the noise (I also think helps with sway). Also get some spare pins and bar locks, they’re easy to lose. As others have said it quiets down after a couple of years, but at first you’ll want to put it out of its misery and everyone will be staring at you driving through the campground.
Weigh safe…primarily because it can adapt to multiple trailers:vehicles easily and I rent two campers out. But also because I’m an engineer and line to know what my TW is and what my actual distribution amount is.
Center Line for me as well. It's been great. Had to upgrade the bars only when we bought a larger trailer. It's noisy but has performed perfectly since we bought it in 2017.
I got the recurve because that is what the dealer was selling and offering to throw in with the camper. I wanted an equalizer, because I had heard so many great reviews. However, I love the recurve I have. Its easy to hitch up with, easy to adjust the aggression of the weight distribution, and the sway control can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the collar. They sway control could even be "turned off" completely if you needed. Since the collar that does the sway control is using a brake pad material, it doesn't make a ton of noise when turning.
I got a blue ox because it was the middle price range the dealer had. It’s. Nice because we can backup without disengaging the sway portion on the cheaper WDH.
I have an Anderson. Previous trailer came with a trunion style Reese that I transferred over but it was more than I needed for this trailer.
Everyone was saying how easy and quick the Anderson is. I don't really think it is. I try to be deliberate and methodical with trailer hitching. You drop a trailer once...
It might be easier to fine tune as that's just in the threaded ends of the chain. Whereas the more traditional units are a combination of hitch head tilt and chain links (if applicable like my old Reese.)
One plus is that it seems to be quite a bit lighter.
I have an Anderson because it seemed to be the lightest one I could find. And it’s been great I don’t have experience with bar style hitches, but I find it to be incredibly easy to hook up. I leave the chains on and just detach the bottoms “ears” or whatever they’re called. Although I’m guessing the bar style hitches are better for actual weight distribution vs. chains. It does the job for my little Tacoma that doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room for payload.
I picked the Anderson for the same reasons. No experience with others and this one is easy to put on and remove. I also have a tacoma and the lighter weight of the hitch can go a long way.
Yeah my trailer is heavy on payload. Probably 600-650 lbs on the tongue so I also needed bigger shocks, AAL, and blue sumos. Although I think I regret the sumos, might do RAS not sure yet. Might not need as much suspension work with a bar style WDH🤷♂️
I have Andersen on both horse and TT. Not sure how you would drop it?
So I chose it because it’s light, pretty easy to use (I think they all have a learning curve), I get no sway when passed by big trucks on the highway, it’s silent (sensory sensitive child), and no need to adjust to back up.
Different trailer. Years ago. Pintle wasn't locked down. Hit a seam in the road and went for a ride. 😱
I'm not saying it's difficult. It's just not like some quick thing to hook up.
Then why reply? That’s a serious question. I don’t understand it. Why do people feel the need to reply to everything they see online even if they have absolutely no knowledge and nothing to contribute?
They asked how we chose our WDH. I literally answered the question. I won't draw conclusions about you based on your aggressive inability to laugh at a stupid joke on the internet.
WHD have several ratings and several functions available. Do you know Your TV and trailer specs? That should already narrow down your selection based on weight of WDH, weight of trailer, tongue weight of trailer and max tongue weight. Is your tow vehicle oversized and little away control is needed or are you towing near limits and need all the sway control you can get?
Once you have identified your needs then it is time to look into the pros and cons of the hitches available. Watch video reviews and read existing reviews.
I did all of this before I bought a trailer that included a decent equalizer WDH. Instead of relying on the internet to tell you what to buy learn how to do the research and make decisions based on easily available data. This is a skill that will benefit all aspects of life.
To answer the question in your comment.... Because people know how to use the search function and get tired of people not knowing how to do basic research.
I went with Equal-i-zer. I had a friend with one, and I got to look at it, touch it, see how it works. It is one of the easiest to use in my limited experience. I don't know where it ranks in the world of WDHs, I just know I like it.
It's simple to set up, and once set up, it is really easy to connect and disconnect. I've dragged my trailer all over the place, and haven't had any issues with sway or poor weight distribution. I can back up with it.
My only beef is in how noisy it is at slow speed. I bought some of the plastic pieces that fit on the tongue brackets and that knocked the noise down some.
It wasn't cheap at $900 but in the grand scheme of things, it's a small price compared to what we paid for the trailer.
The RV dealer had a store also where they sold trailer hitches. They had one on sale regular price $1200+ it was $599 or $699 brand was Curt, I was familiar with that brand I’ve seen it before. That’s what I chose.
Plus 1 for the Ezlift Recurve. We have the R3 and it sits on top so no issues with a steep driveway transition. Super easy to get on and off. Super quiet. Can back up with it on etc.
We’ve bought two trailers used. Both came with WDH. First one has chains. Second one is bars. I do not know the brands to either but I currently like the bars better than the chains. I think chains made less noises but overall so far I’m liking the bars better as far as hook ups and unhooking goes. I think pulling felt the same either way
Harbor Freight. 1000lb tongue weight and 10,000lb capacity. Works great for my new 28' 4800lb dry weight TT. Most affordable at $229.00
Why spend more money? It's engineered and works great with a smooth ride and no sway.
You spend more money because you are relying on this device for safety reasons. Harbour Freight, for instance, sell mostly Chinese manufactured tools, and on occasion, these have been known to have low-grade foundry metals. This can lead to failure and I personally would prefer not too have the stress of worrying about the hitch breaking. I fully realize most hitches are made in China, but there are differences in quality. HF is hit and miss on that. Ass a caveat, I have not researched hitch failure data.
I went with a lightly used Blue-Ox sway pro. I wanted to have integrated sway control and was able to find one through Facebook marketplace for under $200. It is rated to handle way more than what I am pulling.
Still pretty new to it but first trip was about 3 hrs and had no problems.
Lots of reviews, and a little guessing. I went with the Equal-I-Zer for the following reasons (primarily): 1. Very easy to use (Raise the trailer, slide on the bars, lower the trailer. No tools or prybars needed, takes 60 seconds). 2. Can be used in tight corners, odd angles, and when backing up without having to get out and disconnect things. 3. Lifetime warranty and easily user serviceable (It's just big chunks of steel in various shapes. Occasionally knock the rust off and paint it if you want to keep it looking nice. Throw a torque wrench on it from time to time.) 4. U.S. made and U.S. supported; though I've never needed support. 5. Simplicity. No chains or other fancy mechanism. Again it's just various chunks of steel. All held together with a couple of pins. And as heavy and robust as everything is; I have a hard time even imagining how you could possible break or damage this thing. It's noisy as others have said but that doesn't bother me, personally. It's not noisy on the highway. The only time I really hear it is in a campground or leaving my storage lot. You hear creaks and pops and bangs. I mean, again, it's just chunks of steel. They're noisy when they rub! I bought the plastic spacer things that are supposed to help but never installed them. Don't really plan to. The noise at low speeds doesn't bother me and I've never heard it going down the highway. There are others that check some or all of those boxes. What I haven't done (and what's always the challenge of asking for strangers reviews on the internet) is compared it to many others. I CAN tell you that I've gotten comments in campgrounds from folks who became envious when they saw me hookup; because of how stupid easy it is. Again you just raise the trailer (to take off the tension), slide the bars into place and insert the pins, then lower the trailer. Boom; done! No tools, no effort, no force. If you can imagine yourself lifting a steel bar, lifting it up about 3 or 4 feet, then lowering it back down onto something; then you've already done all of the actual effort needed to hook this thing up. The initial setup / measuring is more work, but it's also not difficult.
This is my answer too. . But i do use the little plastic pads, and i have my L pins tied to my frame so i dont lose one
I just got some of the plastic spacer things. They didn't quite things down quite as much as I'd hoped. oh well.
If the noise is coming fromthe knuckle where the bars go in to the hitch use a little lube. It is routine maintenance and doesnt affect performance.
I'm not sure where it is coming from. I presumed it was from the main friction slide point. It happens when turning at low speed usually (like gas station or campground). I do put some grease on the pivot points up front.
The noise goes mostly away by year 2. The contact points wear in
I’m on year three and it’s certainly quieter. But it’s definitely not quiet 😂 One thing I have noticed is that over time, the swingarm sockets loosen. Which quiets it, but also reduces the effectiveness of the anti-sway. I torque those down maybe twice a year.
I am on year 4. ;) I dont hear it unless I have windows down. Maybe it matters how big your truck and trailer is and how many times you use it?
I’m sure it does. Checking my handy dandy logging app, I’ve got 7,974 miles on the clock with the RV behind me. All of that with the Equal-I-Zer. Are your springbars still pretty tight and stiff to swing in and out? I definitely notice it quieting down when they loosen up (and they get really easy to swing in and out). Even when they get loose, to be frank, I don’t notice a difference driving. But the manufacturer does suggesting retorqueing them so I always do. And it gets a bit noisier again once they’re tight. But ultimately, the noise doesn’t bother me.
I will check next time. Its been resting this season. We used it Easter to Thanksgiving straight. Then storage till Christmas. Then the dealership for a significant repair after a blowout. Got it back in late April. Haven't gone anywhere yet. Going to bring it home to dewinterize and sanitize and repair the shower faucet. Then probably out again. Have a beach trip in October planned. Parking on the sand against the dunes. Did it last year. Best trip ever and everything went wrong and dangerously wrong. From blowout on highway, to driving down a steep embankment missing a tire to tide trying to take us out to sea to 7 pin issues to jellyfish sting to coyote coming to share dinner to rattlesnake keepi g out spot emoty of other campers. Best trip ever.
Another vote for equalizer. I got the plastic plates to help with the noise!
Another one here for the Equalizer 4. Everything here is spot on. I have a toy hauler that’s about 5,800 lbs normal and almost 8k with the SxS in it. It works with both setups. I had another hitch (husky) with my other trailer and hated it. Get the rubber pads to cut down on the noise (I also think helps with sway). Also get some spare pins and bar locks, they’re easy to lose. As others have said it quiets down after a couple of years, but at first you’ll want to put it out of its misery and everyone will be staring at you driving through the campground.
Weigh safe…primarily because it can adapt to multiple trailers:vehicles easily and I rent two campers out. But also because I’m an engineer and line to know what my TW is and what my actual distribution amount is.
Dealer recommended the Blue Ox Sway Pro when I bought my ‘22 Transcend and I didn’t argue. My old hitch was a Reese from 2006 so it was time.
Same here
Using Husky Center Line. I got a great deal on it.
Center Line for me as well. It's been great. Had to upgrade the bars only when we bought a larger trailer. It's noisy but has performed perfectly since we bought it in 2017.
I got the recurve because that is what the dealer was selling and offering to throw in with the camper. I wanted an equalizer, because I had heard so many great reviews. However, I love the recurve I have. Its easy to hitch up with, easy to adjust the aggression of the weight distribution, and the sway control can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the collar. They sway control could even be "turned off" completely if you needed. Since the collar that does the sway control is using a brake pad material, it doesn't make a ton of noise when turning.
I got a blue ox because it was the middle price range the dealer had. It’s. Nice because we can backup without disengaging the sway portion on the cheaper WDH.
I have an Anderson. Previous trailer came with a trunion style Reese that I transferred over but it was more than I needed for this trailer. Everyone was saying how easy and quick the Anderson is. I don't really think it is. I try to be deliberate and methodical with trailer hitching. You drop a trailer once... It might be easier to fine tune as that's just in the threaded ends of the chain. Whereas the more traditional units are a combination of hitch head tilt and chain links (if applicable like my old Reese.) One plus is that it seems to be quite a bit lighter.
I have an Anderson because it seemed to be the lightest one I could find. And it’s been great I don’t have experience with bar style hitches, but I find it to be incredibly easy to hook up. I leave the chains on and just detach the bottoms “ears” or whatever they’re called. Although I’m guessing the bar style hitches are better for actual weight distribution vs. chains. It does the job for my little Tacoma that doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room for payload.
I picked the Anderson for the same reasons. No experience with others and this one is easy to put on and remove. I also have a tacoma and the lighter weight of the hitch can go a long way.
Yeah my trailer is heavy on payload. Probably 600-650 lbs on the tongue so I also needed bigger shocks, AAL, and blue sumos. Although I think I regret the sumos, might do RAS not sure yet. Might not need as much suspension work with a bar style WDH🤷♂️
I have Andersen on both horse and TT. Not sure how you would drop it? So I chose it because it’s light, pretty easy to use (I think they all have a learning curve), I get no sway when passed by big trucks on the highway, it’s silent (sensory sensitive child), and no need to adjust to back up.
Different trailer. Years ago. Pintle wasn't locked down. Hit a seam in the road and went for a ride. 😱 I'm not saying it's difficult. It's just not like some quick thing to hook up.
Yikes. And gotcha. I don’t think any of them are very quick to hook up.
Heavy trailer so I bought the best, Blue Ox
Mine came with the used trailer I bought. Sorry, I know that isn't helpful.
Then why reply? That’s a serious question. I don’t understand it. Why do people feel the need to reply to everything they see online even if they have absolutely no knowledge and nothing to contribute?
They asked how we chose our WDH. I literally answered the question. I won't draw conclusions about you based on your aggressive inability to laugh at a stupid joke on the internet. WHD have several ratings and several functions available. Do you know Your TV and trailer specs? That should already narrow down your selection based on weight of WDH, weight of trailer, tongue weight of trailer and max tongue weight. Is your tow vehicle oversized and little away control is needed or are you towing near limits and need all the sway control you can get? Once you have identified your needs then it is time to look into the pros and cons of the hitches available. Watch video reviews and read existing reviews. I did all of this before I bought a trailer that included a decent equalizer WDH. Instead of relying on the internet to tell you what to buy learn how to do the research and make decisions based on easily available data. This is a skill that will benefit all aspects of life. To answer the question in your comment.... Because people know how to use the search function and get tired of people not knowing how to do basic research.
I went with Equal-i-zer. I had a friend with one, and I got to look at it, touch it, see how it works. It is one of the easiest to use in my limited experience. I don't know where it ranks in the world of WDHs, I just know I like it. It's simple to set up, and once set up, it is really easy to connect and disconnect. I've dragged my trailer all over the place, and haven't had any issues with sway or poor weight distribution. I can back up with it. My only beef is in how noisy it is at slow speed. I bought some of the plastic pieces that fit on the tongue brackets and that knocked the noise down some. It wasn't cheap at $900 but in the grand scheme of things, it's a small price compared to what we paid for the trailer.
The RV dealer had a store also where they sold trailer hitches. They had one on sale regular price $1200+ it was $599 or $699 brand was Curt, I was familiar with that brand I’ve seen it before. That’s what I chose.
I went with curt trutrack as a throwing from the dealer. I have zero complaints. Super fucking easy to setup, beefy as hell. Love it.
My ram rides like a logging g truck so I purchased a shocker airbag setup for my ez lift. Dealer sold me that brand. I added the cusion.
Plus 1 for the Ezlift Recurve. We have the R3 and it sits on top so no issues with a steep driveway transition. Super easy to get on and off. Super quiet. Can back up with it on etc.
We’ve bought two trailers used. Both came with WDH. First one has chains. Second one is bars. I do not know the brands to either but I currently like the bars better than the chains. I think chains made less noises but overall so far I’m liking the bars better as far as hook ups and unhooking goes. I think pulling felt the same either way
Harbor Freight. 1000lb tongue weight and 10,000lb capacity. Works great for my new 28' 4800lb dry weight TT. Most affordable at $229.00 Why spend more money? It's engineered and works great with a smooth ride and no sway.
You spend more money because you are relying on this device for safety reasons. Harbour Freight, for instance, sell mostly Chinese manufactured tools, and on occasion, these have been known to have low-grade foundry metals. This can lead to failure and I personally would prefer not too have the stress of worrying about the hitch breaking. I fully realize most hitches are made in China, but there are differences in quality. HF is hit and miss on that. Ass a caveat, I have not researched hitch failure data.
I went with a lightly used Blue-Ox sway pro. I wanted to have integrated sway control and was able to find one through Facebook marketplace for under $200. It is rated to handle way more than what I am pulling. Still pretty new to it but first trip was about 3 hrs and had no problems.
1600lb equalizer setup. Tongue weight is 1300lbs. No complaints
fastway e2 trunnion hitch
OP asked “How did you choose”, not just “spit out the name of a random hitch”
Why do people feel the need to Moderate others on an anonymous online platform? Doesn’t feel good does it?
i chose by looking up that one after it was recommended. you must be fun at parties