My equal-i-zer is making a loud popping noise when turning at 30 degrees or more angles at low speed. It sound like metal to metal popping. Is this noise standard for the equal-i-zer.
Pretty much the nature of the beast. You can spray the bracket and bars where they go into the hitch with silicone it might help a little. Also check that your not to tight on the L brackets. You may have to come down a hole. They make a nylon cover that goes on the L bracket also. But don't waste you money they lasted two trips then broke.
Sure scares fellow campers when I pull into the campground though!
I tried the pads sold by Equalizer to help with the noise. I didn't find them very effective, and I think it reduced the sway control. So I no longer use these. Noise does diminish over time, but far from quiet. But it does work well.
As our Equal-i-zer got a couple of trips on it, it did become noticeably quieter and after I used some grease on the hitch head surfaces (per owners manual), even more so. We chose the Equal-i-zer because it was the quieter option to the Dual Cam at that time.
However I found axle grease extremely messy to use, so I bought some clear Teflon hitch grease ("Reese Teflon Hitch Grease" @ Wally World). It worked as well as axle grease, but it did not attract or hold dirt like the axle grease, nor did seem it to stain clothes as badly.
However if the hitch was exposed to rain and allowed to sit unprotected, then the top and bottom surfaces of the weight bar sockets on the hitch head - plus the areas these touch on the hitch head will rust (the same as brake rotors that sit for a couple of days after wet use). Then the noise while turning is INCREDIBLY LOUD to the point where camping neighbors were running and diving for cover .
When this happened to our Equal-i-zer, their customer service told me back off the nuts on the weight sockets on the hitch head so they were easy to move by hand and use sandpaper to clean the all friction surface areas on the hitch. Upper & lower socket surfaces and the surfaces they touch on the the top and bottom of the hitch head. Then put some grease on, tighten the 2 socket nuts and good to go.
EQ said to remember to add some fresh grease after wet towing to treat those surfaces to ensure moisture would not corrupt the friction areas on the hitch head and we never heard that screech again. I also got in the habit of removing the hitch head from van each time it was not needed so that it was out of the weather and locked it in the van's front storage locker when not in use.
Some people also use grease on the L brackets but we did not - your choice.
yep. completely normal. We still didn't like it and our hitch is as quiet as can be and still has all the same sway control it did before - we just put a little grease on the L-brackets where the sway bars sit and it solved the problem. Make sure you grease the socket areas where the sway bars lock into - this is per Josh at Equalizer. Also said a little grease on the L-Brackets is fine too and we notice no deduction in sway control.
But it sure made a difference in how quiet the hitch is! I just keep a rag and do a quick wipe down on the bars before putting them into the storage area after we unhook.
Do make sure you grease the ball, and the two arm pivots, with a good heavy duty grease, like wheel bearing grease. I also put a VERY light coat of grease on L bracket.
Noise decreases as it wears off the high spots, mine rarely makes noise anymore.
Chuck
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Greasing the heavy friction surfaces--the ball and the hitch head, socket interfaces--will help, as others have suggested. I think most of the noise comes from the "L" bracket/spring bar area. I found greasing these was too messy, so now I just rub some ski wax on the brackets. Seems to help and doesn't make a mess.
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