Been browsing these forums the past few weeks and learning a lot. This is our first time owning a camper and so there will always be some questions until we figure everything out. As thread states, I need to get a WDH. Our camper is a 2002 Rockwood Roo 23. I'm pulling it with a stock 2002 Ford F150 Supercrew. I've been looking at hitches from Reese and Equalizer, but can't decide what would be best for my situation. I believe the camper is around 3900# dry weight, but with 2 kids we tend to pack it pretty decent so overall weight is probably quite a bit more. From what I've read, I needed to take some measurements for hitch height on the truck and on the trailer when it is level. Here are the measurements:
Ground to top of truck hitch - 21" Ground to bottom of trailer coupler - 12.5" Ground to top of trailer coupler - 14.5" These are not exact measurements, but I wanted a ballpark figure to play with. I'm not sure if I should be going off the bottom coupler measure or top coupler measurement, but the difference between the truck and trailer is 6.5-8.5 inches, which I'm guessing I need a pretty big drop shank. I'm worried that since the trailer hitch is so low, when I add the WDH with the bars, they will be hitting the ground. I've looked at some hitches but a lot of them only have a couple inch drop, so I'd have to buy a different shank which is starting to confuse me and limit my options. I don't want to spend 500-600 if I can help it. Also, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room on the frame to mount any brackets, and I don't know if that will cause issues also. There is however, a friction mount on the right side of the trailer. Below is a pic of the front of the trailer. Sorry for the long post
Our Expedition has the same receiver height as you, but our Roo 23SS has the "riser kit" which gives us a 4" higher tongue height than yours.
We're running with no drop.
Go to the Equal-i-zer website and plug your numbers into their shank selection tool on the bottom of the page. You need to use 23" for the top of the receiver hole. When I plug 14-1/2", 23", and 4500 pounds into the tool it spits out shank 90-02-4100 which is the standard shank in every box (and pictured above). You'll probably want the lowest set of holes to drop the ball. We're using 8 washers in the head to account for the receiver verticle slop.
RVWholesalers has this hitch for $399 including shipping.
I'm using the 1000/10,000 rated Equalizer and don't feel it's too much for my just under 5000 pound trailer.
(For the eacle-eyed the photo is actually my '02 Explorer, not the newer Expedition but no changes were needed when I fit the hitch to the new truck.)
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland Our Photo pages
I'm happy with my Equalizer. On our old trailer we had a 'regualr' W/D hitch with friction sway control - I thought it worked pretty well until we upgrade to the Equalizer... what a difference.
Look at the hitch as a future investment - when you trade up (and you probably will someday) take the hitch with you.
Mark & Tammy
'01 Excursion Limited, 4x4, V10, RoadMaster Active Suspension
'01 Prowler 31G
Equal-i-zer Hitch - Prodigy Brake Controller
I use an equalizer hitch to connect my 04 Ford Excursion to our 2000 Rockwood Roo 21. I suspect our number will end up being similar.
I am using the standard shank with the head on the second to lowest “set” of holes with the shank pointing downwards. In other words, I could lower the head one more hole lower on the shank. I am currently using 6 washers to tilt the head, but I am considering adding 1-2 more and raising the L brackets.
Remember that the trucks suspension will squat with the load of the trailer on the hitch. The goal is to achieve an equal amount of squat on the front and rear axle using the weight distribution hitch. This is how you tell you are transferring weight evenly over both axels. In practice I have never been quite able to achieve this with my new trailer. I added several hundred pounds of weight to my tongue when I welded steel floor supports under the front of the trailer. But I am close. My rear fender lowers 2” and the front lowers 1.5” using the Equalizer.
As for the space on the trailer tongue for the L brackets, you just have to push the plastic cover for the battery and propane bottles out of the way. You could choose to cut the cover, but I just pushed mine around the brackets. Now the cover actually fits more snugly since it is being pinched a little by the Equalizers brackets.
Good luck
Me - 67
DW - 71
DD - 01
DD - 04
DS - 06
04 Ford Excursion (Whomper)
00 - 21' Rockwood Roo
Equal-i-zer and Prodigy
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