We sold our camper and let the hitch go with it (old reese dual cam hitch). Complaints with the reese were that it required muscle to hook and unhook - fine for DH but I would like to learn to pull this trailer and be able to set everything up myself, I already help with the driving and do just about everything but hook and unhook. Also, DH felt like he needed to take off the bars to drive through the campground in order to made any tight corners and back into our spot easily - would be nice to not have to do that.
Towing has not been an issue since we upgraded our truck to a Chevy quad cab, diesel dually, so we're not worried about the truck handling the new trailer. What we bought is a Sunset trail that is 34' long and 6300 lbs with a tongue weight of 790 lbs. We would like a WD hitch with sway system that keeps the trailer safe and is easy to hook/unhook.
Any suggestions? (And I would love the Hensley Arrow, but it's so far out of the budget that it isn't an option - no matter how great they are). Thank you!
Tom and Stacey
DD Nikki (14) and Kate (9)
Wrigley, our big black dog
1000 pound Equalizer or 1200 pound Reese. No need to remove the bars in the campground other than noise. My 3 year old could snap up the bars on my Reese dual cam if I let him. The trick is put the tongue on the ball, then raise the tongue jack. It is easier with a power tongue jack. . Then snap the WD bars and raise the jack.
A & A parents of DD 2005, DS1 2007, DS2 2009 2011 Suburban 2500 6.0L 3.73 pulling 2011 Heartland North Trail 28BRS 2012 VW Passat TDI
StaceyE wrote: Complaints with the reese were that it required muscle to hook and unhook - fine for DH but I would like to learn to pull this trailer and be able to set everything up myself, I already help with the driving and do just about everything but hook and unhook. Also, DH felt like he needed to take off the bars to drive through the campground in order to made any tight corners and back into our spot easily - would be nice to not have to do that.
We would like a WD hitch with sway system that keeps the trailer safe and is easy to hook/unhook.
The Reese dual cam is extremely easy to hitch/un-hitch, when you use the tongue jack. After putting the coupler on the ball, use the tongue jack to raise both the tongue and the back of your TV. You can then snap up the WD bars by hand, with ease. As far as tight maneuvers while the bars are on.. These hitch setups are made for turning! There is no reason to take the bars off, unless it just gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. We used to have a camera mounted above the hitch and I could watch the dual cam system in action. It was interesting to see how it works, when you are driving/turning/backing. Just had to be in the passenger seat, while watching the show...
If your DH has any questions, please tell him he can PM me..
Deep wedgewood blue '99 7.3L PSD F-350 Super Duty crew cab long bed dually or wedgewood blue '97 F-350 7.3L PSD crew cab longbed SRW, Member: Sunlineclub.com Rescue a retired Greyhound, greyt calm low maintenance traveling companions
APT wrote: 1000 pound Equalizer or 1200 pound Reese. No need to remove the bars in the campground other than noise. My 3 year old could snap up the bars on my Reese dual cam if I let him. The trick is put the tongue on the ball, then raise the tongue jack. It is easier with a power tongue jack. . Then snap the WD bars and raise the jack.
X2, if you're having to "muscle" up the WD, you're doing it the hard way. When you put the tongue on the ball, don't drop the jack down much. Same when you unhitch, raise the jack quite a bit and it takes very little effort to get the WD bars off.
Don't know if this makes a difference or not, but our other trailer was 20 years old and the hitch came with it. Not sure on the hitch age, but was at least 10 years old. It might be that my DH was doing it the hard way, or it might be that the hitch was old and worked differently? Not sure. Anyway, we want to get something new, safe, economical and easy to use. Have to chuckle a bit if he was doing it the hard way for six years!
Install an electric tongue jack and take all the need for using muscle out of the equation. If it's difficult to latch just jack up the rear of the attached vehicle a little higher. ANY weight distributing system that you can latch up EASILY is not transferring enough weight to make it worth using.
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR - 2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles) 2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
US Govt survey shows three out of four people make up 75% of the total population
StaceyE wrote: Don't know if this makes a difference or not, but our other trailer was 20 years old and the hitch came with it. Not sure on the hitch age, but was at least 10 years old. It might be that my DH was doing it the hard way, or it might be that the hitch was old and worked differently? Not sure. Anyway, we want to get something new, safe, economical and easy to use. Have to chuckle a bit if he was doing it the hard way for six years!
Thanks, Stacey
He's been doing it the hard way for six years.
Reese Dual Cam is the same basic design today as day 1. Hitching technique is the same, and is the same as any conventional trunnion or round bar WD hitch.
2002 Chevy 3500 DRW 8.1L/Allison
2000 Palomino B1500
...and the reason why I need a DRW to haul a Palomino:
2004 United 7x14 tandem axle enclosed toy trailer
2011 PJ 8x20 7-ton deckover equipment trailer
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. Then snap the WD bars and raise the jack.
