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Kenneth
Washington, the state
Senior Member
Joined: 03/20/2001
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goodnesswins,
The EAZ-lift hitch is a completely ordinary weight distributing hitch with a friction sway damper. Ho-hum. Your dealer sells these, and he wants the profit.
The Hensley Arrow hitch is the premier. If you can afford it, don't think twice about buying it. Your trips will be safer and more comfortable. The Pullrite hitch is different but equally good. Again pricey, but if the price is OK, give it serious consideration.
http://www.pullrite.com/principle.html
Your nearest Pullrite dealer is:
GLENN'S WELDING & RV, Lynnwood, WA
(800) 743-2215
The Reese or DrawTite (same thing) Dual-cam hitch is superior to the friction sway damper and not as good as Hensley or Pullrite, but lots cheaper. This should be the minumum you consider.
Also do yourselves a big favor and buy a better brake controller. I prefer the Jordan, and the Tekonsha Prodigy is getting almost as great rave reviews.
http://www.jordanbrake.com/id20.htm
email me if you'd like more info.
Ken
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MitchF150
Puyallup, WA
Senior Member
Joined: 07/13/2002
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Goodnesswins,
I’ve seen your post on this and even added some comments on it. You are right on the bubble as far as weight goes on the 22H for your F150 in my opinion. It seems that the Nash is a lot heavier of a trailer then my Prowler. Mine is specifically built as an “Ultra Lite”, so it has a lot of really light weight materials inside, and is not a “high end” type of trailer. It’s an “econobox” type of trailer IMO, but has all the features and options that I was looking for at a decent price…..
Anyway, I can’t comment too much on those “specialty” type of hitches, as I’ve never used them, but they won’t do anything for you as far as weight is concerned and going up a hill.
I don’t think you will have any sway problems that would justify the expense of those hitches either. 22’ of trailer is not that much for an F150 with just an EZ-Lift. Your “problem” is the weight factor. Now, I’m only saying that because I didn’t want to go over #5500 myself. The truck will handle more IMO and your particular motor has about 30 hp and 20 lbs ft of torque more then mine does too.
Considering that, I’d say you would be ok to go for the 22H. You’ve already said that you intend to “pack light”, so keeping that in mind, you should do fine. Now, this is only my opinion based on my specific setup and performance, but I wouldn’t go any heavier that’s for sure.
Hope that helps you some. It’s still going to be a tough choice, but at least you are finding this stuff out now, before all the money is on the table……..
2013 F150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab Max Tow Egoboost 3.73 gears #7700 GVWR #1920 payload. 2019 Rockwood Mini Lite 2511S.
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Donny Nelms
Kingsport,TN
New Member
Joined: 08/06/2002
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well the wife typed up the post and thats what she called it,a hog's head. Some people around here call them that for some reason. I know that a sway bar is used on vehicles but i wasn't sure what they are called for travel trailers to keep the sway down.
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PullToy
USA
Senior Member
Joined: 09/24/2001
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The earlier post about sway being "caused" by passing trucks and light tongue weight is not exactly correct. Those are things that can start a rig swaying and certainly contribute to the problem. But the cause of sway is simple: The distance between the ball and the rear axle forms an "arm." Eliminate that distance and you eliminate the effects of sway. That's also why fivers tow better than a lot of TTs. Their pivot point is at or in front of the rear axle. Game over. The "arm" does two things: When the front of the tow vehicle changes direction, the ball at the back will go the OPPOSITE direction for a brief time and then begin to track. So the front of the TT heads the wrong way for a moment, then heads back. Then when the front wheels correct for this strange reaction, the ball again whips the wrong direction for a split second before following along. Tape a stick to the rear of a child's wagon and watch which way it moves when the front of the wagon turns.
The flip side is that the TT gets to use the "arm" created by the distance between the ball and the axle to lever the tow vehicle around. Each sideways push of the front of the TT tries to make the front of the tow vehicle change direction. Push sideways on the end of the stick (taped to the back of the child's wagon) and watch what the front does.
When all this "out of phase" direction changing stuff gets to going south, the oscillations can build up to scary proportions. All sway control devices attempt to solve the problem by slowing down (dampening) the oscillations. This works to most people's satisfaction. It does not cure the problem. (Actually it introduces a new problem: understeer caused by the sway control device.) The only two hitches on the market that fix the problem at its root are the Hensley and the Pullrite. The Pullrite moves the pivot point physically up to the rear axle. The Hensley does the same thing (or even in front of the axle) through a series of bars.
For reasons known best to themselves, people choose to go with a less expensive solution than the Hensley or Pullrite hitches. I found choosing the Pullrite to be pretty easy once I got over the sticker shock. My cargo is too important to me to risk and I've got too much money tied up in this truck and TT to skimp on a hitch.
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rx2tee
Mojave Desert
Senior Member
Joined: 05/20/2002
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Hi,
I find it hard to understand why people think $2000 is too much money to pay in order to safely tow a $25,000 trailer with a $40,000 truck. The friend that introduced me to the pullrite pulls his rig all over the U.S. and Canada. The friends that settle for conventional hitches don't seem to travel with their trailers near as much.
I feel that the safety and ease of control make my pullrite a bargain.
*This Message was edited on 11-Aug-02 03:00 AM by rx2tee*
2002 4x4 f-250 LB 7.3 Powerstroke
6-spd manual 3.73 axle
Gemtop
Rhinoliner
Pullrite hch, Prodigy Bk. Ctl.
Jayco 25RKS
Randy & Colleen
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Donny Nelms
Kingsport,TN
New Member
Joined: 08/06/2002
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thanks for all the tips,info and help guys. We had to take our hitch back for a little minor repair and took our camper back out for a test drive. We adjusted the WD bars up 2 links from our last trip to make the hitch more level with the truck and camper and it was 100% better. No sway to speak of and we got blown less off the road by the truckers. The way it handled today i don't know if we even need a sway bar, even though i might purchase one anyway.
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bduke
Lisle, IL
Full Member
Joined: 08/26/2001
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Yup! You need weight distribution and sway control.
Get the Reese Dual Cam system.
Bob & Carol & The Tuna Trio
Ford Expedition (2003)
Rockwood T2502 Ultra Lite (2002)
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