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You can already tell by the photo that it's not setup properly. The front is lifted considerably and the rear has dropped considerably as well. If it was setup properly the rear would not have dropped at all or very minimal. I would suggest googling or find a youtube video. Did the hitch not come with instructions?
Take is all apart and start over. Does that hitch use head tilt to adjust the bar tension? You may need to tilt the head back a bit to drop the bar ends down so you can get proper tension on them when locked in place.
I just went through re-setting up my Equalizer. Try moving the brackets up 1 hole then be ready to remove washers to get the final "sweet spot". That is how I dialed mine in. The dealer has it set up good for the empty trailer, but when we loaded up to go camping, my truck looked like yours.
I would recommend dropping the ball one more hole, and cranking the WDH bars or chains tighter. I say drop the ball down because your trailer already looks nose high, or just level. When you get the proper weight distribution it is going to raise the rear of your truck (and nose of trailer) more than your current set up.
If you find you cannot get it tight enough to bring the rear back up, you may need a heavier rated WDH. You can also try picking the rear of the truck up with the trailer jack (not off the ground, but raising the suspension). Then set your bars and let it down. As it comes down it will create more tension, thus distributing more weight to the front axle.
The objective of the WDH is to return weight lifted from the steer axle when the tongue is set on the hitch ball. The WDH lifts weight from the drive axle and transfers it to the steer axle and the trailer axles. Get the steer axle weight adjusted properly and let the rear squat fall where it may.
What do the scales say? How much was lifted from the steer axle when the trailer was attached? How much was returned to the steer axle when the WDH bars were cinched up?
If not weighed, how did the measurements turn out? How much did the front wheel well rise when the trailer was attached? How much was it lowered when the WDH bars were cinched up. There is likely a description of how much to lower the front in your truck owner's manual. Some manuals say lower the wheel well by half of the rise. Some say lower it by 1/4 of the rise. Some old school towing folks say lower it all the way back to where it started.
In my case, 360 lbs. was lifted from the steer axle and 260 lbs. was returned when the WDH bars were cinched up. So 72% of the weight was returned. A total of 380 lbs. was lifted from the drive axle with 260 lbs. going to the steer axle and 120 lbs. going to the trailer axles.
If you get the weight on the steer axle back to where it is supposed to be and the front is still pointed to the sky, you can remove the spacers that were added or just put up with the oncoming drivers flashing their high beams at you.
DO NOT lower the front of the truck lower than its unloaded height. This will affect suspension geometry and tire wear.
Here is what the scales say about mine before and after cinching up the WDH bars:
The problem is that you have taken the factory rake out of the truck by adding a leveling kit. You won't be able to undo that by cranking up the WD bars without putting sever stress on the hitch components.
Since you leveled it you are always going to have the tail down, by adding tongue weight the rear will drop. It would help to add air bags for when you are towing because you have the leveling kit. Your tongue weight if you checked it rather than went by factory specs is barely enough, for travel trailers it should have 10 to 15% with 13% ideal which you come in on the low side.
07-07-2017, 06:44 AM
Help with WDH set up
