practice practice

[madjan]

we took a little 4 day tour of our local texas state parks last week.. our fj pulled flawlessly and the elkmont pulled really well wind or not.. uphill or downhill. we are learning how to tow a trailer and live in it too.. hahaha.. also teaching our cats how to travel.. this wasn't their first trip with us but the first with the trailer.. i do believe they loved it. i can't wait for the next time we bring the trailer home from storage to see how the two felions react.. they wouldn't stay out of it when we were cleaning it up after the trip.

only one thing bothers me about towing a trailer.. the noise that the weight distribution hitch makes when turning... is this a common thing?

i seem to be able to turn pretty sharp with the fj having kind of a bobtail.. is that something i should avoid?

[kenngeri2720]

Madjan,

I put a little grease on the friction points of the spring bars and that seem to reduce the noise level.

[mtnguy]

only one thing bothers me about towing a trailer.. the noise that the weight distribution hitch makes when turning... is this a common thing?


Yerp. Those puppies creak, clank, knock, and rattle......it is the nature of the beast.

[PopBeavers]

That is one of the nice things about towing with either of my two trucks. I do not need a WD hitch.

But, you probably would not like my gas bill. I get 13.5 mpg empty and about 11 towing.

[brulaz]

The grease on the friction bars help; it should also reduce wear-and-tear. After our trip from Texas (no grease) I was surprised at how much wear there was at the top, where they fit into the hitch.

[Bill]

Groaning during turns is often a sign of improper adjustment of the weight distributing hitch. Specifically, it will groan if the tips of the springbars are too high (too few chain links between the springbar tips and the lift hooks). There should be at least 6 or 7 chain links between the tips and the hooks. If there are fewer, it means that the ball mount is tilted too far forward, which raises the tips of the springbars too close to the hooks. If you have only 3 or 4 links, you really need to do an adjustment before you break something. WDH ballmounts, at least the ones that involve chain-type springbars, have a tilt adjustment. All you need is a BIG wrench, and the instructions for your WDH (available online).

It is easy to adjust, and not something to ignore. There is a little info around post #8 here
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6549
and a little more in the posts around #10 here
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?p=35516

Bill

[madjan]

i have two empty links on the end.. so i'm using the third chain link from the end..

[madjan]

i was able to find the instructions from the husky site..www.huskytow.com.. i think i'm adjusted pretty well.. but will double check.

[Bill]

Madjan -

If you have only a couple of free links, you are probably OK. But it is a common misconception that the number of free links will be the same for every hitch. Not so. I was referring to the number of links between the springbar tips and the hook, not the number of free links beyond the hook. After all, somebody could put on a longer chain (more links), and you would still want the same amount of lift. The number of free links has no effect on the amount of lift, and isn't really a good indicator of "how to set it up".

Bill

[madjan]

i will study my hitch and these instructions and make sure i'm not getting too tight with the spring bars. again .. thanks.. i really appreciate all the info i get here!!!