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Old 12-03-2015, 09:10 AM   #1
Craigrrr
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Default Haul master WDH

I just bought a Haul Master WDH from HFT. 167 bucks with a coupon

installed it yesterday and noticed that the round bars , one hangs about a 1/2 " lower than the other, is that a problem when it comes down to hooking it up to a TM?
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Old 12-03-2015, 09:38 AM   #2
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Presumably this is the 67649 hitch?

When you say one hangs lower than the other, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean that when the springbars are fully inserted into the head, the tip of one is lower than the tip of the other? If so, this suggests that the bend in the two bars is not the same. Lay one bar down, and put the other on top of it. Are they bent equally? Are the short ends of equal length? They should be identical. If they are not, you could probably get away with it, but I would ask for an exchange.

Or do you mean that when the bars are inserted into the head, the curved part of one bar sticks out of the head by a half inch more than the other? This suggests a problem in the head - one bar cannot be fully inserted into the head. The picture seems to show a little latch where the short end of the springbar would extend into the head. Do both bars click properly into the latch? If you cannot get one of them fully inserted and latched into the head, it could pop out at an inconvenient time, which could be a disaster if you are driving down the road. In that case I would demand (not request) a refund or exchange.

More info, please.

By the way, the ad for this hitch says that it "prevents dangerous trailer sway". In point of fact, a plain WDH has no effect, good or bad, on trailer sway. There are WDHs with an anti-sway mechanism built in, but this is not one of them. This should not concern you, since TMs are specifically built not to sway. But you should be aware of it.

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Old 12-03-2015, 09:56 AM   #3
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That is the WDH in question, They are snapped in all the way into the head, the tip of one is lower than the tip of the other by 1/2 inch.
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Old 12-03-2015, 10:11 AM   #4
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I can't think of a way that this could be a major problem, but I welcome the thoughts of other WDH users.

What it does mean is that the lower tip will drag on pavement or gravel before the other one does - not a big deal, I suppose.

It also means that you probably won't use the same chain length on the two sides - if one side hangs from 5 chain links, the other may need to hang from 4 links to get equal lift on both sides. If you crank up both sides by the same number of links, you won't be getting the same lift on the two sides. I can't imagine that this is a good thing, since the unequal forces will tend to twist the A-frame of the trailer. And this is particularly bad if the trailer has a swing tongue, since it will stress the welds, which are none too strong as it is.

There are just too many unknowns here. I would go back to Harbor Freight and ask for an exchange.

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Old 12-03-2015, 12:07 PM   #5
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When you buy a WDH from Harbor Freight, you don't get tremendous precision. 1/2 inch difference in the torsion bars is probably to be expected.

It's difficult to tell if the two bars bend equally for a given force. I suspect there is a twist around the long axis of the vehicle and trailer inherent in most WDH systems. The Harbor Freight unit might be worse than others in this regard, since you can see the difference between two bars.
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Old 12-03-2015, 01:55 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Craigrrr View Post
installed it yesterday and noticed that one [bar] hangs about a 1/2 " lower than the other
I assume that the bars are unloaded (no trailer) when you see this?

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Old 12-03-2015, 02:16 PM   #7
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Quote:
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I assume that the bars are unloaded (no trailer) when you see this?

Bill
Yes , unloaded. I just had HFT swap out the bars, now they are even. Now I have the ball height set to 22" off the level ground to the top of the ball. sound about right.?
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Old 12-03-2015, 02:57 PM   #8
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It may be a little tall, but that is OK. If needed, you can drop it an inch or two later, but no need to do so while you are on the road unless you feel like takling a BIG wrench for the hitch height adjustment with you.

I'm glad that HFT worked with you on this. It's nice when they are local.

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Old 12-03-2015, 03:06 PM   #9
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No, Bill, it is not "nice when they are local". I spend too much money there on things I see that I "need" to add to my tool arsenal.
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Old 12-03-2015, 05:23 PM   #10
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No questions asked, simple swap out. SO I hope the 2" ball is the right size for a TM. Since they are local, I do spend more money on stuff there. Never really had a problem they did not take care of.
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