Hitch Set up Question

LivFam said:

Hi everyone, I am a newbie and am in process of purchasing a used Wilderness 2650BH and I have question about hitch set up.

I purchased a Blue Ox swaypro hitch and would like to see if I can set the ball height ahead of time. I called Heartland customer service to ask about coupler height so I would have a baseline to start from (I will re-measure before I hook up) and was informed that from the specs, the hitch height is 19 inches. Does this sound close?

I had the salesman forward me a picture, although a bad pic the top of the coupler looked like it was around 25 inches. Does anyone know which one is closer to accurate? I plan to take measurements in person myself, but wanted to ask ahead of time.

Thanks, any feedback is appreciated.

Carne

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rhodies1 said:

19 inches is the baseline start point,make sure when the sway bars are hitched up that they are perpendicular to the trailer frame.Not pointing upward or drooping downward.The Blue Ox is a great System and should work very well.My friend has this system and is very pleased.

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khuffmanjr said:

Hello! And congrats on the new unit.

I used a Swaypro for nearly two years on my gigantic Jayco Eagle travel trailer. That hitch is awesome! But yeah, you need to try to get the ball height right. Mine was trial and error. I ran a while with the nose low and then finally cranked off those nuts and raised it up. It was much better when setup correctly, though the hitch does well no matter what. Maybe you could take your wrenches with you to pickup and then set the ball when you're at the trailer. Assuming you'll hookup on level ground, then just get the trailer level front to back and then set the ball about an inch to two inches above the coupler. If you haven't over-spec'd the tension bars then that should put the coupler just about back to level once the weight is on the truck and the bars are connected.

If you haven't spec'd the bars correctly and the ninth link raises the trailer too high, then don't just use less tension....take it back off and lower the ball instead. Too little tension on the bars will limit the efficacy of the sway control. If your bars are way way above what you need, then contact BlueOx and grab a set of the right bars. My 15000/1500 BlueOx Swaypro actually seemed just right for my 11000lb trailer. If I hadn't gotten a fifth wheel a few weeks ago then I'd still be using the BlueOx for years to come.

I realize this message may have come too late, but maybe it'll help. Good luck!

Ken

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LivFam said:

Ken, thanks for the reply. I have heard god things about the swaypro and am looking forward tousing it. My current plan is to pick upmy trailer on Friday. Once I am there Iwill take all the measurements to verify the coupler height; and I am bringing allmy tools so I can make proper adjustments for the hitch height. The only thing I do not have is a torquewrench that can measure the 257 ft/lbs for the hitch head bolts, but I do havea 24inch breaker bar, I guess I should stop at a shop or somewhere that cancheck the torque for me.

I did a quick test fit and measurement, when installed inthe lowest setting on the 7 hole receiver hitch mount my ball sits at 21 inches.I am hoping that the 19 inch coupler height listed in the specs is actually themeasurement to the bottom of the coupler. If not, my buddy gave me his 9 hole mount as a backup. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Carne

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LivFam said:

I picked up a 1 inch (12 point) socket to use with my breaker bar to give me better control when moving the rotating latches when I hook up and unhook the tension bars. It looks like the 6 point nut on my latches prefer a 1 1/16 inch socket because the 1 inch socket does not seat properly. I hope this is not a difference between a 6 point vs a 12 point socket.

Separate issue. Does anyone know if Blue Ox recommends greasing the bar pivots prior to initial use? I know they say to grease both zerk fittings before each use, but I was not sure if that included the first time the hitch is used. I need to run out and get some grease.

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khuffmanjr said:

Hmm, that's weird, I'm pretty sure they told me I shouldn't have to grease anything for quite a while. In any case, it was all pretty quiet for about 15000 miles of towing. It got a little loud after that.

Say, did you pay attention to what kind of hitch head you need? They make a normal one and an underslung head. From what I understand, there are quite a few mistakes made when buying the BlueOx.

As for hooking up the tension bars... I used to set the coupler on the ball and latch the coupler, and then raise the trailer back up to crank on the tension bars. It was too easy.

Ken

Edit: quite is not quiet

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LivFam said:

Update: Hitch setup worked well. The coupler height ended up measuring closer to 22 1/2 inches. I set the trailer on level plane, 23 in to the frame at the rear and 23 in to the frame at the front, then measured coupler height (frame at axle/pivot pt also same). Hitch ball was set to about 23, so w/in the 1 inch tolerance.

For the blue ox swaypro, I went with the recommended 9th link which leveled the truck and trailer nicely. I'll post a pic later to show. With more weigh loaded, I may need to adjust to 10th or 11th link, but I'll fine tune that as needed.

Ken, thanks for letting me bounce questions off you in this thread

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