Recommended Equal-i-zer Hitch for towing a North Trail 31QBS

[sequoia7x]

Looking for some advice on which weight Equal-i-zer branded hitch to order for towing our new North Trail 31QBS. We will be picking it up Monday (borrowing the in-laws F350 dually to allow us time to get our Sequoia set up with a Prodigy P3 Brake Controller and Equal-i-zer hitch). The tow vehicle is a 2002 Toyota Sequoia (max tow rating is 6500lbs). The 31QBS has the following specifications: Trailer Dry Weight 5390lbs, Trailer GVWR 6,900lbs, tongue weight 600lbs.
I emailed Equal-i-zer and the response was basically, the 1000/10000 setup will work great as thought, but they also mentioned that I might consider the 1200/12000 setup if we think we are going to upgrade to a heavier TT down the road. Equal-i-zer mentioned that the low end reach of the 1200/12000 setup is in the 800-850lb tongue weight which they said I will easily reach with full propane tanks and batteries up front.
I've heard/read on some of the forums that you can have too much hitch and that more (heavier rated hitch) is not always better, and that you may have a "stiff" trailer ride with a too-heavy hitch.
It would be great to hear from fellow North Trail owners (especially 31QBS owners)...What is your WD/sway setup? and for any of you that know, How much tongue weight increase did you see from your empty TT to loaded with full propane, batteries, water, camping stuff.
I feel like I'm leaning toward the 1000/10000 setup to avoid the "stiff" trailer ride that some speak of. These North Trails are really light, but also very well built for their comparative overall weight.
Thanks

 

[CampingJunkie]

I also tow with a 2005 Sequoia. I have a Blue Ox Sway Pro and have the 1000 tongue weight model. I tow a 28BHS. Our good friends just got the 31QBS and have the same WDH with the same 1000 tongue weight rating but their TV is a F250 diesel. So the combo works much better for them since they are a good bit under their tow capacity and the wider wheelbase.

Hope this helps. Or hope someone who has the equalizer hitch can comment.

Jennifer

 

[sequoia7x]

Thanks for the reply Jennifer. We really liked the 28BHS floorplan as well when we were looking at the North Trail models (the 28BHS and the 31QBS were the top 2 floorplans that we liked the best). When we got the slightly longer length and slightly higher weight (I think ~400lbs heavier for the 31QBS) we were hoping that it really wouldn't make that much of a difference in the overall towability.
In looking at some of your responses in some of the other threads, it sounds like you are very happy with how the Sequoia tows your 28BHS...that is very good to hear and a strong vote of confidence for the Sequoia's capabilities. This is our very first TT purchase, although we have rented a 24' TT a couple times in the past and our Sequoia did extremely well at towing that trailer without any kind of WD or sway control hitch at all (and 1 of those trips included some pretty nasty weather with alot of crosswinds and the Sequoia towed like a champ).
Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[irvin56]

We own a 31qbs

We picked up ours on march 15/08. I pulled into Calgary and straight to the scales. I weighted in at (trailer weight) 5,920 pounds. This was with the trailer empty, BUT both 20lb propane were full, battery up front, and a power jack. this included the hitch setup also. The hitch head and bars(I swear)weight around 75 to 100 lbs. I have a REESE hitch setup with 1,000 lb bars and a 14,000 lb head. ans I have the flat friction sway contol
I hope this helps.
I would definatly give your vehicle idenity nunber, VIN,
to the maker of your truck and they can tell you the combined gross vehicle weight for your make.
I have 1,050 lbs on mine to play with before I'm at my max.
I never carry water and always dump my tanks before I leave campsite. No need to carry all that extra weight with travelling.

 

[dakotakid]

The wife,our son,his wife and there new born and i just put 650 miles on our 05 sequoia pulling our 25ft TT. I use the equilizer brand equilizer hitch. I went with the 1200/12000 just incase i go with a bigger trailer later. My trailer is 5000lbs loaded and pulled like a champ. It was less than $500 and well worth it.