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michaeln
Groupie
Joined: 08 Dec 2018
Location: Avery, CA
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Posts: 40
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Topic: FastWay e2 600/6000 Trunnion Hitch Posted: 31 Jan 2019 at 8:14am |
OffGrid you are correct. The sway control is going to be proportional to the amount of force there is holding the trunnion bars to the L brackets.
In my case even with the minimum WD setting (5 washers, L brackets in the lowest setting), it still over corrects, but the bars are so loose I can lift them off the L brackets by hand with only 10-15lbs of pressure. That is not going to provide any noticeable sway control.
The other issue is that when I have the L brackets in the lowest holes the angle of the trunnion bars is enough different from the angle of the L bracket friction surface that it really just makes point contact between the two for absolutely minimum contact of the friction surfaces.
I'm sure the e2 is a good unit. Just not for MY particular setup with the lightest R-Pod (171) and a 2018 Tacoma 4x4 V6 with upgraded suspension.
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Avery, CA
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 31 Jan 2019 at 6:47am |
I was thinking about getting an e2 hitch based on the positive comments on this forum but now reading this I'm not so sure. It sounds like the way its designed the hitch sway control friction is reduced with lower spring bar tension. So if your tongue weight is low you will be setting your spring tension lower, which in turn will give you less sway control right when you need it most (low tongue weight). Am I missing something here?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
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Posts: 2587
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Posted: 31 Jan 2019 at 5:14am |
We have a Fastway e2 round bar 6000/600 and it works exceptionally well for our Dakota. Even in high cross-winds it keeps the ride smooth and stable. It's probably a little more than our 172 needs, but we've never had any sway issues ever. Of course, that's not to say it will never happen, but with moderate speeds and a reasonably well balanced load, it's works so far.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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David and Danette
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 24 Nov 2009
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Posts: 1215
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 9:10pm |
Michaeln with our Vibe we have about 330 lb tongue weight and when we tow it with our Ram 1500 we have used a Equalizer 4 point sway control 6,000 lb hitch and we can feel the difference with it but not a lot. I have towed with the WDH and without it I can not tell a big difference. I think with your Tacoma I would try lowering the L brackets you will lose some of the sway control because that works by friction. But I think you would get some advantage with the hitch. I wouldn't give up on it, I would try different adjustments with the L brackets. With our Vista we have the same Equalizer hitch except it is the next size up the 1,000 lb hitch but the hitch weight is about 600 lbs. and we can feel a difference with it from when we tried the our 6,000 lb hitch. Equalizer has good support I would skip etrailer and call the equalizer manufacture and explain your situation I am sure they will be of help.
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2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018-
2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019)
2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014)
Middle Tn
2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab
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Motor7
Senior Member
Joined: 09 Jan 2019
Location: E. TN
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 196
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 9:06pm |
I just installed a Hayes Sway Master, but have not towed the pod anywhere in this frozen wonderland.
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2016 R-Pod 176T
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 6:39pm |
That direction certainly makes sense. I wish we were closer, I’d like to change to an E2 from my current wdh. But you’re probably better off selling it locally on CL.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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michaeln
Groupie
Joined: 08 Dec 2018
Location: Avery, CA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 40
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 5:47pm |
Since it is clear I don't need weight distribution with the light 171 and beefed up Tacoma, I am considering getting the Hayes Sway Master. It works electronically to sense the beginnings of sway and promptly applying the correct amount of trailer brakes to bring it back in line.
There is also the Tuson one that uses the brakes too but it uses them differentially where the Hayes applies both brakes. The Tuson costs about double and is a way more complicated install because you have to tap into the individual brake wiring. That seems more complex than it needs to be.
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Avery, CA
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michaeln
Groupie
Joined: 08 Dec 2018
Location: Avery, CA
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 5:40pm |
Wow, your F-150 has 11500 lbs capacity? I would not have thought it was that high.
Oh well, it's not the first time I have wasted money, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
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Avery, CA
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 5:38pm |
If you only get a tiny increase in front axle height without the wdh then there is no adjustment you can do with it that will change that. With your rig it looks like weight distribution is not really required. But I wouldn’t give up on your hitch just yet, additional sway control can’t hurt. I’m not clear how sway control on the E2 works, can someone who has one clarify if you can still get sway control with this hitch if it’s untensioned or only very lightly tensioned?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posts: 2630
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Posted: 30 Jan 2019 at 4:28pm |
Darn curious why it's not working on your Tacoma, and it works just fine on our F-150 which has an additional 5000 lbs of capacity. Of course, we're using the round bar instead of the trunion, but I would not expect that to make that much of a difference. We also have a Tacoma, but we've never pulled the R-pod with it. As the receiver height is almost identical, I would have guessed we could almost just swap it over without adjustment.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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