Hey Does any body have any experiance with equelizer hitches and or overloads springs, What would work better? i have a 97 chev ext cab 350 4x4 z71 With a 7000lb car trailer electic breaks. I need more weight carrying capacity, Would i be better to get an overload setup, or get the equelizer hitch, the torsion bar style. has any body used these setups before?

 

I have a pretty good setup on our '97 Tahoe. Class V Hitch, Equal-i-zer setup with torsion bars. In addition I have the heavy-duty air lifts in the rear with an on-board compressor for adjusting ride firmness and ride height. It works great and allows for high-speed towing on the interstate with no swaying or dancing around. With all the adjustments from the Equal-i-zer and Air-Lifts it makes towing a 5,000+ lb. load a pleasure.

 

Buy a 3/4 ton.

 

Dazed, I have a 2000 Silverado ext cab 2wd, with the the factory towing package. I pull a home built trailer rated for 10,000lbs with electric brakes, it weighs just over 2000lbs with 400lbs of tounge weight empty. It pulls real nice with 4 Sportsmans on board, I have even gone as far putting a Scrambler 500 in the box without a problem. When on the freeway we cruise at 70 to 80 mph what ever the traffic is going.

 

The reason i ask is that my truck has over 100000 on it and the springs arn,t new. i think i will go with the equelizer hitch that way it will always be there on the trailer and is transferable to others. Don,t you think 70 to 80 mph is a touch fast while trailering ? I usually run about 65mph as we have no freeways here. Justa back roads and two lane hiways. you need to get up here and do some rideing We have the best trails and unlimited mud and water.

 

Jack what brand is you equelizer hitch i am looking at blue ox and hiddin hitch any good.Also is there anything to look at when buying one? or when using one?

 

How did you measure the tounge weight on your trailer? What type of scale?

 

Definitly use an equalizer hitch. You can level the load, and it moves weight off the back axel.

On 3/4 ton trucks they use "floating" axels. All the weight is on the hub, and the axel only turns the hub. On 1/2 trucks, the axel is attached to the hub and in addition to turning the hub it also supports the weight. I've seen too many overloaded 1/2 ton trucks sitting next to the highway with the axel broken (every fall, overloaded with firewood).

 

I'm with Jack on this one.

Air lift air bags with DUAL control and on board compressor will set you back about $400. By using dual control, you will net you additional anti-sway benefits. It is also a use only when needed thing.

As for hitches, I like the Draw Tite with the deluxe trunion style. These bars are VERY durable, PLUS the ends (only real wear point) are replaceble.

FYI trailers/towing are my business!

 

It depends on how much 'help' your suspension needs. A stabalizer hitch is probably the easiest way to go that works well if you don't need a whole lot of help. Overload springs will help also, but I think the stabalizer or weight distribution hitch is a better first choice as it spreads the load better, putting less strain on the truck. Overload springs will help, too, but may cause rougher riding.

Air bags are kind of the ultimate load hauler, but can be kind of complicated. You have to have some kind of anti-sway system, or seperate valving for each side to prevent sway or leaning on sidehills. If done right, they will add more load capacity than anything else, but if you don't need that much help, just a boost to an old, sagging system, I would go a simpler way.