Surge brakes with equalizing hitch

[Thomas Gilg]

I just bought a 21' NR Seahawk, and just sent the following question to the dealer. EZ Loader EZ102 4300 Brakes X2 tandem axle trailer with slick bunks is on tap. Any thoughts on below from ifish?

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I have a fully adjustable EAZ-Lift 1000 system with the weight equalizing bars (aka distribution bars) featuring 12" (9 link) chains on each side but without the optional sway controller.

http://www.eaz-lift.com/equalframes.html (http://www.eaz-lift.com/equalframes.html) YES
http://www.eaz-lift.com/swaycontrolframes.html (http://www.eaz-lift.com/swaycontrolframes.html) NO

EAZ-Lift explicitly says of their sway controls "NOT FOR USE ON TRAILERS WITH SURGE BRAKES". Various boat forums reinforce the point about sway controls.

EAZ-Lift has no such warning about their equalizing hitches. Various boat forums says some equalizing hitches are ok with surge brakes, others not, and the chain variety of bars are usually mentioned in articles saying ok. Some people comment that using too few chain links will inhibit surge action, and others recommend only partially loading the equalizing bars so as to minimize impacts to surge action.

I plan to refresh the super duty shocks on my 1996 Ford Expedition ASAP, but know from towing a ~4,500 trailer that the equalizing bars do wonders.

I'm responsible for the final decision, but I'd appreciate any feedback your crew can give.

I also see that EZ Loader offers an Electronic Drum Brake option, which works with my existing in-cab inertia brake controller system, and EZ Loader claims their setup does not have problems with salt water.

Again, I'd appreciate any practical feedback.

Thanks,

Thomas Gilg

[WaterDog]

The surge mechanism on the trailer has to slide in and out in order for the trailer brakes to work. The equalizing hitch I don't think will allow that movement. If you have to use an equalizing hitch (not sure why you need to :shrug: ), then you'd want to go with an electric over hydraulic system on the trailer. These do not have issues in water.

[backlash442]

I towed about 7500lbs using a weight distributing hitch with chains. Although not on a EZ Load trailer. It was a Pacific Trailer dual axle dual surge brakes. In order for it to work properly you need to have a slide on the top of the hitch as Waterdog mentioned. This allows it to roll forward which activates the surge brakes. They work fairly well but I still ended up warping the drums on my 3/4 ton Suburban. Electric brakes are way better imo.

The w.d.h. does a great job in reducing sway (virtually no fishtailing) and levels out the load over four wheels instead of two. I had more than a couple emergency swerves and braking and am glad I had it on.

[ICHTHYDEMON]

The w.d.h. does a great job in reducing sway (virtually no fishtailing) and levels out the load over four wheels instead of two.

Unless you have an Equalizer brand WDH,a WDH by itself does nothing for sway. All a standard WDH does is leverage some weight to the front of the truck.

I see people refer to WDH as "sway bars" all the time,and thats not what they're for.

[ICHTHYDEMON]

I wouldn't mess with a WDH for your Seahawk. If anything,you won't have enough tongue weight.

With the O/S bracket and a heavy 4 stroke and kicker on the back,my trailer had virtually no tongue weight. When I took it off the truck when I got home the tongue just kinda floated in mid-air. I put it on the scale and found 50lbs of TW.

I spent hours trying to add more tongue weight. I moved the boat forward on the trailer and re-arranged the weight distribution inside the boat. I was eventually able to get about 250lbs of TW,but had to add a couple sandbags in the bow to finally get to about 11% TW.

I talked to the guys at NR and I would have had to take my trailer to Oregon and had them move the axles. I really didn't want to drive to Roseburg.

[backlash442]

I'm not sure what brand I had but I can assure you it did reduce sway. Even my friends who had boats of their own were impressed how well it handled.

Reducing sway and calling them sway bars are two very different things.

[lurking_out_loud]

I pull a 21' Seahawk w/225 4 stroke with my suburban all the time. No issues with the trailer and boat swaying or doing odd things under braking. I think you should be fine without the WDH.

-LOL

[Bluto]

Ditto on the doing without the WDH. You won't need it. No problems on my EZ102 4700# tandem axel trailer (22' MM hardtop, offshore, 225Hp OB). But I would go with electric disk brakes - I'll be swapping my surge breaks out at some point.

[Orca]

I tow 6000lb with an Expedition, and yes the WDH does make a difference. But, the setup with chains do not work correctly. I now run this setup - http://www.equalizerhitch.com/ , and it works great.

Also, I could make you a set of teflon pads for the bars to ride on that makes it really quiet and smooth.

[backlash442]

Long wheel base vs. short wheel base towing vehicle will make a difference too imo. I tend to agree with the others. With the weight you are towing you probably will not need a wdh. Besides if you feel you need it you can always add them on.

[Thomas Gilg]

Thanks for the feedback.

Indeed "equalizing bars" and "sway bars" are different components that provide different functionality. That said, I have personally found that equalizing bars help some with sway.

I stopped by my favorite tire/shock dealer to talk about new shocks. I asked for his perspective on this topic. He pointed out some good things. First, equalizing bars are usually associated with triangular tongue setups; \./ instead of |.| He suggested that the \./ spread on the bars helps with side to side tilt in addition to weight equalization, which I suppose is one component to controlling sway. It was also clear to both of us that trying to mount wings on a boat tongue -|.|- upon which to hang the chains to form the \./ would probably put too much twist/torque on the |.| tongue. He also felt that boats would be better behaved than trailers, which is where I appreciated equalizing hitches.

From comments here, and comment from tire/shock dealer, I'll beef up the shocks and give it a go.

Thanks,

--tg

[SnowDog]

I have been towing my fully fueld and loaded 22' Alumaweld Intruder w/ 225 4s Yami, 80 gal fuel tank, with a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7L V8 for a couple years. No problems at all. I just changed to a 2006 Denali and it tows a bit better, but the jeep was just fine. I never noticed any sway and stopping was not a problem at all. I put 12K towing miles on the jeep in under 2 years including trips over the pass to E. WA and many many trips to Neah Bay and the big C.

Just my $0.02. Your experience may vary :)