Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Load equalizing hitch and other goodies


Load Equalizing Hitch, BAL X-chocks and BAL stabilizing jacks

As we drive toward Zion National Park, cutting through the northwest corner of Arizona, I’m taking dictation from Great Husband as he gives his opinion about our load equalizing hitch, BAL X-chocks and BAL stabilizing jacks.

Load Equalizing Hitch
I was intimidated by the idea of a load equalizing hitch. From looking at videos online and seeing them in person, they looked complex to set up and I expected a lot of work each time we disconnected and reconnected.

We bought ours from Escape and the price appeared competitive. Rease did a great job of setting it up for us and explaining how to use it. There are videos online explaining how to do that, but it was very helpful to have an experienced person take care of it for us.

Now that we have disconnected and reconnected the camper several times, it only takes a few minutes more to deal with the load equalizing hitch than it would a standard hitch.

When the hitch was new, there were quite a few disconcerting pops and groans, especially when we would make tight turns or go over speed bumps. They were so loud that we thought we had hit something. We have since liberally greased the holes where the trunnion bars are inserted into the hitch, and it sounds as if the problem has been eliminated.

BAL X-chocks
We bought this type of chock after reading about them online. The X-chocks are very well made, simple to install and remove. It only takes a few minutes. They work great and one, rather than a pair, would probably be sufficient for our Escape.

BAL Stabilizing Jacks
At our request, Rease installed heavy-duty BAL stabilizing jacks, partly because we were concerned the other type might too short and require the use of wood blocks. The stabilizing jacks operate easily using the supplied crank, and have good reach.

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