bighog01
Central Florida
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Joined: 10/24/2009
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After reading the forums for some time, this is my first post! Lots of great info out there! So my issue is my WD hitch. It came along with a used tt that i bought a few years back. I have no idea how old it is or even what brand. My Armada squats in the back no matter how i set the hitch up. I have seen pics of other Armadas hooked to similar tt's with little to no squat in the rear. Maybe because the have the rear leveling suspension? Mine does not have that option. Do the WD bars wear out over time? This is the only hitch i've had-no experience with anything else! It is the common round bar type WD hitch. Thanks for your opinions.
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BarneyS
S.E. Lower Michigan
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I don't think the WD bars wear out unless they have been over-sprung but they could be the wrong size for your rig. You need to know what you tongue weight is by weighing it and then find out what WD rating your bars have. Ex. If you have a 1000lb tongue and only have bars rated for 600lbs then you have a good reason why your rig is sagging in the back.
Another reason could be that you are not drawing up the bars enough or your hitch head does not have enough rearward tilt on it. This would prevent you from getting enough weight transfer even if you have the bars drawn up as much as possible.
Either way, you need to find out what your tongue weight is.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch
2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD
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Camping Hoosiers
Southern Indiana
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Do you know what weight your bars are rated for? For example if you have 500 lb rated bars but need 1,000 lb rated bars, you probably couldn't transfer enough weight forward to level it out.
2006 Jayco Eagle 314 BHDS
2001 Dodge QC - 5.9L Gas
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bighog01
Central Florida
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My tongue weight is 630 lbs, according to the brochure. I realize this may not be totally accurate-have never had it on th scales. My bars are rated for 1000 lbs. Ive had the hitch head all the way up, down, forward, and rearward, without much difference in the squat.
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Gman22
Burlington, Ontario
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Joined: 07/03/2008
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Brochures list "dry" tongue weight which inlcudes nothing. I'd expect you're more up around 800-900 lbs i.e. close to your 1000 lb. limit. SUVs like your Armada are notorius for soft rear ends. No matter how good a WDH you have and how well it's set up, you can expect some visible squat. A WDH is not intended to reduce squat or make a ride look level although that is often the result to a degree. The intention is to distribute weight to axles other than the rear of your truck i.e. trailer axles and front axle of your Armada. It may be doing a fine job of distibuting weight to the front even with some visible sqaut in the rear.
That all said, you obviously have some money wrapped up in the Armada and TT, why mess around with an old, worn and unknown hitch that likley offers no integrated sway control either? Confirm your weights, spend a few hunderd bucks and go grab a new Equal-i-zer or Resse DC. Then following the install instructions do a clean install of a new and modern towing system.
2009 KZ Spree 324BHS (LX)
2003 Ford Expedition 5.4L V8, 3.73
Hensley Arrow HD, McKesh, Prodigy, Champion
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Just remember you set UP the WD bars before turning ON the auto levelers so I doubt it that's your problem. If the spring bars are adequate for your trailer and tow vehicle they should handle keeping your rig level when properly set up.
2004 F-250 SCREW Long Bed (new)
OR 2004 F-150 HD (85,000 towing miles)
Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
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JBarca
Dublin, Ohio, USA
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Hi Bighog02
By reading your 2 replies something is not adding up. Any chance you can post a few pictures of the side of your setup? and shots of the hitch? We can pretty much tell by the pics what brand you have.
And what model/year/brand TT do you have? We can look up the floor plan and see how it loads. Looking at possible tongue weight increase due to floor plan loading.
And tell us what you have in the back of the Armada? Is there firewood and a big cooler of pop in there?
How many passengers in the back seat? And about how many pounds is there combined weight?
Also look on your Armada receiver for a sticker that declares the weight distributing tongue weight rating. It should have 2 tongue weights. 1 load carrying and 1 weight disturbing. It may be in your owners manual.
You may be up against limits of your TV receiver. There is a point when too much weight will allow the receiver to over flex and wind up verses transfer the weight.
Weight aft of the TV rear axle also acts on the WD hitch and can take a receiver or WD bars over there ratings pending the actual loaded tongue weight.
And you may be suffering from a level of WD hitch setup. You say you can adjust 6 ways from next Tuesday and it does nothing. Old or new, something does not add up.
If you do not know how to post a pic and do not have a photo web account, PM me and I can help you get your pics up here. Until we can find out the problem, I would not go buy anything new just yet.
You said the rear ends sags, we assume the front end is high? Yes/no?
Oh and the air bag leveling, that not that will not fix your problem. It may mask it, but it will not fix it. Set up properly and all components within ratings, a WD hitch will correct the TV rear sag problem and return the TV front end to unhitched weight and height. The rear fenders will be down about 1" maybe 1 1/2" pending a few weights and settings.
Hope this helps
John
PS Eventually you will have to weigh the TT to know exactly what you have. When you get to that point, come back to us as you need 3 scale weights taken correctly to sort out the entire WD settings.
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver
2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
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bighog01
Central Florida
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I will try to get it to the scales in the next few days. We travel light. We dont carry any extra weight like firewood and rarely take bicycles. In the Armada, its just 4 of us, including 2 small children in the back seat. We take food, clothes, a cooler, and some chairs, which always goes in the tt, over the axles. There is a pass through storage at the front of the tt, which carries only a jack, a small tool set, water hoses, and a few other lightweight items. Keep in mind that the Armada DOES NOT have the rear susp. leveling option. And it seems the tv does sit a little higher in front when hooked up
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PopsRacer
Okc, Ok
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Joined: 06/01/2009
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This is the hitch I'm using, it works really great:
http://www.rvwholesalers.com/catalog/equ........-10000lbs-trailer-weight-90-00-1000.html
This will also help.... It looks like it should actually be better than the OEM Leveling System.
http://www.airbagit.com/product-p/towkit-nissan.htm
Here's a thread about it, we're still waiting for feedback after he installs it.
http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15214&page=4
2005 6" Lifted Nissan Armada LE (Offroad Beast)
2007 Jay Flight 29BHS
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bighog01
Central Florida
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I will most likely be buying the Equalizer. First i gotta recover from buying that new Armada!
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