Advice on Reece Hitch /Anti Sway

[USMCJS]

So I bought a used 2016 17b with a Reece anti-sway system with the trunion bars. The gent I purchased it from showed me how to hook it up and when he did the chains attached to the back of the bars were not real tight. Then I went elsewhere at home and had the hitch lowered as the front of the trailer was riding too high. Even an RV tech told me to have it lowered. The previous owner towed with a Toyota Tundra and I have a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. The man who adjusted the hitch told me the trunions were doing me no good because the chains needed to be as tight as I could get them, even gave me a bar to use to snap the chains and bar into place.

So, this newbie (sold my big coach) needs to know who is right. Tight as I can get the chains, or loose chains ?

Thank you.

Jim

[Rossue]

Neither. What you need to do is set up the WDH for YOUR vehicle. Search it- etrailer has some good videos on that subject. Basically you will measure your rear height unhitched and then duplicate it while hitched using your WDH.

Too tight is potentially dangerous.

[USMCJS]

Thanks for the tip. I think I have another problem now. The Reece was being used with a Toyota Tundra. I had it adjusted to lower it as much as I could and I believe, after watching this video it will not be level as is. Do I need to add a drop down and will that affect the rest of the system if I do ? Thanks again.

Jim

[Rossue]

I had to buy a shank for a big drop that would work with my Pro Series WDH as the stock shank- while good for my Highlander didn't work for the Yukon and Expedition. Paid etrailer about $150 for what I needed.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by USMCJS

So I bought a used 2016 17b with a Reece anti-sway system...

The brand name is "Reese" - it's easier to find information when looking for the right name.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by USMCJS

So I bought a used 2016 17b with a Reece anti-sway system with the trunion bars. The gent I purchased it from showed me how to hook it up and when he did the chains attached to the back of the bars were not real tight. Then I went elsewhere at home and had the hitch lowered as the front of the trailer was riding too high. Even an RV tech told me to have it lowered. The previous owner towed with a Toyota Tundra and I have a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. The man who adjusted the hitch told me the trunions were doing me no good because the chains needed to be as tight as I could get them, even gave me a bar to use to snap the chains and bar into place.

So, this newbie (sold my big coach) needs to know who is right. Tight as I can get the chains, or loose chains ?

The "man who adjusted the hitch" doesn't know what he is doing. Even if he does it every day, that just means he is messing up lots of rigs.

The chains should not be as tight as you can get them; they should be adjusted correctly. Yes, that usually means a bar is used to snap the brackets up, because to work effectively usually requires far more force in the chains than a person can apply without leverage, but more is not better. There is a trick to make this easier: you hitch the coupler onto the ball, then crank the trailer's tongue jack really high to lift the back of the truck and the ends of the spring bars, hook up the chains, then let the jack down and the spring bars pull the chains tighter. The end result is the same as just using a big lever, but most people find it easier.

The tension in the chains is the force at the end of two levers (the spring bars), and pulling those levers up shifts load from the truck's rear axle to the truck's front axle. The force needs to be correct to shift the right amount of load. Of course the chains are pulling down on the trailer, so this also shifts load to the trailer's axles.

The height of the hitch head on the shank must be set so that when the right amount of force is applied to the chains the trailer sits level. There's usually some trial-and-error to that.

The right amount of load shift depends on the dimensions of the tow vehicle, so it will be different for the Cherokee than for the Tundra. The final height of the hitch head just depend on the trailer so that doesn't change, but the position on the hitch shank required to end up at that height will depend on how tight the chains are and various characteristics of the tow vehicle (wheelbase, rear overhang, rear spring stiffness...). So yes, you likely need a different setting on the shank and maybe even a different vertical height of shank to make it work for a different tow vehicle.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Rossue

What you need to do is set up the WDH for YOUR vehicle.
...
Too tight is potentially dangerous.

Absolutely true!

... but this isn't:

Originally Posted by Rossue

Basically you will measure your rear height unhitched and then duplicate it while hitched using your WDH.

No, as the manufacturer's instructions for nearly every weight-distribution system explain, you measure the truck's front ride height unhitched, note that adding the trailer lifts the front, then adjust the WD system to bring the front back down to the unhitched height but no lower.

Any attempt to use WD to keep the rear height the same as unhitched will force the truck's front axle and the trailer's axles to carry all of the hitch load, and will substantially over-apply the WD system.

[Sandra L]

I have found it to be a bit easier with a curved bar when hooking up the chains.