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Old 01-22-2018, 07:33 AM   #21
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Do a careful calculation regarding the wdh's total cost. I was quoted (last month) $200 CAN for ETI to install a hitch if I purchased my own and brought it to orientation.

Edited to add: depending on your tow vehicle, a power jack may interfere with the opening of a rear hatch door or tailgate. Don't ask me how I know. At least the one I had was free.
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Old 01-22-2018, 08:00 AM   #22
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Choices

We have had ETI install several options for us on two different Escapes. Power vent, two solar panels, a surge protector to name a few. Their work has always been very satisfactory.
I personally believe in a WDH in all trailer towing conditions because I like the “tightness” of the tow and trailer combination. That said, if you have some familiarity with the physics of the hitch and some electrical skills and some tools, you can probably successfully install a hitch and the electric jack yourself. It’s a personal choice and ability thing. You will like the WDH and you will like the electric tongue jack. Do not worry about the noise your hitch makes, the noise your jack makes or the noise you make using a drill on your stabilizers. It’s a fact of camping these days and all but the most anal are not bothered at all. On accessories, think amortization over the life of the trailer. Like Jim Norman notes, you can go kind of nuts buying things you don’t need or never use. Safety while towing, ease of setup, and trailer stability once set up are paramount to me. They occur every time you go out. The water is already over your hip boots and you’re wet now, might as well keep wading and reach your goal. You’ll dry out eventually.
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Old 01-22-2018, 09:59 AM   #23
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I'm in the same "shoes" just now myself. Dave is right--safety and ease of setup/takedown will mean you'll go out more with your precious cargo.

My escape will be my 5th camping vehicle and my last (pickup with shell, bed built in; minuscule "motor home" on a toyota truck chassis, tiny Aframe, medium A frame) (famous last words). I'm getting some sort of wdh to be sure my tow vehicle and the new trailer are well matched. I have a trailer already set up with stuff but that hasn't kept me from shopping for a few things for the new one.

I look forward to your reports of all the fun you and your family are having.
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Old 01-22-2018, 10:10 AM   #24
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We have a 2004 F 150, and we bought the cheapest wdh that eti sells without sway control with our 21. The advice I got from Reese was the 21 is very stable and sway control in a wdh was not critical but the wdh would make a better combo given f 150 is designed to ride more like a car rather thanf 250. The combo was great, the one time I ran the trailer a short hope for inspection I could tell the difference. A cross country trip with the wdh was an excellent experience even with the older truck. Newer F 150 might be different than ours! But I’m glad we got it and it was not expensive.
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Old 01-22-2018, 10:53 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by h2owmn View Post
Do a careful calculation regarding the wdh's total cost. I was quoted (last month) $200 CAN for ETI to install a hitch if I purchased my own and brought it to orientation.

Edited to add: depending on your tow vehicle, a power jack may interfere with the opening of a rear hatch door or tailgate. Don't ask me how I know. At least the one I had was free.
Good to know on both accounts, thank you. That negates the worth of messing with it myself.
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Old 01-22-2018, 10:58 AM   #26
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We have a 2004 F 150, and we bought the cheapest wdh that eti sells without sway control with our 21. The advice I got from Reese was the 21 is very stable and sway control in a wdh was not critical but the wdh would make a better combo given f 150 is designed to ride more like a car rather thanf 250. The combo was great, the one time I ran the trailer a short hope for inspection I could tell the difference. A cross country trip with the wdh was an excellent experience even with the older truck. Newer F 150 might be different than ours! But I’m glad we got it and it was not expensive.
I only see one WDH option, the priciest hitch option on our build sheet at $625. Is that what you got? The other two options have equalizers, but I'm not sure how that's different.
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Old 01-22-2018, 11:11 AM   #27
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I only see one WDH option, the priciest hitch option on our build sheet at $625. Is that what you got? The other two options have equalizers, but I'm not sure how that's different.


We picked the E2, its a WDH with some sway control. It makes the truck and trailer feel like one unit. And is easy to setup and remove which for me was very important. Just crank up a bit to take the load off ( or push the button) and install or remove the trunion arms.
It's still $625 Canadian installed which at the moment works out to right at $500 our money. Honestly, not having to fool with getting the hitch right on top of everything else makes it worth it.
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Old 01-22-2018, 11:59 AM   #28
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We have had ETI install several options for us on two different Escapes. Power vent, two solar panels, a surge protector to name a few. Their work has always been very satisfactory.
I personally believe in a WDH in all trailer towing conditions because I like the “tightness” of the tow and trailer combination. That said, if you have some familiarity with the physics of the hitch and some electrical skills and some tools, you can probably successfully install a hitch and the electric jack yourself. It’s a personal choice and ability thing. You will like the WDH and you will like the electric tongue jack. Do not worry about the noise your hitch makes, the noise your jack makes or the noise you make using a drill on your stabilizers. It’s a fact of camping these days and all but the most anal are not bothered at all. On accessories, think amortization over the life of the trailer. Like Jim Norman notes, you can go kind of nuts buying things you don’t need or never use. Safety while towing, ease of setup, and trailer stability once set up are paramount to me. They occur every time you go out. The water is already over your hip boots and you’re wet now, might as well keep wading and reach your goal. You’ll dry out eventually.
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You're right, that's why my husband said yes without hesitation to the WDH when he heard how much easier it makes the towing. No point saving money if we're not as safe as possible. We want to go fearlessly! The power jack he's resisting out of manliness. I think he'll be swayed (like how I did that?) when I explain hitching a WDH without it.

How big a deal is limited tailgate lowering with the WDH and power jack setup?
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Old 01-22-2018, 12:03 PM   #29
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If there’s anything that the tailgate must be down to load/unload/access, then you have to be unhooked from trailer. How big a deal this is depends entirely on you and what you put back there.
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Old 01-22-2018, 12:05 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by SouthernCamper View Post
I only see one WDH option, the priciest hitch option on our build sheet at $625. Is that what you got? The other two options have equalizers, but I'm not sure how that's different.
To keep your vehicle level and not diving down in the rear when you put the load of the trailer on...all you need is the $350 unit which is a great deal when you consider it is the correct unit for the weight of the trailer and they install it.
On another note:
I asked ETI if I need a WDH for my new Ford F-150 towing the 19 and they said no.
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Old 01-22-2018, 12:05 PM   #31
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You're right, that's why my husband said yes without hesitation to the WDH when he heard how much easier it makes the towing. No point saving money if we're not as safe as possible. We want to go fearlessly! The power jack he's resisting out of manliness. I think he'll be swayed (like how I did that?) when I explain hitching a WDH without it.

How big a deal is limited tailgate lowering with the WDH and power jack setup?
We don't have a WDH on the Tundra, but do have the electric tongue jack on the trailer. I had to get a longer receiver bar to enable lowering the tailgate. Mot sure how that would play out with a WDH, but so far have not felt the need for one.
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Old 01-22-2018, 12:55 PM   #32
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I only see one WDH option, the priciest hitch option on our build sheet at $625. Is that what you got? The other two options have equalizers, but I'm not sure how that's different.
None of the WDH's offered by Escape are Equal-i-zers.

All are WD systems; they are just different brands, with different detailed features, and in particular they have different approaches to using friction to reduce sway.
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Old 01-22-2018, 01:00 PM   #33
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...
the WDH hitch sounds like a good idea if otherwise we'll have to be so careful about tongue weight. with it we can be a little more carefree with loading, right?
I shudder when I hear someone talking about being "carefree with loading"
Yes, a WDH reduces load on the truck's rear axle, so you can get away with higher tongue weight (loading further forward in the trailer) without overloading the truck.

On the other hand:
  1. If you don't have roughly the same tongue weight as when your WDH was adjusted, the different tongue weight will change how much the trailer's tongue pushes the back of the truck down, and you won't be level. Being a bit out of level is okay, but this isn't something to just be ignored.
  2. Loading without attention to tongue weight risks being too low in tongue weight, which means load too far back in the trailer, which is not stable.

Loading the trailer properly is not difficult, and almost everyone manages it without difficulty, but it does require some care, whether or not you are using a WDH.
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Old 01-22-2018, 01:25 PM   #34
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Loading the trailer properly is not difficult, and almost everyone manages it without difficulty, but it does require some care, whether or not you are using a WDH.
Exactly. Proper trailer loading and a weight distribution hitch are two different things. And a WDH certainly isn't a means of compensating for an improper load.
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Old 01-22-2018, 02:36 PM   #35
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Our experience towing a 2015 Escape 21 with a 2005 Tundra is that it tows okay without a WDH, but much smoother with one. (Less bobbing when you hit a bump or dip in the road.) We have an Andersen WDH which also has built in sway control. At one time 80% of the trailers coming out of ETI had this hitch installed. (As per Dennis of ETI) They stopped handling them due to a problem that developed with a change to the hitches (a different friction sleeve). I was told that by ETI that ours didn't have this issue and we are very happy with it. It is lighter and the trailer tracks much better than with the typical WDH we had before the Anderson. I'm wondering if the Andersens might be a good choice again as the problem should have been resolved by now. Friends of ours got an Andersen last year for their Lance trailer and love it. (They didn't even know we had one until later.)
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Old 01-22-2018, 03:35 PM   #36
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All of these items mentioned can be added very easily after towing the trailer. You may not need some or any of them, based upon your experience. The power back may interfere with your truck bed access while hooked up. there are also air bags you can install to keep the rear of the truck level, a lot less $$$ than the w/d set up and a lot easier to use. I have a garage full of items I thought I needed and afterwards realized they were not. why not wait and see....
can you tell me more about these air bags? what are they called?
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Old 01-22-2018, 03:40 PM   #37
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can you tell me more about these air bags? what are they called?
Firestone Ride-Rite, kits are available for most trucks and many SUVs and some cars. I have them on my Tacoma. I setup each side to inflate seperately (two different air valves). when you're not loaded, you keep them around 5 PSI so they are pretty much not doing anything. with a medium sized trailer, you inflate them to 30 or 40 PSI typically, target is so the fully loaded and hitched truck is riding at the same height as it was empty... I measure from top of wheel to fender flare, its about 5" when empty, so after loading and dropping the hitch, I pump the two sides up til they are back to 5".

if you are going to also use a WDH, then airbag level the truck BEFORE hitching, do NOT pump the truck up with the WDH connected.

you can see the airbag here between the leaf spring and frame, the red tube on top is the air tube to it.

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Old 01-22-2018, 03:43 PM   #38
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We picked the E2, its a WDH with some sway control. It makes the truck and trailer feel like one unit. And is easy to setup and remove which for me was very important. Just crank up a bit to take the load off ( or push the button) and install or remove the trunion arms.
It's still $625 Canadian installed which at the moment works out to right at $500 our money. Honestly, not having to fool with getting the hitch right on top of everything else makes it worth it.
so you got the power jack? ideally we'd get this set-up, to fit into the ease of use theme. not having ever RV'd, I don't see tailgate interference as an issue. then again, i don't know any better.

I appreciate the "buy and install it as you need it" mantra, and I also appreciate the "commit to spend the money on this, to give you the safest set-up possible" opinion. i think my husband (the tow-er) will go with the latter.

is there a downside to the E2 WDH and power jack other than noise and tailgate interference? I'll honestly likely get a sound dampening blanket at least, if that's practical, as I want to preserve the good vibes of camping does this set-up cause any issues with camping while still hooked up, or any other issues that will differ from a manual jack and non WDH?
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Old 01-22-2018, 03:52 PM   #39
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alright, i won't disregard loading regardless of what set-up we get. I'm pretty overwhelmed and was looking for a way to "set it and forget it," but it looks like either way we can't do that.

if the trailer bobs less with the WDH, i still think my husband will prefer it. we're leaning toward high rise axle, and it seems like bob control may be more relevant with a higher axle.

i thought the airbag leveling was something to consider instead of a WDH, did i misunderstand that? that process seems like so much work to set up for a trip. maybe because it's foreign to me?
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Old 01-22-2018, 04:05 PM   #40
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so you got the power jack? ideally we'd get this set-up, to fit into the ease of use theme. not having ever RV'd, I don't see tailgate interference as an issue. then again, i don't know any better.

I appreciate the "buy and install it as you need it" mantra, and I also appreciate the "commit to spend the money on this, to give you the safest set-up possible" opinion. i think my husband (the tow-er) will go with the latter.

is there a downside to the E2 WDH and power jack other than noise and tailgate interference? I'll honestly likely get a sound dampening blanket at least, if that's practical, as I want to preserve the good vibes of camping does this set-up cause any issues with camping while still hooked up, or any other issues that will differ from a manual jack and non WDH?

No we still are able to spin away at the crank. When we gain a few more years it might be worth adding it. It is easy to add to the 19. Yours with the battery inside or the 17 with the battery in the back will not be as easy to add it.
If I had the 21 I probably would have had Escape add it from the beginning. The noise is not that bad., It's just at 5 am when you are trying to quietly move around breaking camp every little noise you make sounds like it is loud.
On our Tacoma with the E2 we can drop the tailgate with no interference. Just have to watch the handle is all. F150's with the tall tailgate and other trucks might not be able to.
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