Eaz-Lift WDH Model 48057

[Fender]

Is anyone familiar with this hitch. I'm a year and a half from receiving my E19 but I'm curious because at $389 from Amazon it seems like a pretty fair deal.
Someone is trying to sell one locally on Kijiji that is new, never used, and he's asking $600. When I questioned the higher cost he said that he paid $723 with taxes in and then a couple of months later they lowered the price. I think he was hoping to find someone that might not do any price checking.
800 lb tongue weight and 10,000 lb towing capacity.
Not sure this link will work!

https://www.amazon.ca/Eaz-Lift-Weigh...JSBFEPYTNX6NAM

[gbaglo]

I paid $350 CAD for the Pro Series that ETI sells. Works fine.
Bigger numbers on the WDH don't mean anything. See label.

[Fender]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I paid $350 CAD for the Pro Series that ETI sells. Works fine.
Bigger numbers on the WDH don't mean anything. See label.

I'm pretty new at this stuff. I see that ETI sells two of the Pro Series; one without sway control ($475) and one with sway control ($600). Comparable prices on Amazon.
At $389 the Eaz-Lift with sway control still looks like a decent deal (to the uneducated at least!).

[gbaglo]

Mine doesn't have sway control and haven't noticed that it's missing. I know nothing about Eaz-lift, so I can't comment. Weight of the unit can also be a consideration.

[ebike1]

Originally Posted by Fender

Is anyone familiar with this hitch. I'm a year and a half from receiving my E19 but I'm curious because at $389 from Amazon it seems like a pretty fair deal.
Someone is trying to sell one locally on Kijiji that is new, never used, and he's asking $600. When I questioned the higher cost he said that he paid $723 with taxes in and then a couple of months later they lowered the price. I think he was hoping to find someone that might not do any price checking.
800 lb tongue weight and 10,000 lb towing capacity.
Not sure this link will work!

https://www.amazon.ca/Eaz-Lift-Weigh...JSBFEPYTNX6NAM

I don't know about that particular hitch. We had something similar on a "stick" built trailer. It was more of a pain. I don't remember. I think we had to take the sway control off to back it up into the campsite. I believe in sway control. My personal opinion, my husband was a truck driver and saw way too much out on the road and always planned safety first.

On my build sheet I ordered the E2 trunion believe me, I am still going over it in my mind. Last hitch we had was a Blueox sway pro. Nice hitch but the hitch head assembly was too heavy for me to take in and out of the receiver as I need to put my mountain bike rack on the truck when I get to the campground.

In the states, I use etrailer when I order online. I don't know if they have distribution in CA? Every time I submitted a question to them online they got back to me within a day. Good luck on your search. There are many owners who have years of experience and differing opinions on hitches.

[gbaglo]

Etrailer has a warehouse in Ontario. If ordering, do it by phone and tell them you want it shipped from Canadian warehouse. Avoids customs brokerage fees etc.

[Doug2000]

I used a Eaz-Lift WDH with my 4Runner and Escape 17B. I think from memory it was $329 from the over priced local RV dealership that sells Airstreams.

I was happier with the Eaz-Lift than the Pro Series I currently have that came with the Escape 19. I used the Eaz-Lift and was able to set it perfectly. On the other hand the Pro Series I am not happy with the ride at all. I'm not saying it's a bad hitch, I just can't get a nice ride out of it. And Yes, I have weighed it at the CAT scales and it is my third WDH hitch.


Locally here in London, a used WDH can be had for $250 unless it's an Anderson or Hennsley.

[DWM3]

The Fastway E2 WD and anti-sway hitch that we purchased from Escape (before they raised the price) has worked well for us. The hitch head is heavy. Others who have the Andersen hitch which used to be sold by Escape are quite happy with it, and it is much lighter. Andersen has redesigned their hitch and it seems has cured the issues which led Escape to discontinue offering it.

Both of these hitches have built-in anti-sway rather than a separate bar to provide that feature. If you use a separate bar it has to be removed before backing, which quickly becomes an annoyance.

[oldwave]

for our upcoming Bigfoot, I am deciding between the Weigh-safe and the Equalizer. Way safe is a few hundred more with the feature that you always know your tongue weight and it is granular adjusted scientifically. However its 1000.00, where the equalizer is about 700 installed from the dealer. Isn't Castaway E2 a clone of the Equalizer built overseas? MY next trailer will be much heavier than the Escape so I am beefing up the hitch.

[brroberts]

Equalizer has bars, and in years, I’ve never removed them to back. It’s never been a problem.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by DWM3

Both of these hitches have built-in anti-sway rather than a separate bar to provide that feature. If you use a separate bar it has to be removed before backing, which quickly becomes an annoyance.

Originally Posted by brroberts

Equalizer has bars, and in years, I’ve never removed them to back. It’s never been a problem.

All WD hitch systems, other than the Andersen No-Sway, have spring bars; there is no need to disconnect them (which would meaning disengaging the whole WD system) to back up. The Equal-i-zer and Fastway E2 (and some other) systems use the spring bars for sway control.

DWM3 is referring to the separate friction-type sway control device often called a "bar": that sort of device may need to be disconnected to avoid jamming or pulling apart at extreme tug-to-trailer angles, particularly if not properly installed. Those extreme angles can only be reached by moving in reverse, or in an extreme out-of-control sway scenario.

[brroberts]

Thanks, forgot about those separate sway bars. I’ve just met a number of people who won’t back up until they remove their trunnion bars and swear the trailer won’t back up until they do.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by brroberts

I’ve just met a number of people who won’t back up until they remove their trunnion bars and swear the trailer won’t back up until they do.

Apparently some people can be convinced of just about anything.

[DWM3]

The Fastway E2 (similar to the Equalizer that it's modeled after -same company) has trunnion bars that don't need to be removed to back up. It's just the separate anti-sway bars that are used on some hitches that do. Sorry if I caused some confusion.

I should note, though, that if you have a steep driveway like we do you do have to remove the bars because the change in angle is so much that it puts undue strain on the bars.

[gbaglo]

Driveway doesn't have to be steep. I park my trailer on a slightly sloped drive, but the tow vehicle remains on the road. I only removed the bars once like that. The pressure on the bars drove the lever tube into the asphalt. Luckily I didn't have my foot in that location.

From then on, I attach and detach the bars with both vehicles on the level.
Pro Series WDH.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Driveway doesn't have to be steep. I park my trailer on a slightly sloped drive, but the tow vehicle remains on the road. I only removed the bars once like that. The pressure on the bars drove the lever tube into the asphalt. Luckily I didn't have my foot in that location.

From then on, I attach and detach the bars with both vehicles on the level.
Pro Series WDH.

Exactly I removed mine on an incline and it nearly broke my floor. Scraped it up,pretty good

[Fender]

Good info, thanks everyone. So other than cost is there a downside to the Anderson hitch?

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Fender

So other than cost is there a downside to the Anderson hitch?

Well, there is this:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr/a...estitution-blm

[Bea]

Originally Posted by Fender

Good info, thanks everyone. So other than cost is there a downside to the Anderson hitch?

We very much like and highly recommend the Andersen WDH system. However, the only 'downside' I see is that it takes a slight bit of 'elbow grease' to crank (4 times around) to tighten the chains on each side. I, being a middle aged woman, (average strength?) have no problems doing this. But if you have any arm/shoulder/back problems or don't want to crank anything, then I would advise going with a traditional WDH system with bars and a power tongue jack. We simply don't mind it and feel it's well worth the effort for the benefits (it's effective, simple, lightweight, & easy to store).

One more thing, I wouldn't call this a downside, but with the Andersen WDH there is also a bit of a learning curve to the 're-hitching' process if you back in at a different angle from when you un-hitched. But it's easy to learn how to straighten that triangle plate, if it's crooked. There are Youtube tutorials that show you how to do this. Thus, my habit now is that I try to re-hitch at the same or near the same angle that I unhitched. Easy and simple to do. Hope this helps. -Bea

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Well, there is this:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr/a...estitution-blm

Yeah I’ll never buy anything from Andersen
I retired from the NPS
Talk about clueless and his customer base