Ok my head is spinning with towing questions!!!!

[Your Friend]

First off, you all are great on here there is a lot of knowledge but with that knowledge more ideas pop up in my head. I figure the best way to get them answered is to ask. I have a 2006 Titan CC Big tow package. I just bought a new trailer Coachmen Catalina GVWR 7500 the ride home from the dealer was hectic at times with sway and everything but I felt under control. For example I felt the sway begin but it stopped right away. I have a WD hitch with a friction sway control and I just bought new tires (Cooper Discoverer ATR 265 70R18). Here are my questions:

1. Should I upgrade to and Equalizer hitch or a reese dual cam HP?

2. Should I buy air bags?

3. Do I need new shackles?

4. If I need all of these things which one should I buy first, second, and third in order of improtance?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Carbeaux]

Questions in order to the best of my ability/experience.

1) Necessary? Probably not. Would they help? Probably so. I tow a 27 footer with my '06 and get some sway now and then, but it's as much a product of the (relatively) short wheelbase on the '06 models as anything.

2) Necessary? Probably not. Would they help? Yes if you're sagging, and they might even take care of a little of that sway.

3) For peace of mind, yes. Go PRG or even those from an '08 or newer.

4) The order I'd personally do them in? Shackles (safety related), bags, then consider whether you still want to go the money on upgrading the hitch setup itself.

[Steamguy]

Originally Posted by Your Friend

Should I upgrade to and Equalizer hitch or a reese dual cam HP?

Yes, absolutely. Get rid of that friction sway control and get a sway-cancelling system. Reese and Equalizer make good ones, it's your choice of what to use. Friction sway controls only give the impression of control. Plus, you have to loosen it up when you get to town and have to go around corners.

Originally Posted by Your Friend

Should I buy air bags? Do I need new shackles?

You don't need that stuff; although others are likely to disagree. You've got a great tow vehicle, and as long as you don't try to drive your rig like a race car, you will have a good experience towing. I've been towing with a lot of different cars and trucks for a lot of years, and this is a great truck for towing a trailer.

All you really need is the sway-cancelling system and a good brake controller. Don't go cheap on either one of them; they're safety gear and you don't want to take chances.

Hope this helps.

[SOCALTITANKC4X4LE]

http://www.davidsrvtips.blogspot.com/

Check out the above web site.
I think you should replace the shakles with PRG shakles, because it's better to replace now, than when you are towing out of town.

[HRTKD]

I don't tow a large enough trailer to have a sway problem so I can't provide any advice there. But I have already upgraded to the PRG shackles. There have been a few OEM shackle failures that caused damage. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a shackle let loose while towing. I guess the worst that would happen is that the frame rides right on the axle (with the bump stop between them).

[Learjet]

you might just be feeling normal movements, ie trucks and buses passing. Bow wave instead of true sway.

Once you load your new trailer with your stuff see how it drives, more tongue weight might help.

if you plan on towing much, I would say YES to either Equalizer hitch or a reese dual cam HP?

I have the Equalizer and it works well and is simple to use.

[Bhudda454]

Originally Posted by Your Friend

Here are my questions:

1. Should I upgrade to and Equalizer hitch or a reese dual cam HP?

My Opinion is there ought to be a law against selling the W/D with friction control from any RV dealer just to make extra money on a deal. THis is a POS system and you should carry it back up there and beat him into a pink mist. Repeated accidents with near deaths caused by this type of hitch.

I personally like the Equal-I-Zer but have heard nothing but praise from people on here and rv.net about the Reese Dual Cam.

Originally Posted by Your Friend

2. Should I buy air bags?

With your short wheel base it certainly couldn't hurt. Not mandatory by any means though. This too will help with sway by the way.

Originally Posted by Your Friend

3. Do I need new shackles?

OMG YES.... Order them now. like get the heck off here and call Greg.

Originally Posted by Your Friend

4. If I need all of these things which one should I buy first, second, and third in order of improtance?

Shackles, proven to break.
Equal-I-Zer, once you get bail bonds person set up to get you out on Justifiable Hommicide charges.
Airbags...when you surf enough to find them on sale somewhere. They should be around $250 for the Entire kit.

[Sean Woodruff]

The Equal-i-zer is also a FRICTION sway control system. It seems many of the above posts are classifying it as something else. Maybe the posts are calling a sway bar a friction system? Just to clarify, the Equal-i-zer also uses FRICTION to damp sway.

[dksfowler]

Ok I'll tell u this I just got a 29' that is 7600gvw and with te deal was the dual cam do not bother with teh other stuff. when I hook mine up it levels teh truck out perfect and teh trailer sits perfectly level. mine tows great with the dual cam. that is the way i would go if I was u. try that and see if there is anything else u need. but I doubt it. mine has only swayed the first day I got it and i picked it up by cleveland. I live in southern ohio about 180 miles. it was really windy up there but once teh wind slowed down it was smooth sailing.

[Derwud]

Originally Posted by Bhudda454

My Opinion is there ought to be a law against selling the W/D with friction control from any RV dealer just to make extra money on a deal. THis is a POS system and you should carry it back up there and beat him into a pink mist. Repeated accidents with near deaths caused by this type of hitch.

I personally like the Equal-I-Zer but have heard nothing but praise from people on here and rv.net about the Reese Dual Cam.



With your short wheel base it certainly couldn't hurt. Not mandatory by any means though. This too will help with sway by the way.



OMG YES.... Order them now. like get the heck off here and call Greg.



Shackles, proven to break.
Equal-I-Zer, once you get bail bonds person set up to get you out on Justifiable Hommicide charges.
Airbags...when you surf enough to find them on sale somewhere. They should be around $250 for the Entire kit.

I agree 100% with this post..

[Bhudda454]

Originally Posted by Sean Woodruff

The Equal-i-zer is also a FRICTION sway control system. It seems many of the above posts are classifying it as something else. Maybe the posts are calling a sway bar a friction system? Just to clarify, the Equal-i-zer also uses FRICTION to damp sway.

True. But it is the way that the Equal-I-Zer does it that matters. I am sure this also stands true for the Reese Dual Cam.

The standard W/D hitch with added on sway control(friction pads) is literally a freaking brake pad that you tighten to increase the amount of friction created. You have to buy it seperately, and it comes only set up for one side. So some people end up buying two, for a system that is still flawed.

Best bet, returning the entry one and get the credit towrds a Real Sway control hitch.

[Shane06fl]

Yes and No it's that simple.

You do not need anything extra to safely tow what your towing.
You can upgrade for a slightly better feel for the towing but your TT will tow exactly the same.
Shackles are the weak point, not a bad idea to change them. I will be chaging mine soon on both trucks. one truck has 89,200K miles and the other has 63K miles and both perform heavy tow duty and my shackles look fine.

The ever ending debate for the friction control sway bar, the one that has been used for about as long as WD hitches have been being used. It's called proper set up and when set up properly the SC works like it should. Depending on how your loaded you might need to tighten or loosen the sway but I will tell you it's hard to over tighten it unless you really crank down on it but if it is over tight it won't work correctly.

Just a few tips.
Make sure your tires, all eight of them are aired up correctly (common sense)
Now you need to get your TT fully loaded just like you would when you heading out for a trip. Hook it up and reset your WD set up. You have added more weight and may need to make adjustments. If your getting sway when you should try backing off one link on the chains. Sometimes to much upward TQ won't let the tongue settle down properly. Better to be nose down that nose up too much. Get rolling and adjust your sway as needed. It might take a few stops to get it right but it's easy and needs to be done. It's normal to feel the TT back there and some sway is normal and unavoidable but it should make you feel like your loosing control, you get that and you need check your set up. Don't worry about the sway moaning and groaning, thats means it just right.
WD set up correctly and the sway set up correctly and it's nothing but fun.

[black08]

save those 28 foot trailers for an hd thats made to tow like that everyday. i know the titan is an awesome half ton but thats still all it is.ive towed big trailers for a long time and its so much easier on the machine if u have a truck like an hd.look underneathe a titan then look under any chevy 2500, youll see the difference, besides, as awesome as the titan is, it runs a 3.37-1 ring and pinion thats ok around town with a heavy load, no good on the highyway unless you like shifting in and out of od 1000 times. I live in the adirondacks, with lots of BIG mountains and hills, trust me when i say a a 2500 sereis truck is a much better choice when pulling a 30 foot trailer. the titans still a serious contender among the rest of the half tons, but its towing ability doesnt compare to any 3/4 ton. my friend with his 2500, 4.10s, 6 liter and tow package showed me the difference in towing capabiliteies, but he gets really mad when were empty and im faster!

[Learjet]

Originally Posted by black08

besides, as awesome as the titan is, it runs a 3.37-1 ring and pinion thats ok around town with a heavy load, no good on the highyway unless you like shifting in and out of od 1000 times. I live in the adirondacks, with lots of BIG mountains and hills, trust me when i say a a 2500 sereis truck is a much better choice when pulling a 30 foot trailer. the titans still a serious contender among the rest of the half tons, but its towing ability doesnt compare to any 3/4 ton. my friend with his 2500, 4.10s, 6 liter and tow package showed me the difference in towing capabiliteies, but he gets really mad when were empty and im faster!

you shouldn't be in overdrive (5th) towing any type of significant trailer to start with, that is per the owners manual and my significant experience with the Titan towing.

[black08]

if you select the manual 4 th it wont shift, but if u leave it in drive its shifts in and out of od 100 timeson the highway, and theres plenty of people out there who do that. 3.37s ARE NOT GOOD GEARS TO TOW WITH, i cant understand why nissan would do that. this truck should have a 3.55-3.73 ring and pinion, and a 4.10 option for u guys with ur 30 foot trailers. the titan is not an HD.