[A/S] Equalizer Hitch Trunnion Bars & Sway Control Devices

["Harvey Barlow" <harveybarlow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Merry,

The small 3 1/2"(?) socket ball plates bolted or welded to the trailer
tongue are indeed sway control mounting points.  The fittings you described
are used by a number of sway control manufacturers.

I interpret your comment above to mean you have no other hitch equipment.
If that is correct, you will have to purchase a complete hitch assembly.

Half of the hitch assembly consisting of a hitch receiver platform and a
hitch head will be installed on your pickup, van, Suburban, whatever.

The other half of the assembly consists of spring (trunnion bars) and
flip-over brackets and must be attached to the trailer tongue.

A sway control or pair of sway control devices should also be used and,
depending on design, they attach to the hitch head and trailer tongue.

Here's why:

When the weight of the trailer's tongue is dropped on the tow vehicle's
hitch ball, 500 to 1000 pounds of weight rests on the rear most point of the
towing vehicle.  That weight tends to lift the front wheels of the tow
vehicle slightly reducing steering and braking traction and potentially
making the tow vehicle slightly directionally unstable.

The solution is an equalizer hitch.  It consists of a large iron or steel
device with a 2" shank that attaches to a hitch receiver permanently mounted
at the rear of the tow vehicle and contains the towing hitch ball.  A pair
of strong steel bars known as spring bars or trunnion bars, approximately 3'
long, attach  to the hitch receiver at their front ends and to the trailer's
tongue at their rears.  A pair of flip-over brackets are attached to each
side of the trailer a frame to which the spring bars are attached.  When
properly attached and adjusted, the pair of spring bars redistribute the
trailer's tongue weight forward to the tow vehicle's front wheels and
rearward to the trailers axle or axles.

The spring bars, flip over brackets, and hitch head must be of the same
design and manufactured by the same company in order to be compatible.
Reese, Eaz-Lift, Draw-Tite, Valley, and Hensley are manufacturers that come
to mind.

I hope this helps.  Any RV dealer or RV service shop can show you the
components I have described, explian how they are installed and used, and
sell you a hitch assembly.

Harvey Barlow
Lubbock, TX
WBCCI # 1171, WDCU, VAC