Blue Ox WDH upgrade

[radomcarl]

Finally sick and tired of rapping my knuckles the crappy flat bar to crank up the chains on my 1000lb Blue Ox bars. Plus, after 6 months of use, the metal on the flat bar AND the lugs on the chain cam were buggering up already.

Purchased a 24 x 1/2 breaker bar from harbor freight with a 1 inch socket and it's amazing how easy it is to crank up the chains. No more sore knuckles. Also bought a 3/4 socket and use it as my lug wrench (need a thin wall socket, std lug wrench won't fit the recess).

$13 for the breaker bar and a few bucks more for the sockets. We'll worth it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[wildwest450]

I'm able to lift the back of my truck high enough with the tongue jack that I can flip the levers up without the bar. Mine isn't a blue ox, but I wonder if that would work the same for you?

[Occupant5143]

Originally Posted by radomcarl

Finally sick and tired of rapping my knuckles the crappy flat bar to crank up the chains on my 1000lb Blue Ox bars. Plus, after 6 months of use, the metal on the flat bar AND the lugs on the chain cam were buggering up already.

Purchased a 24 x 1/2 breaker bar from harbor freight with a 1 inch socket and it's amazing how easy it is to crank up the chains. No more sore knuckles. Also bought a 3/4 socket and use it as my lug wrench (need a thin wall socket, std lug wrench won't fit the recess).

$13 for the breaker bar and a few bucks more for the sockets. We'll worth it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Agreed! An 18" breaker bar was one of my first purchases after installing the Sway Pro. The hard edges of the supplied wrench is uncomfortable on the palm of the hand too. Mine sits unused in case I lose the breaker bar. I even use the breaker bar with a 7/8" socket on the water heater plug since it's not easy to get a wrench in there and using pliers on that soft nylon tends to bugger the corners.

[radomcarl]

Originally Posted by dawniewest

I'm able to lift the back of my truck high enough with the tongue jack that I can flip the levers up without the bar. Mine isn't a blue ox, but I wonder if that would work the same for you?

Wow, I lift it pretty high already and still need to crank the bars hard. What size bars you have? Mine are 1000 lb. Not sure I'd want to put that much truck weight hanging from the coupler to even try it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[thehoffmans4]

Thanks for the tip. My last outing almost ended in the ER. The black plastic grip slipped off as I was doing the passenger side. The bar rotated and nearly hit my jaw. I literally felt it brush my beard. Needless to say I'm a little nervous about trying to use it again.


TH4

[wildwest450]

Originally Posted by radomcarl

Wow, I lift it pretty high already and still need to crank the bars hard. What size bars you have? Mine are 1000 lb. Not sure I'd want to put that much truck weight hanging from the coupler to even try it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

They're eaz-lift 1000lb bars.

[Occupant5143]

Originally Posted by radomcarl

Wow, I lift it pretty high already and still need to crank the bars hard. What size bars you have? Mine are 1000 lb. Not sure I'd want to put that much truck weight hanging from the coupler to even try it.

I have a stick with a mark at the 25" mark that I use to measure how high to raise the hitch. That relieves some of the tension on the bars when I rotate the brackets. It's not a hard crank and sometimes its actually easy to rotate into position. When it comes time to unload the bars I'm usually pretty careful to get a good grip on the breaker bar just in case there's more tension on the bar than I expected. Usually they unload pretty easily though. I just have to make sure I've raised the hitch to the 25" mark on the stick.
BTW, I have the 1500 pound bars for my 1150 pound hitch weight.

[thehoffmans4]

I do the same thing. I use my 24” breaker bar with the deep well socket turned straight as my measuring device.

That tool that comes with the hitch is just dangerous. They should be ashamed of themselves for putting it in the box.

[Occupant5143]

Originally Posted by thehoffmans4

That tool that comes with the hitch is just dangerous. They should be ashamed of themselves for putting it in the box.

I agree. I threw mine away.