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Old 04-23-2017, 07:18 PM   #1
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Problem adjusting WDH

I have a 2017 Aspen trail 2790BHS with a dry hitch weight of about 640 lbs and an ACTUAL hitch weight of 760lbs. My tow vehicle is a 2015 Tundra. My WDH with sway control is an EAZ Lift Round Bar Elite with 1000lb bars. After getting everything adjusted i'm still Getting about 1.5" of sag on the rear of the truck and 0" drop on the front of the truck. Currently there are seven links between the bar and the frame and I know I need to go down to six links to get more weight distribution, but the problem is no matter how high I jack the front of the trailer and the back of the truck with the tongue jack I cannot for the life of me get the chain high enough to get another link out of it.
When I took the trailer home from the dealer in PA they had the ball too low and the angle wrong for the bars and I had 2" of sag in the rear. So after setting everything up better and getting more angle I just can't for the life of me get another link. What can I do?
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Old 04-23-2017, 07:28 PM   #2
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You can tilt the hitch head back a little. I don't know why you aren't able to raise it high enough with the jack to get another link, mine always hooks up fine with 3 links hanging down. From the pic, it looks like the trailer is sitting high in the front, maybe you need to drop the ball down a little?
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Old 04-23-2017, 07:35 PM   #3
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It is a little high in that picture because my driveway is far from level. I brought it to a flat area when I set it up and the bubble is between the lines when hitched....but bias nose heavy just a hair....which would be level if I could get more links.
When I brought it home I had three links free but I had a 2 inch sag and the bars were already pointing up a bit. Instead of going another link I angled the bars down and figured I'd stay at 3 free links. Instead i'm now met with 2 free links and i'm unable to get a 3rd.
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Old 04-23-2017, 08:33 PM   #4
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Your bars look correct as the are "level" with the trailer frame. Another link will make the back of the bars higher. I agree with titling the hitch head back, this will make the bars lower and take the extra link up.
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Old 04-23-2017, 10:20 PM   #5
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Might try flipping the hitch. Remove the hitvh from the bar shaft that inserts into the truck tow hitch. Reattach hitch to the shaft. Play with the lowering or raising in the adjustment holes on shaft. Lower holes if need to lower front of trailer, and vice versa. Might be easier if sitting on a perfectly level place to begin with...less mathematics involved. I'm sure you'll get...hang in there. It ain't rocket science, but it ain't easy! You have more time than a dealer does !
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Old 04-23-2017, 10:30 PM   #6
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So I gave it max angle and now I'm 8 links and can't get 7. I jacked the back wheels of the truck off the ground and still nothing.... with sag. I feel as if I used a floor jack and jacked the bar more I could attach it... but that doesn't seem right.
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:03 AM   #7
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Nitro,
A weight distributing hitch will not solve all your issues. With bars flat with the frame and nose level to slightly down, another link or two won't do it - especially if you need a gorilla to get that last link.
Time to look at the Tundra suspension. I had a similar issue with my 2016 F150 and a set of bolt on Firestone air bags did the trick. The suspension was just to soft in the rear of the truck.
Once I installed the airbags, I had to drop the ball one bolt hole and now I'm plumb level feont bumper of truck to back of trailer.
Keep at it. Good luck.

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Old 04-24-2017, 09:33 AM   #8
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Did the airbags reduce or eliminate the bobbing effect over large dips in the road?
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:51 PM   #9
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You just confirmed the problem Nitro. The suspension on your Tundra is too soft. The condition is officially called porpoising. Mine was so bad, it felt as if the front wheels were going to come off the ground on concrete highways. The Firestone airbags in conjunction with a set of Joyrider shocks on the trailer took away about 95 percet of.all my complains. I can even go over rather bad RR crossings and not feel a bounce from the 7K lbs Kodiak behind.me.

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Old 04-24-2017, 04:17 PM   #10
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Well unfortunately it does make sense that I've reached the limit with my setup. I'm not close to the bump stops but it does seem that the springs are a bit soft. Been doing some additional research and It seems that other people on Toyota forums agree the rear springs are too weak for the truck. So this is all starting to make sense.

There seem to be three common fixes: Firestone airbags, Timbren enhancement system, and full length helper spring. After reading countless reviews and as much information as I could find about each, I've decided to go with the timbren enhancement. All three are inexpensive unless I went with the automatic air springs, then it starts to creep up. I decided on the Timbren because I don't have to constantly adjust airbag pressures. I'll be taking several long trips this summer and I will be going back and forth between trailer and no trailer and the less adjusting the better. The helper spring will actually raise the ride height of the truck and will, eventually, begin to sag and require adjustments to the hitch...and it was kind of a bitch to get it right and torqued properly. The timbrens will ride like stock with no to little load, and will progressively assist as load is added. I'll report back after installation. Thank you everyone for helping me figure this out.
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Old 04-24-2017, 07:09 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by nitroscope8 View Post
Well unfortunately it does make sense that I've reached the limit with my setup. I'm not close to the bump stops but it does seem that the springs are a bit soft. Been doing some additional research and It seems that other people on Toyota forums agree the rear springs are too weak for the truck. So this is all starting to make sense.

There seem to be three common fixes: Firestone airbags, Timbren enhancement system, and full length helper spring. After reading countless reviews and as much information as I could find about each, I've decided to go with the timbren enhancement. All three are inexpensive unless I went with the automatic air springs, then it starts to creep up. I decided on the Timbren because I don't have to constantly adjust airbag pressures. I'll be taking several long trips this summer and I will be going back and forth between trailer and no trailer and the less adjusting the better. The helper spring will actually raise the ride height of the truck and will, eventually, begin to sag and require adjustments to the hitch...and it was kind of a bitch to get it right and torqued properly. The timbrens will ride like stock with no to little load, and will progressively assist as load is added. I'll report back after installation. Thank you everyone for helping me figure this out.
My big ole' Ford F250 suffers the same problem of too soft springs contributing to sag. They seem to be making trucks ride like cars these days. My Tibrens will be here on Wednesday and I hope they will level things out.
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Old 04-24-2017, 07:12 PM   #12
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I know you probably don't want to hear this, but with a 32ft trailer with a dry weight and payload amount that puts it close to 10,000lbs, it may be time for a truck upgrade.
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Old 04-24-2017, 07:23 PM   #13
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Or air lift bags.
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Old 04-24-2017, 10:25 PM   #14
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I know you probably don't want to hear this, but with a 32ft trailer with a dry weight and payload amount that puts it close to 10,000lbs, it may be time for a truck upgrade.
Dry weight is 6500 lol. Gross is under 10k. I never travel with water and our camping stuff is not over 1000lbs. I've crunched the numbers before the purchase of the aspen trail and even worst case I'm still ok in all aspects of my truck.

We'll be upgrading trucks but not for a while.
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Old 04-26-2017, 12:35 AM   #15
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Small update. My timbrens arrived today and I installed them after work. Only took 15 minutes to install and there is zero difference in ride quality since they don't engage until the suspension drops about 1.5" It wont be until a few weeks when i'll be able to try them out but i'll be travelling about 2k+ miles so hopefully all the great reviews really mean a good product.
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Old 04-26-2017, 08:28 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by nitroscope8 View Post
Small update. My timbrens arrived today and I installed them after work. Only took 15 minutes to install and there is zero difference in ride quality since they don't engage until the suspension drops about 1.5" It wont be until a few weeks when i'll be able to try them out but i'll be travelling about 2k+ miles so hopefully all the great reviews really mean a good product.
Did you have to jack up the truck to unload the springs or was there enough headroom to install the Timbrens without jacking it up? Mine just arrived and I'm thinking that jacking up the truck will be unnecessary.
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Old 04-26-2017, 11:07 PM   #17
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Nope. I put the truck on our alignment rack which lifts the truck to working height but keeps the suspension loaded. There was more than enough room to perform the work.
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Old 04-28-2017, 05:42 PM   #18
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I have a 2017 Aspen trail 2790BHS with a dry hitch weight of about 640 lbs and an ACTUAL hitch weight of 760lbs. My tow vehicle is a 2015 Tundra. My WDH with sway control is an EAZ Lift Round Bar Elite with 1000lb bars. After getting everything adjusted i'm still Getting about 1.5" of sag on the rear of the truck and 0" drop on the front of the truck. Currently there are seven links between the bar and the frame and I know I need to go down to six links to get more weight distribution, but the problem is no matter how high I jack the front of the trailer and the back of the truck with the tongue jack I cannot for the life of me get the chain high enough to get another link out of it.
When I took the trailer home from the dealer in PA they had the ball too low and the angle wrong for the bars and I had 2" of sag in the rear. So after setting everything up better and getting more angle I just can't for the life of me get another link. What can I do?


Hey. I have a 2017 Kodiak tow with a Nissan Titan. Approx same weight, I have 5 links showing. Same WDH. Suggest start from scratch using on line directions


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Old 04-28-2017, 06:46 PM   #19
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It depends on angle. If I have the ball on no angle I can get 5 5 links. You can get the same weight distribution with more angle and fewer links.
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Old 04-28-2017, 07:05 PM   #20
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It depends on angle. If I have the ball on no angle I can get 5 5 links. You can get the same weight distribution with more angle and fewer links.


If you'd like pm me, and maybe I can help
Mine is exactly the same set up


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