- Tips
When you’re setting up an e2® sway control hitch, one of the most important things to pay attention to is hitch ball height- you want to make sure it is set correctly. Otherwise, it makes getting good weight distribution a lot harder than it needs to be.
The hitch ball height should be set to the same height as the trailer coupler, with the trailer sitting parallel to the ground. Sometimes this means you need to use a no-shank model hitch, and purchase a specialty-length shank to go with it. Your local dealership should be able to help you decide which shank you need, or you can call our customer support team for advice.
In the animation, the first image you see shows the hitch ball installed at the bottom of a standard shank, but still too high for the trailer it’s pulling. It does not bring the trailer back down parallel to the ground. The consequence is that the angle and distance between the hitch head and L-brackets (the part on the frame that holds up the spring arm) end up lower than they should be.
When this happens, it is more difficult to get good weight distribution. You must make up that distance by putting more pre-load angle in the hitch head, or by lowering the L-brackets. This, in turn, requires the user to raise the combined vehicle (trailer and tow vehicle coupled together) much higher when hitching up or unhitching to get the spring arms up onto and off of the L-brackets.
The second part of the animation shows the hitch ball set at the correct height using a longer specialty shank. As you can see by the green arrow, the position of the L-bracket relative to the hitch head now changes significantly. Less pre-load angle and a more desirable L-bracket position can be maintained. The user will now have a much easier time hitching-up and unhitching, because they don’t have to lift the combined vehicle so far to engage or disengage the spring arms.
Getting the hitch ball set to the correct height will make setting up your e2 hitch for weight distribution much easier, and it will make using the hitch a lot easier too. Save yourself the work by getting that hitch ball height right!