First Trip - 270BH - 2014 Sunset Trail

nachtmsk · 05-27-2014, 08:45 AM

Hi All,

Took our first trip out with the new trailer this weekend to a family owned campground in Louisa VA (near Charlottesville), called 'Small Country'.
Campground was packed, completely full. Tons of activities for the kids so they loved it. Noise was a bit of an issue. Some young people (and some not so young) think we all want to hear their music blasting from their sub-woofers as they drive through the campground at midnight. I guess they think it's funny to wake everybody up. A small annoyance in an otherwise perfect weekend. Camp staff was made aware of the noise and they handled it on subsequent nights.

The RV pulled fine, though the Equilizer does make a bit of noise on some turns. No big deal. I was aware it might, so I wasn't surprised.

I'm new to this, so i did learn something on this maiden trip.
When disconnecting a trailer from the hitch make sure you put the wheel chocks in place before you raise it off the ball hitch. Camper rolled back about an inch after I raised the hitch over the top of the ball! That got my attention fast!

All good though. Hope everyone else camping this weekend had as wonderful weather as we did!

Mike
camper.jpg

harley · 05-27-2014, 09:26 AM

Luckily the trailer moved back a bit and not forward into your licence plate or bumper.
About the squeaking of the equilizer...buy 2 'bracket jackets' to put on the 'L' brackets . eliminates all noise.

coastn · 05-27-2014, 02:47 PM

What Wayne said. I use Bracket Jackets and lube the hitch head. Wish I had done it earlier.

RoadDog66 · 05-27-2014, 04:15 PM

Nachtmsk, I'm glad you're maiden voyage was a pleasant one. We just got back from our Memorial Day Weekend trip. Had beautiful weather in PA.

I gotta disagree on the bracket jackets, just bought them and still had as much noise as before. I'm not certain why though. I know my hitch ball height and trailer level was a little off, but it towed well enough.

harley · 05-27-2014, 04:46 PM

you still need a bit of lube on the pivot joints at the hitch head and grease on the ball. a dry ball will squeak .

jakesz28 · 05-27-2014, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley

you still need a bit of lube on the pivot joints at the hitch head and grease on the ball. a dry ball will squeak .

X2. This sounds bad, my ball was making all kinds of noise on the way home.

nachtmsk · 05-27-2014, 07:51 PM

You can lube the pivot joints? I thought friction was needed to make the weight distro work correctly. Am I mistaken?
Thanks,
mike

MidOhioHunter · 05-28-2014, 04:03 AM

Glad to hear you and the family had fun Mike. I've concluded that every trip will be a learning experience and we will take away at least one useful piece of knowledge for the next time.

nachtmsk · 05-28-2014, 06:27 AM

Quite true Jeff. Good advice on camping and life!

WildWildWest · 05-28-2014, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtmsk

You can lube the pivot joints? I thought friction was needed to make the weight distro work correctly. Am I mistaken?
Thanks,
mike

Mike, happy to hear you had a good first outing.

You can lube the pivot points up by the hitch head where the bars go into the receiver hitch, not where the bars move along the trailer frame point.

It sounds confusing, but the friction point for the sway is where you put your L pin in back along the trailer A frame, the pivot point is up at the receiver hitch where the bar fits into the square hole and you put the pin through. You can put a bit of grease up where the bar pivots and on the ball itself, but don't grease the friction point. When we pulled a TT, we had this kind of WDH and sway control hitch and it can be noisy on sharp turns, but you get used to it and there's enough of them out there that people aren't all looking at you like it seems.

The sway bracket jacket can reduce the noise a bit, we never bothered with it before switching to a 5er.

http://www.equalizerhitch.com/store/...e5fc96cc021298

Their specialty lube - not likely necessary!! A little bit of lithium grease will work. Also a dry graphite lube or molybdenum disulfide lube will work and is less messy.

http://www.equalizerhitch.com/store/...products_id=52

RoadDog66 · 05-28-2014, 07:19 AM

I had hitch lube on the ball and pivot points, but still a boatload of noise. I guess it could
be the bars flexing in the slots on turns or adjusting to reduce sway. As long as it keeps us safer on the road that's all that matters.

WildWildWest · 05-28-2014, 07:21 AM

I don't think you can eliminate the noise, we got used to it. I was happy the hitch did the job properly and you only notice it when you are making turns at low speed - or of course when you don't want it to such as backing into your campsite at 10PM and you are trying to be very, very quiet!!

datasponge · 05-28-2014, 12:07 PM

I'm glad that you had a great first outting. We bought a 270bh in November and have already used it this 'summer' more than we did our shadow cruiser all of last year.

It's a great trailer, and I think that helps a lot with enjoying the camping trips.

FKT4387 · 05-28-2014, 05:50 PM

Congrats, We just purchased the same one and have been out 3x. We love it. Only issue we had is the black tank flush.

MidOhioHunter · 05-29-2014, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FKT4387

Congrats, We just purchased the same one and have been out 3x. We love it. Only issue we had is the black tank flush.

What was your issue?

nachtmsk · 05-29-2014, 06:22 AM

I used the black tank flush this past weekend and it seemed to work fine. I heard the water going into the tank and it came out just as fast. Waste hose looked clean when I disconnected it from sewer and had little if any bad odor.
I'm curious what your black tank issue was as well.

FKT4387 · 05-29-2014, 06:30 AM

It did not flush. I connected it and there was no water going into the tank. I returned it and they replaced it, but had the same issue again. I posted about this on this forum. I am not sure if I am doing something or what.

harley · 05-29-2014, 06:36 AM

Unscrew the black coroplast plastic under belly near he tank and pull down ,look inside and follow the water hose from the 90 degree aerorator and you may see a kinked hose near the tank inlet .

nachtmsk · 05-29-2014, 06:42 AM

FKT -- After I asked, I noticed the post you made the other day. Sorry your having trouble.
Good advice from Wayne. Also, when you turn on your water, hold the hose going into the black tank (in the photo wayne posted above) and see if water is going into it.
Odd that dealer would replace and and not test it -- I'm assuming they didn't test is if it's still happening.
Silly question but are you sure water is coming out of your source hose?

MidOhioHunter · 05-29-2014, 05:29 PM

FKT, I'll second/third that mine works fine and that you WILL hear it filling the black tank. Just warning you, it fills fast!! I had no problems at all. Filled with water then dumped, close valve & fill again then dump, and for good measure do it one last time just for practice so you get a sense of timing. Use the tank monitor on the panel inside the door if you want, once it hits 3/4 you better be making your way to the valve quickly.

I took advice from a video on youtube and got me one of those clear elbows to make sure I'm running clean. Yeah it's nasty to see initially but I got the point he was making. I was really surprised how much paper was in the second & third flush out.

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