Equal-i-zer 4-Point Hitch: An Honest Assessment

This is the hitch other hitches are described against, which is both a compliment and a problem. Being the reference point means the complaints attach to it too, and most of the published complaints about it are either setup errors or an entirely normal noise that nobody is warned about at the point of sale. Separating those two from the real limitations is what this page is for.

Two problems at once, which is the design's reason to exist. It transfers tongue load forward onto the tow vehicle's front axle and back onto the trailer axles, so the rig sits level instead of nose-down and tail-down. And it resists yaw - the side-to-side rotation that becomes sway - using friction generated at four places rather than through a separate bar bolted alongside the hitch.

The manufacturer's own description of the four points is worth reading literally: two control points come from rotational friction where the spring arm sockets meet the patented hitch head, and two more from rigid trailer brackets that resist side-to-side movement. Downward pressure from the tongue and upward pressure on the spring arms increase that friction. In other words the resistance scales with how hard the hitch is working, and nothing about it depends on you remembering to engage it.

The range is sold in six capacities rather than as one do-everything model, and that granularity is the part that decides whether the hitch works for you. Spring bars transfer load by bending: a bar run at the top of its rating bends too little, and a bar run far below its rating barely flexes at all. The right model is the one that puts your measured tongue weight somewhere near the middle of its band.

That last point in the note is the single most useful thing on this page. People buy by the trailer's gross weight, see a matching model number, and order it - then load the trailer to a perfectly correct 13 percent tongue weight and find themselves over the bar's rating. Measure the loaded tongue weight first and buy the model by that figure, not by the number on the trailer's sticker.

• A badly loaded trailer. Weight behind the trailer axle produces sway that no hitch removes. If less than 10 percent of the loaded weight is on the tongue, fix that before buying anything.
• Payload. Load transfer moves weight between axles; it does not delete it. A 1,000 lb tongue weight is still 1,000 lb out of your truck's payload. Payload and tow rating are separate limits and on a half-ton payload binds first.
• Your tow rating. It can unlock the higher weight-distributing figure printed on your receiver, but the vehicle's own ratings are set by the manufacturer and no hitch changes them.
• A nose-high trailer. If the ball sits above the coupler - common on a lifted truck - bar tension cannot bring it down. That is a shank drop problem.
• Brakes. It slows nothing. A trailer heavy enough to want this hitch almost certainly needs working brakes and a controller.

This is where the hitch earns its reputation for being fussy, and the reputation is fair. Two settings do most of the work and both are easy to get wrong: the angle of the head on the shank, set by a stack of washers behind it, and the height of the rigid brackets on the trailer's A-frame. Get the bracket height wrong and the spring arms sit at the wrong angle, which reduces both load transfer and - because the friction depends on arm pressure - the sway resistance at the same time.

Budget an unhurried afternoon for the first setup on a level surface, not the morning of a trip. The generic setup sequence applies to this hitch unchanged, and it is worth reading before the box is open.

It rattles and it creaks, particularly at low speed and in tight turns, and this surprises almost every first-time owner. The sound is steel sliding on steel at the friction interfaces, which is the mechanism doing its job - so a silent one would be a worse hitch, not a better one. It is loudest in parking lots and campgrounds and largely disappears at road speed.

Two things are worth knowing. The first is that the friction faces must stay clean and un-greased, which is the opposite of most hitch maintenance instincts; greasing them to quiet the noise removes the sway control. The second is that a dry weight distribution head is a separate and legitimate source of groaning on many designs, so knowing what to grease and what to keep dry matters more here than on a simpler hitch.

If you hitch and unhitch several times a day, the snap-up bracket routine becomes the dominant annoyance, and a clamp-on latch system is the better fit for how you actually live. If your trailer is modest and the complaint is only that it wanders a little while the truck sits level, you have a yaw problem rather than a load problem, and sway control and weight distribution are not the same purchase. And if lifting a hundred pounds of steel on and off a shank is the part you dread, a chain-tensioned system weighs far less.

1. The subject

Equal-i-zer 4-point Sway Control Hitch

Equal-i-zer · Best for travel trailers that already sway

The reference point for integrated sway control. Friction happens at four places at once - both L-brackets and both sockets - so resistance is always on rather than something you remember to engage. Setup is bracket-height and bar-angle work, and it rattles; both are the price of a system with no separate parts to forget.

Published specifications

Models offered (gross trailer weight)

4,000, 6,000, 10,000, 12,000, 14,000 and 16,000 lb source

Tongue weight rating

Matched to each model: 400, 600, 1,000, 1,200, 1,400 and 1,600 lb source

Sway control points

Four - two in the hitch head sockets, two at the rigid trailer brackets source

Warranty

Limited lifetime warranty source

What works

• +Sway resistance is built into the geometry, so there is nothing to connect or disconnect at the ramp
• +Works in reverse and in the wet, unlike a friction bar you have to release
• +One assembly rather than a hitch plus a bolt-on sway bar

What does not

• −Audible rattle and creak at low speed is normal and surprises first-time owners
• −Bracket height and bar angle have to be set properly or the sway control does little

Skip it if

Skip it if your loaded tongue weight sits well inside your receiver's weight-carrying rating and the truck stays level - you would be buying hardware to solve a problem you do not have.

Check price on Amazon→

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Raw specifications: Equal-i-zer’s own page. We earn nothing on that link.

2. The easier-hitching alternative

Blue Ox SwayPro Weight Distribution Hitch

Blue Ox · Best for owners who hitch and unhitch often

Underslung spring bars on clamp-on latches, which makes hitching faster than chain-and-snap-up systems and keeps the bars out of the way of a low A-frame. Blue Ox publishes the range in tongue-weight bands rather than one do-everything model, so the sizing decision is made before you buy.

Published specifications

Tongue weight bands offered

350, 550, 750, 1000, 1500 and 2000 lb source

Maximum gross towing weight

20,000 lb source

Shank sizes

2 in receiver, or 2-1/2 in on the BXW2000 source

What works

• +Latches clamp on rather than needing chains snapped up under tension
• +Sold in defined tongue-weight bands, which makes correct sizing the default
• +Underslung bars clear low A-frames and front storage boxes

What does not

• −Bar bands are narrow, so a big change in how you load the trailer can put you in the wrong band
• −Clamp-on brackets are another part to keep clean and lubricated

Skip it if

Not the one if your loaded tongue weight sits near the top of a band - buy up a band, because a bar run at its limit transfers less than a bar running in the middle of its range.

Check price on Amazon→

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Raw specifications: Blue Ox’s own page. We earn nothing on that link.

3. The simpler alternative

Fastway e2 Weight Distribution Hitch with Built-in Sway Control

Fastway · Best for a first weight distribution hitch

Sway control by steel-on-steel friction between the bars and their brackets, with no separate friction bar and nothing to remove before backing up. Available in round and trunnion bar versions, which is the detail to get right: trunnion for ground clearance, round for a lower-profile head.

Published specifications

Trunnion bar models

4,500 / 6,000 / 8,000 / 10,000 / 12,000 lb gross trailer weight source

Round bar models

6,000 / 8,000 / 10,000 lb gross trailer weight source

Maximum tongue weight

450 / 600 / 800 / 1,000 / 1,200 lb, matched to the model's trailer rating source

Hitch ball

2-5/16 in ball pre-installed on the 6,000, 8,000, 10,000 and 12,000 lb models; added separately on the 4,500 lb trunnion source

Sway control

Built in via rigid brackets - no chains or add-on bars to remove for backing, turning or wet weather source

What works

• +Nothing to engage or disengage - friction is always working
• +Sold in both round-bar and trunnion-bar versions for different A-frame heights
• +Simple enough that a first-timer can set it up from the manual

What does not

• −Friction surfaces must stay clean and un-greased, which is the opposite of most hitch maintenance habits
• −Noisy in tight, slow turns

Skip it if

Avoid it if you tow mostly on dirt or gravel - grit on the friction faces is exactly what the design does not want.

Check price on Amazon→

#ad Affiliate link - we publish no price; Amazon shows the current one

Raw specifications: Fastway’s own page. We earn nothing on that link.

For a direct head-to-head rather than a verdict, the site carries three: against the Blue Ox SwayPro, against the Husky Centerline TS and against the Reese dual cam system. Those pages take the comparison further than a single-product assessment usefully can.

It deserves its position. The four-point design does something structurally honest - it makes sway resistance a property of the assembly rather than an accessory you remember - and the six-model range means correct sizing is achievable rather than approximate. The limitations are real but they are knowable in advance: it is noisy, it is heavy, the setup rewards care, and the model table is written at a flat 10 percent tongue weight that will mislead anyone who buys by trailer gross weight.

What would stop us recommending it to a particular reader is not a flaw in the hitch. It is the three checks that decide whether anyone needs load transfer at all. Run those first - they take about twenty minutes and they are free - and buy this hitch only if the answer comes back yes.

If this reads as more hitch than your trailer needs, the simpler alternative named above is assessed on its own terms in the Fastway e2 review - fewer friction points, a lower ceiling, and a design that suits a first travel trailer rather than one that already sways.