Reese WDH Trunnion bar defect (or owner defect?)

Nah, they're the same. Except mine is a lot dirtier (with over 15,000 miles on it), and you've got your shaft reversed to get more height. And a bit more tilt. But neither of those should be causing problems.

The extra small holes are for mounting the little balls used by friction sway bars. Not too good a solution for sway I've heard, and definitely not necessary for your rig.

And yes, the same receiver is used with different size spring bars. I guess we both have the 800# ones.

Good luck. Good idea to get your buddy over. Sometimes it just takes a different set of eyes and hands to work things out.

One more thing if you do start filing and grinding.

The load bearing surface of the bottom pin faces the trailer when it's in position, and the top pin's load bearing surface faces the truck when in position. You can see the wear marks on these spots in my photos.

I wouldn't grind or file anywhere near these areas on the pins or on the receiver.

Have fun.

I have to use those "little" holes to connect my runaway safety chains. No way they would reach the truck hitch connectors. Apparently the hitch is the same for round or trunion bars....yours looks exactly like mine and I use round bars. Good Luck!!

[pauloh]

Problem solved. Like Bruce said, another pair of eyes/hands. My buddy and I did grind on one pin a little, then while he was trying the fit (he had watched me once as I tried the brute force method again), he stuck it on there and turned the trunnion bar "in" so that it "crossed" the hitch/ball. It glided right into place. I must say, my buddy had the benefit of never having read the instructions. I had been trying to use the opposite angle "outside". There is a reference to "outside" bar alignment with the bumper in the instructions, and no diagram or explanation about doing it correctly that I comprehend. I hope the photos attached help someone else eventually, I know they would have done the trick for me.

We did not grind enough off of the one pin to do any damage (none to areas Bruce mentioned), took off some paint and maybe 1/32 inch of steel. Both bars feel the same when installed and I will of course keep an eye on them.

So I owe my buddy, and Bruce here on the forum, a beer or something. Thanks again for all the help.

he stuck it on there and turned the trunnion bar "in" so that it "crossed" the hitch/ball

You know, thinking about it, I may have had to do that too when my spring bars were new. But now that they're old and worn, I don't.

Anyway, congrats on your new hitch and happy camping.

So I owe my buddy, and Bruce here on the forum, a beer or something

While these "electronic" forums certainly are useful, they don't quite match the ones down at the local pub.

Cheers!

[Bill]

You have to start with the bar swung across the center?? Won't that make it impossible to insert the bars while the hitch is on the ball? It would seem that the bars won't clear the jackstem.

I'm very surprised. In your case, I would at very least be emailing Reese tech support. I had a question for them years ago, and they were reasonably responsive.

You mentioned a part number, for the receiver/ballmount assembly and the springbars as a kit. This part number does not come up on the Reese site, although by removing the "-020" from the end, it does hit. By any chance do the bars have a separate number on them, either stamped into the steel or on a label? Not all bars fit all ballmounts.

Finally, who put the chain's U-bolts onto the bars? The photo on the Reese site is poor, but it does suggest that the kit comes with the U-bolts in a bag, and you install them yourself. If that is the case, how did you decide which side of the bar is the top, and which side is the bottom? It is at least possible that the stickers that say "Pro Series" were applied upside down. Remember, the Chinese assembler can't read the label, so one way looks as good as the other to him.

The ultimate aribiter of top and bottom would be made on the basis of the angle of the springbar body vs the springbar head. They are not quite perpendicular, but I can't remember for sure which way it leans. My bars are not here, or I would check. I think (but don't trust me) that when the springbar stubs are held in vertical alignment, the top of the bar is UP when the springbar tips are slanted slightly toward the ground. And indeed, your very first picture seems to show this. So I am not being much help ...

Bill

Pauloh,

If nothing else, you sure take good photo's and with script!
Good luck and happy TMing....

[pauloh]

Bill:
You are correct about installation of the trunnion bars getting in the way of the jackstem. I put them on the TV, swiveled them out a bit, then backed up a foot or two to hook up. They hang above the ground (chains reach the ground) as I do this. I appreciate your pointing out that this is kind of stupid, I agree. I'm trying to think when this situation might cause me a major issue of some kind. When I get time, I might try emailing or calling Reese (owned by some other corporation I forget now) about it.

All I can say is, 3 college-educated adults, one a former UHaul employee, looked at those trunnions (the one who did NOT read the instructions figured it out), and this seems to be the only procedure to get them in place. I hooked everything up, and made my adjustments with the TV wheel well measurements/chain links (I'm on the 3rd chain link). With many thanks to your WDH primer here, everything looks good and towed well on the initial 30 minute test drive. If you look at my signature, you can see my current setup as of yesterday. Feel free to comment! It may need some adjustment later, I think I over-exaggerated the "loaded" state of the TV and TM (using heavy boxes of books), but will be looking at that again when I actually load my camping gear and passengers.

The WDH came from Amazon, but seemed to be a factory kit from Reese That is the Amazon/Reese part number, and the set appears to be identical with the one Bruce commented on above. This kit is sold by etrailer.com also, looks to be the same parts there.

I put those chain/u-bolts on myself, the instructions were pretty clear about how to do this, at least. I just looked at the bars, you are correct, they slant down slightly when the trunnion head is vertical. They match up with Bruce's in this respect I think. Also the top of the trunnion bar head has a slightly rounded pin, while the bottom pin was flat (also like Bruce's). So I think they're going the right way now.

Thanks for your thoughts on this, anything else you think I should know, I'll be standing by. Now I am next on to greasing the wheel bearings here! (thanks for THAT primer also.)

[Bill]

Just for the fun of it, try one other easy thing. Insert one of the springbars in the new and magic way. Once it is in place, grab the tip out near the chain and swing it outward about 90 degrees, so it is parallel to the tow vehicle's bumper. Now press down on the tip as you swing it back and forth from there about 45 degrees. If you can get it to pop out at any point, you've found the magic alignment, and you should be able to insert it at this same point.

FWIW, mine actually have to go slightly forward of straight-out in order to insert the stubs.

Bill

[ThePair]

I have the same set-up, took me a long time to figure out the trick.

I swing the bars outward so the chain end is closer to the TV, almost touching the bumper, and lay the lower pin in with the head (top) pin of the trunnion tilting outwards more towards the TM. It seems almost like the bar is being rotated the wrong way, at least that's how I perceive it. If I'm on the right side of the TV, the head will be rotated CCW to position it correctly, and the left side of the TV needs a clockwise position. As I twist the trunnion more upright, the top pin will just fit into its channel and end up in the correct position, then I rotate the chain end back. If I start with insufficient rotation, it won't fit in correctly, so I start again.

As Bill said, now that it's in, you may have an easier time trying to get them out (reverse of above) to get the angles/rotation correct.

I can attempt a video if you still need it, let me know.