Fastway Trailer Products’ e2 weightdistributing hitch

FASTWAY TRAILER PRODUCTS’ E2 WEIGHT- DISTRIBUTING HITCH

Nothing gets the heart pounding quite like an out-of-control trailer. In the world of bumper towing, relying solely on the ball mount to get heavy loads from point A to point B can be a bit dicey. Add in excessive tongue weight and unevenly distributed cargo, and you’re practically begging for trouble.

Even a properly loaded trailer can become unsettled when passing semis, encountering crosswinds or descending steep grades. For years, weight-distribution hitches have solved these problems and improved the conventional towing experience for thousands of truck owners in the process.

What Is a Weight-distributing Hitch?

Weight-distribution hitches are genius, but at the same time, they are relatively simple. They employ friction to transfer the weight of the trailer forward, off the tongue, toward the front of the tow vehicle. In addition, some of the tongue weight is distributed back onto the trailer axles. With more weight over the front axle of the tow vehicle, the towing combination sits level, and braking and steering performance are optimized. In recent times, weight-distributing hitches with built-in sway control have become all the rage—and for good reason. Whether it’s through the use of chains, trunnion-style spring bars or round spring bars, their aim is to control trailer sway by quelling it before it ever has the opportunity to get out of hand.

The Fastway Trailer Products e2 Hitch

With most truck owners using their vehicles to tow, the weightdistributing hitch market is both busy and highly competitive.

There is no shortage of quality products to choose from, with at least half a dozen different variations of quality weight-distributing hitches available, all designed to accomplish the same thing. In recent times, however, some manufacturers have moved away from the use of chains or add-on sway controls in order to make their systems simpler, safer and more affordable.

Progress Manufacturing is one company that is following that path, and its e2 line of weight-distributing hitch systems, produced by its Fastway Trailer Products division, recently caught our eye.

A Truck and Trailer in Need

While on the hunt for a weight-distributing hitch for our ’97 F-350, the ultimate goal was a smoother towing experience with a 31-foot toy-hauler attached (and some pretty precious cargo inside). Although the travel trailer is not a heavy load by any means (12 feet tall and 8.5 feet wide), it catches enough wind going down the highway to make towing it in bare-bones, ball-mount fashion unpredictable, to say the least. Wind gusts, passing (or being passed by) semis and traveling down steep hills all induce uncomfortable trailer sway.

Long story short: The entire towing experience was more exhausting than enjoyable.

Spec’ing Out the Right Hitch

Although most weight-distributing hitch systems such as the e2 are adjustable, they are typically configured for one specific trailer—usually the one you tow most often or that most requires the aid of a weight-distribution hitch and/or sway control.

Just as with any weight-distributing hitch, if you want to get the best and safest performance out of the system, it’s necessary to choose one with a maximum gross trailer weight and tongue weight rating slightly higher than what you’ll be towing.

We knew our toy-hauler would never tip the scales any heavier than its 9,995-pound GVWR, so we opted for a 10,000-pound version of the e2 hitch with a 1,000-pound tongue weight rating (PN 92-00-1065). Conventional tow-tech wisdom dictates that tongue weight should be at least 10 percent (but no more than 15 percent) of the trailer’s gross weight, which also obviously factored into our decision.

Check out all the ins and outs of the e2 system, as well as why we believe it’s the perfect hitch for our needs.

Fastway Trailer Products’ e2 10,000-pound weight-distribution hitch shipped with everything needed to install it on our trailer. This included all hardware and mounting brackets, L-pins and clips, snap-up lever, trunnion hitch shank and trunnion-style spring bars. Priced between $425 and $500, its price point is right in the ball park for this ultra-competitive market. The e2 also carries a 10-year limited warranty. This particular system (PN 92-00-1065) even shipped with the 2 5/16-inch ball pre-installed.

The e2 system starts with the trunnion hitch head (shown here with the ball installed and the shank attached). The head assembly incorporates the sockets that accept the trunnion spring bars and features a 1 1/4-inch-diameter hole for the hitch ball’s threaded shank. The socket area (where the trunnion spring bars attach) is made of heavy-duty, 1-inch-thick steel.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that our pre-installed 2 5/16-inch hitch ball was rated for 12,000 pounds. As far as hitch balls are concerned, “overkill” can never hurt you, and you should always make sure your ball is rated for your trailer’s GVWR—OR higher.

During the install, our initial hitch height was obtained by parking both the trailer and truck on level ground. We measured from the ground to the highest point inside the trailer coupler and adjusted the shank accordingly. We’ll note that this was only the start, though: Various other measurements and incremental adjustments would be made later on to fine-tune the ride height for optimum hitch functionality.

The hitch head mounts to an adjustable shank via ¾-inch bolts, conical tooth washers and nylon lock nuts. For our stock-height, F-350 application, Fastway’s standard trunnion hitch shank was all that was needed. The ½-inch-drop, 6-inch-rise shank measures 12 inches in length and fits 2-inch-diameter receivers. For taller or lifted trucks, Fastway also offers a 2-inch drop unit with an 8-inch rise, another with a 4-inch drop with 9.5inch rise, as well as a shank with a 6.5-inch drop and 12.5-inch rise.

Special care should be given to the angle set bolt on the back of the hitch head assembly, especially during the hitch’s break-in period (the break-in period varies according to use and from hitch to hitch). During use, the previously mentioned spacer washers and spacer rivet might become slightly compressed, leaving a small gap between the angle set bolt and the shank. This places excessive stress on the hitch assembly and can damage it ... or even lead to an accident. Fastway states that the need to re-tighten the angle set bolt will diminish over time but that it should be carefully checked every 100 miles during the break-in period.

In the rear of the trunnion hitch head assembly, spacer washers are used to pre-load the angle of the hitch head. Per Fastway’s recommendation for use on longer-wheel-base tow vehicles, six spacer washers were used. Once the 5/8-inch angle set bolt was tightened up enough to make the spacer rivet contact the shank, the hitch head was angled (correctly) slightly downward.