I'm thinking that I should use a weight distributing hitch when I tow my car with my wagon. What do I need to know?
I'm thinking that I should use a weight distributing hitch when I tow my car with my wagon. What do I need to know?
They're expensive and cool and really do work.
Might be hard to use on your wagon.
All the ones I’ve seen have a lower bracket below the trailer ball that mounts the weight distributing bars. This means the hitch hangs about 5” below the bottom of the ball. You might not have the ground clearance.
Perhaps there are other designs.
I know they boggle my mind. I've sat and stared at them trying to figure out how they work.
I *think* they are effectively decreasing the lever arm of the trailer (shortening the distance from axle to hitch) which means that the tongue weight is reduced.
Basically they impart a pitching force (in plane terms but there's probably a better word) that not only pulls down on the hitch as regular tongue weight would, but also tries to twist the hitch and thus the tow vehicle downwards (in the front). What that does is 'distribute' the tongue weight between the front and rear suspensions of the tow vehicle, which means ability to run more tongue weight (=more stability) and less severe effects from the tongue weight on the tow vehicle suspension. Less nose-high, light front end, resultant reduced front braking traction, and greater margin until the rear tires wash out/oversteer.
They are kinda like 2 big leaf springs between the trailer tongue and the tow vehicle hitch.
There used to be a light duty weight distribution hitch that used a coil spring loaded bar instead of the traditional hockey stick or trunion head round bars. I think it offered a lot more ground clearance.
You could get most of the effect with a spring loaded torque link or pull bar mounted below the hitch ball and pulling straight back to the underside of the trailer tongue. I've actually thought about using one of those draw bars with a ball on top and another on the bottom, then mounting a lower control arm to the top of the trailer tongue hanging down with a fabricated link between the ball joint on the arm and the lower ball. Use an air bag to preload the arm and adding air would push the arm back, draw on the lower ball, and impart a weight distributing twist on the draw bar. Easy adjust, inexpensive, easy to hook up or unhook if you vent the airbag.
There are several types and connections too. Blue Ox IMO makes the best as your hands don't touch the greased pivot point there bars slide in to sockets. You'll need to know your tongue weight to get the right unit. Don't guess measure it. there are ball scales available but you can use a pivot and a bathroom scale with some math too (ruggles scales like).
Adventure RV has loads of them. One thing to look at is the chain hook up. some are snap hooks others are rotary type depending on the trailer and what you have on the tongue (boxes , propane tanks etc) the different styles might be a problem. I see they have a ultra fab unit in 1000lbs for $172!
I love my blue ox sway pro. my trailer is 29ft 1200lbs
In reply to 44Dwarf :
Is it safe to over-estimate? Like, I have a 7k rated trailer, so I get a hitch setup for 1k?
In reply to snailmont5oh :
If I'm following this right, that'll try to pick up the back end of your car as it overcompensates, taking too much weight off the tires that keep the trailer behind the car...
I'm not certain to what extent this would actually happen, but it gives me concern. It seems like overcompensating isn't "margin of safety", it's "creating a different problem".
They are magic, and the ones I played with were adjustable. A heavy 9K trailer went from "riding a dolphin" to rock steady.
I've had several different kinds on different trailers, but my favorite so far is the Equal-i-zer, which whe have on our current travel trailer. Easy to use, you don't have to touch the greasy bits, and towing is rock-solid with it. It does weight distribution and sway control with a minimum of moving parts. Only downside is that it's pretty noisy when you are making sharp turns, like maneuvering around in a campground, for instance.
Some folks swear by the Hensley Arrow. I had one for a while, and it was fine, but complicated and expensive, so I ended up selling it for the much cheaper Equal-i-zer, which works just as well, IMO.
I find the easiest way to understand how they work is to bolt the hitch on without the trailer, insert the load arms, and think of them as wheelbarrow handles. Pick up on the end of the bars and the back of the vehicle comes up and the front goes down a bit. Now imagine picking them up the same way with the trailer attached. Now again, but this time hook them to the trailer to keep them up.
I find it hard to believe that sway controls are not mandatory on larger trailers for how well they work.
The weight distributing part of the hitch really helps when you have a decent amount of tongue weight on a loaded tow vehicle, you can adjust to level the load.
Are you guys talking about fancier ones or the simpler ones?
My camper has an equalizer round bar while my new to me enclosed car trailer has a husky one that has chains for setting the tension. I kind of prefer the chains because it feels faster to adjust. If you put too much weight distribution on it will look like its picking the rear wheels up off the ground almost.
The other thing that seems to adjust it is the angle of the hitch ball, because that is the amount of degrees of load you are putting into whatever the tension spring is. I guess the chain one may not have sway control, but its way easier to adjust/use the other one is sort of a pain as you have to jack the trailer up a lot after getting the ball on in order to release enough tension to get the bars onto the little plates
I'm not a huge fan, but that's probably because I listened to my boss and tried to use them to distribute too much weight. They do limit your turning circle, and that's an issue with a 28' trailer.
I've found that airbags in the rear suspension work a lot better. The boss uses the weight distribution hitch and brags about how his electronic sway control keeps everything straight, meanwhile my truck tows straight and smooth with airbags and no electronics.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I've got airbags in the coils of the wagon, and it tows pretty well. I just figured that, with all that rear overhang, it probably wouldn't hurt to transfer some of the load a little further forward on the frame. Right now, all of the load is on the only part of the frame that's open channel, not boxed. If I can get some of the tongue weight onto the hitch's forward mounts, that'll put it through two more 1/2" bolts, and into a part of the frame that's boxed.
Keith Tanner said:I'm not a huge fan, but that's probably because I listened to my boss and tried to use them to distribute too much weight. They do limit your turning circle, and that's an issue with a 28' trailer.
I've found that airbags in the rear suspension work a lot better. The boss uses the weight distribution hitch and brags about how his electronic sway control keeps everything straight, meanwhile my truck tows straight and smooth with airbags and no electronics.
Yeah, but isn't your truck a heavy-duty (3/4 ton or higher)? When you're towing with a half-ton or SUV, stuff like weight distributing hitches, sway control and electronics are a godsend.
I think when you're stretching the limits of bumper tow (had a friend who towed a 36' travel trailer with an e350, for example) it's practically necessary. It's also useful for stretching the limits of something that would otherwise be limited by its tongue weight capacity. I'm thinking of fixing up a ~24-26ft Avion trailer and towing it with my Cayenne. I'll probably use one in that scenario.
Tom_Spangler said:Keith Tanner said:I'm not a huge fan, but that's probably because I listened to my boss and tried to use them to distribute too much weight. They do limit your turning circle, and that's an issue with a 28' trailer.
I've found that airbags in the rear suspension work a lot better. The boss uses the weight distribution hitch and brags about how his electronic sway control keeps everything straight, meanwhile my truck tows straight and smooth with airbags and no electronics.
Yeah, but isn't your truck a heavy-duty (3/4 ton or higher)? When you're towing with a half-ton or SUV, stuff like weight distributing hitches, sway control and electronics are a godsend.
I tow with a short-bed Dodge 2500. Boss runs a current Tundra. I consider that about a 5/8 ton. He pulls a one-car 20', I pull a two-car 28'. The difference in stability is dramatic.
He had a small Airstream (with a WD hitch) start to wobble and get away from him on his previous Tundra. Rolled both vehicles. He was so impressed with how all the airbags protected him that he bought another Tundra with more electronics and a bigger Airstream. Me, I would have bought a bigger truck.
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