Why a weight distributing hitch???

[jcmseven]

Fellow Posters:

I need a bit of advice and insight from the panel. My Ford 250 diesel has a moniker on the factory hitch that rates it as "12,500 pounds with weight distrubuting hitch and 6,000 pounds with load carrying hitch." I noted this when my truck was new and thought it seemed strange. It has not applied to me to this point as my current trailer already has a weight distributing hitch on it. I have an opportunity to buy a lightly used CornPro tilt top trailer, 22'. It does not have said hitch and has a large metal toolbox which I really like, but would have to be removed to accomodate a weight distributing hitch. I cannot determine why Ford says this, as the hitch from my view is extremely beefy, more so than the 2002 250 I regularly towed 9000-10000# with, and which had no such criteria. My owners manual does not address this. My friend's GMC, which has what appears to be the same type hitch, says nothing about this, nor does another friend with a Tundra. His hitch appears much less heavy duty than either mine or my friend's GMC hitch and does not even have any load rating noted on it. Assumably, Toyota would not mind someone hooking up the 10,000+ pound capacity load to this hitch. My questions are, first, why??? My Ford is a big truck and can handle a big load, so why the tiny rating without load distribution; and second, am I OK considering this a "suggestion" rather than a rule??? The CornPro tilt top weighes 4200# empty, so obviously one cannot pull much of a load without answering this question. Thanks for the help.

John M

 

[wushaw]

As you probably well know the weight distribution hitch is to put weight back on the ft. of the truck so you will have correct steering and braking ability.

If you get this trailer and hook it up with a heavy load and the ft. of your truck goes up considerably then this is where you will need the WD hitch.

 

[browns40]

Hi jcmseven,

The weight distributing hitch will help to smooth out your ride and negate the leverage that a bouncing/pushing tongue weight exerts on your front wheels... it also had the effect of stiffening the torsional action the 'one point attachment' a truck/trailer usually has with a 'modified three point'.

You can somewhat equate it to proper ballast for the FEL to prevent the rear of your tractor from popping up during loader work in the scenario of levering all the weight off your front tires, taking away your steering control...

On the other side, if the tongue bounces up & potentially picks the rear of your tow vehicle up with it, you are left with only front wheel steering/tracking until it see-saws back in the other direction.

Bird & some others definitely have more experience using them and can offer a lot more...

I think it is one of those safety/comfort features (like brakes some would say!) that you don't fully appreciate until things go south on you in a hurry, carrying a load approaching your trucks limitations when you are not using one.

I don't use one on the F-350 towing 7k, but have considered it... if I were to get up to 9 or 10, would decidedly look into one for the set-up. If I had that trailer/truck (especially on my roads!) I would get it on there before experience possibly threw me a hindsight moment... sounds like a sweet trailer!

 

[Mighty Dodge]

Does it state which class the hitch falls under? I'm not totally sure but I think most new trucks come with a class 4 hitch. I took the factory hitch off my Dodge and put on a Putnam class 5. All my trailers use pintle hitches, never had a problem.

M.D.

 

[Egon]

In many cases after the trailer exceeds 5000 pounds a weight distributing hitch is required legally for bumper pull.



Your total towing weight capacity will be listed in other places,

It distributes the weight between the truck and trailer tires more evenly evens out the load distribution.

It requires a ball type hitch with the proper rating which may be a class four.

Getting a hitch with higher rating doesn't change anything.

Please note; can and may are very different entities!

 

[jcmseven]

I appreciate the responses thus far. Having used a WD hitch I am familiar with their function; my main question is why with a Class V hitch would they need to write that?? As noted, my previous 250 had a 10,000 towing capacity from the factory with a weight bearing hitch, and it was a physically lighter truck without tow/haul; tow command and all those goodies on it. My friend's 2500 GMC has a 13,000 pound hitch towing capacity and has no delineation on his hitch stating to use a WD hitch for that weight. He does anyway and so would I. We have looked at the respective hitches and note that they are similar in size and durability. The new Ford hitch is really beefy and with the size of the truck I cannot see why a WD hitch would be needed up to 10,000 pounds or so. If I decide to buy this trailer, I will have to take off the fancy diamond plate tool box if I were to mount the WD hitch. I do not want to do this, but would if I am going to risk catastrophe by not doing it. I just cannot see why Ford would make such a disclaimer regarding towing a load which for this truck is like sneezing; i.e., is the hitch not capable or is it just legalize? Thanks again.

John M

 

[Egon]

Remember the Can and May.

Where I live the truck I drive has a bumper hitch trailer weight capacity of 10K. Any trailer above 5K on the bumper hitch must have a weight distributing hitch.

Check your local regulations and you may find these type of laws also apply to you!

Yes, I can pull my trailer without the weight distributing hitch but I may not do so legally!

 

[Builder]

I appreciate the responses thus far. Having used a WD hitch I am familiar with their function; my main question is why with a Class V hitch would they need to write that?? As noted, my previous 250 had a 10,000 towing capacity from the factory with a weight bearing hitch, and it was a physically lighter truck without tow/haul; tow command and all those goodies on it. My friend's 2500 GMC has a 13,000 pound hitch towing capacity and has no delineation on his hitch stating to use a WD hitch for that weight. He does anyway and so would I. We have looked at the respective hitches and note that they are similar in size and durability. The new Ford hitch is really beefy and with the size of the truck I cannot see why a WD hitch would be needed up to 10,000 pounds or so. If I decide to buy this trailer, I will have to take off the fancy diamond plate tool box if I were to mount the WD hitch. I do not want to do this, but would if I am going to risk catastrophe by not doing it. I just cannot see why Ford would make such a disclaimer regarding towing a load which for this truck is like sneezing; i.e., is the hitch not capable or is it just legalize? Thanks again.

John M

There's not enough room to type all the "legal ease" when it comes to trailer tow ratings.

You're not going to "risk catastrophe".

You guys are a worriesome bunch.

Simply put, Ford (and other manufacturers) do this to help them avoid law suits. They figure the more safety (in this case a WD hitch) you throw at the truck, the safer it will be and the less chance you'll wreck your truck when towing a trailer. The less chance you wreck your truck & trailer, the less chance you'll sue them. Think of all the idiots out there towing way above their trucks ratings. They also have no training, just buy the biggest trailer money can buy and hook it up behind their big bad one ton diesel. Ford knows this happens and they want you to throw all the saftey possible at the hitching system to help keep the truck under control.

It's also about paper ratings. Ford has often been the "brochure king" of trucks. They often boast the highest ratings and that their buyers will purchase based on what the glossy brochure says. They can "boost" trailer tow ratings compared to the competition when you deploy a WD hitch, thus rate them higher. One common misconception is GVWR's & GCWR's. Some pickups have awesome GVWR's, but their trucks also weight more. So their payloads may actually be similar to a truck with a lower GVWR/GCWR that also weighs less.

I pull 12K off my bumper with no WD hitch (max allowable) and the truck handles it OK, but I think a WD hitch would be better.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would check your friends owners manuals under towing and I am sure they are going to have a stipulation on WD hitches. It is just not printed on the hitch like your Fords is. Now that being said I bumper pull my boat, 15,600# with my F-350. I upgraded to a 15,000# 2.5" receiver with a matching ball and mount and have no problems. I have used this setup for over 10,000 miles in the last 3 years.

Chris

 

[Builder]

That boat & trailer weighs 15,600 lbs?

Man, what's in that thing...twin N-14 diesels? Concrete hull?

 

[jcmseven]

I figured this was a legal thing, and having to do with those who may try to overstep bounds when towing. I, even with the heavy trailer, likely will max out at 11,000 pounds or so most times, and might not do a weight distributing hitch for this trailer combo if it pulls OK. Interestingly, the tongue weight on mine is 1,200 pound weight bearing and 2500 pound weight distributing as noted on the hitch so with a well-balanced trailer/load I do not feel I will come close on this. I have pulled right at the max with my other trailer with a WD hitch and it is really smooth. Thanks for the input.

John M

 

[IllMarty1]

I agree with Builder. I have F250 CC V-10, and tow a 20' skidsteer trailer that weighs 3200 lbs. It is a pintle hitch hook up. When the 1845 is on it with bucket, forks, and auger, it is just north of 10,000 lbs total. I haven't used WD with my factory mounted hitch, and the truck handles the load well. Puts me at my GCVWR Load balance is critical, as is careful driving.

My next truck, will have the class 5 on it, just in case. My 2000 350 had a class 5, and I can't tell the difference. I wish ford would just put class 5 hitches on all their pick ups 250 and higher.

Marty

 

[jcmseven]

Marty,

Mine says Class V on the hitch sticker, yet still has this silly notation on it. I cannot speak that all new 250's and up have it, but mine does. My 2002 had a Class IV on it.

John M

 

[Z-Michigan]

Without nearly the experience that others have, all I can say is that I've seen F350's pulling large travel trailers with a weight carrying hitch and having the rear of the truck sagging and the front end trying to take off. Just from looking at it it was a very unsafe rig setup. Maybe this can be avoided with good balancing on a flatbed - I don't know. I'm sure Ford specifies weight-distributing in part because they will rate based on the dumbest thing you can do that still technically meets the rating.

 

[Diamondpilot]

That boat & trailer weighs 15,600 lbs?

Man, what's in that thing...twin N-14 diesels? Concrete hull?

I wish. No it has twin 270HP 5.0L Volvo Penta SX Counter rotating drives. It also has a 7.5KW Kohler Genset. The beam of the boat is 10.5', the length is 36', and the hight on the trailer is 13'6" so I have to watch bridges and tree branches. The boat holds 150 gallons of fuel, 46 gallons of fresh water, 30 gallons of black water although that is usually emptied prior to leaving the lake.

The boat has all the goodies like stove, micro, tv/dvd, stereo, ac/heat, basically everything a travel trailer would have. The engines weigh in at 1040# each and the gen is about 450#.

I had the trailer weighed before I picked it up at the Eagle Trailer Factory in Michigan and it was just a tad over 2,800# by itself. It sits on triple 6,000# dexters. The lightest the boat can weigh on the trailer is 13,800# with no fluids or personal effects on board. Full fuel and water puts it at about 15,100# then I figure 500# for anchor, ropes, rafts, life jackets, food and beverages, bedding, and our personal effects for me and my family like clothing and books. We never go out any less than 3 days at a time so it is always filled up with water and fuel on the way so it ends up always weighing this much.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Like Builder and others have said it comes down to the lawyers. WD hitches work great but no in all applications. The best bet is to have a trailer that is long enough to allow proper balance of you load to keep the tong weight at the 10-15% mark and she will tow like a dream. Get the weight to far forward or aft and you will hate life.

Chris

 

[Egon]

Maybe builder has no problems! Of course he may not have checked out the regulations and consequences of non compliance.

There are always those with super trucks , the same ones you and me drive but just are better.

But then again he may not be fully informed when it comes to lawsuits and who is responsible for what.

I now I can tow my legal limit without a weight distributing hitch but why try when it's illegal.

Its not that I'm unfamiliar with towing heavy loads for long distances. But some may be!

I may be pretty blunt in my statements but I do own a truck and trailer which see considerable mileage!

 

[tlbuser]

That boat & trailer weighs 15,600 lbs?

Man, what's in that thing...twin N-14 diesels? Concrete hull?

Could just be a whole lot of second home and "entertainment expense" write-offs

 

[Skyco]

I've had many receivers that had the different ratings on them for weight carrying vs weight distributing. Seems pretty common and makes sense to me.

As for seeing improperly adjusted weight distributing setups on the road- well the world has no shortage of dummies. Many people and even dealers do not even know there are different weight ratings to the equalizing bars irrespective of the hitches total weight rating. IOW I have 1000 lb rated bars for my front heavy toy hauler. A friend has 300 lb rated bars for his lightweight TT. Many people are sold a WD setup without the seller even inquiring what tongue weight the trailer has which may have absolutely no relationship with the total weight of the trailer.

In 30+ years of towing I've never heard of any law anywhere in the US requiring a weight distributing hitch...if anyone else has I'd love to know where.....

There was also a comment about two hitches looking similar...well some are heat treated after manufacturing so one can't easily tell just by looking which is stronger.

 

[Egon]

[In 30+ years of towing I've never heard of any law anywhere in the US requiring a weight distributing hitch...if anyone else has I'd love to know where...../QUOTE]

Uhh - oops my foot is in mouth again.

The weight distributing hitch is a manufactures rating for their vehicle.

Compliance with these ratings may be a requirement???