Your towing rigs and trailers

3930dave · Oct 7, 2013

ljohnson778 said:
Excellent explanation.

Thanks, all those coffees this morning must have kicked in at the same time

.

I wanted to post about that question, because I used to scratch my head over the same thing. Back then I didn't have the second heavier trailer that I bought just under 2 years ago, so I didn't delve into WD until fairly recently.

Anybody that's hauled even a moderate amount with a utility trailer often has had that experiece - a little extra front loading on the trailer can start to unload the front axle of the tow vehicle. Not so much, if you are towing a 4'x4' trailer, with an F450

KenB - download a WD hitch manual from Reese - that should give you a pretty detailed picture of what has to be done to set these up. Reese, or any of the other big hitch players should also have decent installation videos for WDs.

Roughly speaking, there will be mounts that go on the trailer frame, torsion bars, and a drawbar/head that accepts the torsion bars. I haven't played enough with WD hitches to know if they interchange, but as long as you and your buddy have the same sized receiver just plan on swapping (drawbars+torsion bars) if you borrow trailers.

Read the manual, and watch a properly set up WD hitch being hooked up - you'll see right away how much more level the tow vehicle sits.

Some guys just bolt these WD's on and Go ! I recall one thread where a guy was complaining about spinning his rear wheels - turns out he had the torsion bars torqued up really high, and had taken way too much load off the rear axle.

I've been stressing setting up the WD hitch properly - if you are somewhat mechanically inclined, setting it up isn't really that difficult - providing you are aware of the steps to follow.

Rgds, D.

Piston · Oct 7, 2013

downsizingnow48 said:
There is a lot of discussion of WD hitches on the Airstream website. in one thread, at post #69, there is a excel spreadsheet calculator that allows you to plug in your truck and trailer info and it tells you how the tongue weight gets re-distributed when using the WD hitch.

Load distribution hitches-an analysis - Airstream Forums

Thank You :thumbsup:

I just plugged my info in, pretty neat to see the differences...

Piston · Oct 7, 2013

downsizingnow48 said:
There is a lot of discussion of WD hitches on the Airstream website. in one thread, at post #69, there is a excel spreadsheet calculator that allows you to plug in your truck and trailer info and it tells you how the tongue weight gets re-distributed when using the WD hitch.

Load distribution hitches-an analysis - Airstream Forums

Thank You :thumbsup:

I just plugged my info in, pretty neat to see the differences...

ultrarunner · Oct 8, 2013

I remember seeing a front wheel drive Oldsmobile towing a trailer and the Olds had both rear wheels removed and the WD hitch supported the back of that Tornado.

ultrarunner · Oct 8, 2013

Hitch Geometry can be critcal...

Case in pont.

I have a 4 by 6 box trailer with a 3500 pound axle.

I can tow it all day with my 3/4 ton van and not know it is there... empty of loaded with a yard of gravel.

The first time I towed it with my Silverado Pickup it whipped back and forth at highway speed unloaded...

The hitch height of the truck was just high enough to change the characteristics when empty.

newbury · Oct 8, 2013

3930dave said:
A properly adjusted WD hitch does a good job of distributing the trailer load across both your front and rear axles.
<snip>
As posted, some factories will typically list a much higher vehicle tow rating for a WD hitch. The key is the hitch has to be installed and adjusted by someone who understands what they are doing, to work properly.

Rgds, D.

Which confuses me.

Curt sells a bolt on hitch "rated" at 17000 lb tow / 2550 lb tongue CURT Manufacturing - CURT Trailer Hitch #15410 | CURT Manufacturing and the install manual states

GROSS LOAD CAPACITY WHEN USED AS A WEIGHT CARRYING HITCH: 17,000 LBS. TRAILER WEIGHT & 2,550 LBS. TONGUE WEIGHT

That hitch doesn't look much different than other hitches as far as putting weight on front axles, just beefier. And it cost about what a good WD costs.

Would that hitch be as safe as a WD?

3930dave · Oct 8, 2013

newbury said:
Which confuses me.

Curt sells a bolt on hitch "rated" at 17000 lb tow / 2550 lb tongue CURT Manufacturing - CURT Trailer Hitch #15410 | CURT Manufacturing and the install manual states

That hitch doesn't look much different than other hitches as far as putting weight on front axles, just beefier. And it cost about what a good WD costs.

Would that hitch be as safe as a WD?

That Curt seems to be a Class 5 receiver. Looks like a good chunk of metal. My interpretation of their specs is that they chose to not uprate the specs, if a WD hitch is used - makes sense, as they are already maxed out in terms of what most light trucks would tow.

Think of it this way, that Curt allows you to put well over a ton of tongue weight how many feet behind your rear axle ? Even without an extended drawbar, that is one heck of a lot of leverage (down) on the rear of the truck.

In terms of safe, you have to go back to the OE truck specs - just because the receiver is rated that high, the truck is likely the limiting factor.

I think I remember that Tornado picture UR, that was cool, and really emphasized what a WD hitch can do.
Yep, getting hitch ball height is pretty critical !

Newbury - you typically buy a WD hitch totally separate from the frame receiver. The WD "hitch" uses adjustable torsion bars to essentially lift the rear of the tow vehicle back up - UR's Tornado example being an extreme case.

Weight Distribution - Reese

They have different classes of WD hitches, down to fairly small vehicles.

A strong receiver mount is never a bad place to start, but what a WD hitch is doing (regardless of vehicle size) is balancing/distributing the trailer load across both axles of the tow vehicle. Much more stable - way less "white-knuckle" driving under certain conditions.

Talk to someone you know that uses a WD hitch and get their feedback. Better yet, if they will let you drive their vehicle, put a safe load (weight-wise) on their utility trailer and take a short test drive with the torsion bars off. Then, have the owner install the torsion bars to the right force level. Repeat the test drive, and I think you will be impressed.

I can't quickly find a good pic/video before/after a WD hitch is installed on a truck. No doubt something exits on Youtube somewhere. A good shot of a truck in full side profile before/after sums it up pretty well - meaning with a trailer load that is 3/4 or so of the trucks max rating is hooked up both times.

Once a WD hitch is set up properly on a given vehicle, it is easy to use and makes a big difference in stability at speed.

Rgds, D.

Piston · Oct 8, 2013

Also, from what I've read, without a WD hitch you may be over your gross axle weight rating for the rear axle. Whereas with the WD hitch, it unloads some of the weight on the rear axle and transfers it to the front, enabling you to safely and legally tow a load that would otherwise be illegal due to the rear axle GAWR being exceeded.

3930dave · Oct 8, 2013

Piston said:
Also, from what I've read, without a WD hitch you may be over your gross axle weight rating for the rear axle. Whereas with the WD hitch, it unloads some of the weight on the rear axle and transfers it to the front, enabling you to safely and legally tow a load that would otherwise be illegal due to the rear axle GAWR being exceeded.

Being kind to rear axle bearings, never a bad idea ! Today, this thread had me thinking about what I see people towing with small FWD cars..... some of those Corollas and Jettas would have been happier with a WD hitch.

You make a great point Piston. Transport authorities mostly focus on the big commercial guys around here, but they can target anybody they want with a mobile scale..... from what I've heard of the high cost of commercial fines around here, my wallet really couldn't take that kind of hit.

Rgds, D.