Weight Distribution Hitch

[John Jensen]

Sorry but a WDH has nothing to do with sway unless it also has anti-sway bars attatched to it. nti-sway bars that will mostly get rid of sway.

^^^^^ Not true.
The Equal-I-Zer WDH with integrated 4-Point Sway Control has everything to do with sway.
Been using it for years and it far exceeds the WDH plus Anti-sway bar/s setup that I have also used.

The Anderson WDH also incorporates anti-sway control.

 

[CamperMike]

Sorry but a WDH has nothing to do with sway unless it also has anti-sway bars attatched to it. nti-sway bars that will mostly get rid of sway.

Sorry I thought I put it in but apparently missed it. My WDH has integrated sway control. And that was supposed to be the point of my post that I wouldn't tow an RV without a WDH and sway control.

 

[dexter]

Sorry I thought I put it in but apparently missed it. My WDH has integrated sway control. And that was supposed to be the point of my post that I wouldn't tow an RV without a WDH and sway control.

Don't be sorry!
https://www.equalizerhitch.com/how-equalizer-works
With the Equal-i-zer’s Integrated 4 Point Sway Control™ you can relax knowing the most advanced towing technology is keeping you safe.

 

[John Jensen]

Capt Mike

Oh how I can understand that - glad you explained it

 

[dexter]

^^^^

Oh how I can understand that - glad you explained it

Did I quote the wrong person? It must be the C virus! Where do I get tested?

 

[John Jensen]

Did I quote the wrong person? It must be the C virus! Where do I get tested?

No, your post got in before mine.
I was referring to Capt Mike

 

[Bldrinker]

Ok, let me chime in... Last month I towed 6,500 pounds 2,100 miles (twice).

1. 2017 Ram 1500 w/HEMI, 20” tires & “Weigh Safe” hitch.
2. Air-Lift 1000HD air bags with 40# inflated
2. Uhaul trailer with 6,200 & 6,800 pounds towed(CAT scale verified).
3. Tongue weight 900#
4. Did not use weight distribution hitch.
5. Front axle was 2650# w/o me in the truck. (Unloaded was a tad heavier ,#2750 on the front).
6. Depending on quality of the road and day/night, speed varied from 65-80mph.
7. There was zero wig-wag or porpoising.
8. I was maxed out on GVWR and kinda(+2200#?) over U-Haul’s max trailer weight but all went well.
9. My buddy’s 3” lifted 2004 Ram 3500 needed the WDH for the 12,000# trailer load he hauled. (25,000# & 25,150# GVWR CAT scale verified).
We did two 2,100 mile trips just last month.

In my opinion, WDH isn’t needed for Ram 1500 but it could help to load the front end a bit. I definitely would not use AirLift bags if I had an WDH.

View attachment 199325

View attachment 199326

big difference in a

Ok, let me chime in... Last month I towed 6,500 pounds 2,100 miles (twice).

1. 2017 Ram 1500 w/HEMI, 20” tires & “Weigh Safe” hitch.
2. Air-Lift 1000HD air bags with 40# inflated
2. Uhaul trailer with 6,200 & 6,800 pounds towed(CAT scale verified).
3. Tongue weight 900#
4. Did not use weight distribution hitch.
5. Front axle was 2650# w/o me in the truck. (Unloaded was a tad heavier ,#2750 on the front).
6. Depending on quality of the road and day/night, speed varied from 65-80mph.
7. There was zero wig-wag or porpoising.
8. I was maxed out on GVWR and kinda(+2200#?) over U-Haul’s max trailer weight but all went well.
9. My buddy’s 3” lifted 2004 Ram 3500 needed the WDH for the 12,000# trailer load he hauled. (25,000# & 25,150# GVWR CAT scale verified).
We did two 2,100 mile trips just last month.

In my opinion, WDH isn’t needed for Ram 1500 but it could help to load the front end a bit. I definitely would not use AirLift bags if I had an WDH.

View attachment 199325

View attachment 199326

put a 30’ 6,800lb trailer behind your short wheelbase truck without a load Distribution hitch with intergrated sway control and you will see a BIG difference.

That short little Uhaul is a piece of cake lol.

 

[2003F350]

^^^^^ Not true.
The Equal-I-Zer WDH with integrated 4-Point Sway Control has everything to do with sway.
Been using it for years and it far exceeds the WDH plus Anti-sway bar/s setup that I have also used.

The Anderson WDH also incorporates anti-sway control.

See, I've tried using those 'all in one' hitches like these...and hated them. Maybe they're better suited for 1500's, but on every 3/4 or 1-ton truck I've ever owned, I couldn't keep enough weight on the bars to properly reduce trailer sway, mostly because I didn't need that much weight redistributed. Every time, I ended up going back to a standard (and cheaper) WDH with separate sway control to control the sway.

The nice part about a separate sway control, is that you can adjust it based on how much sway you need to eliminate. You can also simply (and quickly) take it off to aid in parking/tight maneuvering if necessary so the trailer isn't fighting you.

And from an engineering standpoint, separate systems are axiomatically better - you decouple the components so they are not dependent on one another. In other words, your WDH is not dependent on your sway control, and your sway control is not dependent on your WDH. Having multiple systems dependent on one another means that a failure in one inherently causes the other to fail, while independent systems generally speaking can continue functioning even if one fails.

Sorry, nerded out there.

 

[John Jensen]

See, I've tried using those 'all in one' hitches like these...and hated them. Maybe they're better suited for 1500's, but on every 3/4 or 1-ton truck I've ever owned, I couldn't keep enough weight on the bars to properly reduce trailer sway, mostly because I didn't need that much weight redistributed. Every time, I ended up going back to a standard (and cheaper) WDH with separate sway control to control the sway.

The nice part about a separate sway control, is that you can adjust it based on how much sway you need to eliminate. You can also simply (and quickly) take it off to aid in parking/tight maneuvering if necessary so the trailer isn't fighting you.

And from an engineering standpoint, separate systems are axiomatically better - you decouple the components so they are not dependent on one another. In other words, your WDH is not dependent on your sway control, and your sway control is not dependent on your WDH. Having multiple systems dependent on one another means that a failure in one inherently causes the other to fail, while independent systems generally speaking can continue functioning even if one fails.

Sorry, nerded out there.

Not nerdy, pragmatic!
I have used both systems and agree with all you said except your comments about the "all in one" types.

I tow a 30' loaded travel trailer with my 2006 Ford F350 diesel (soon to be my 2020 Ram 3500 HO Cummins) and the Equal-I-Zer with integrated sway control works tons better than my EasyLift with 2 sway control bars did.

My brother has gone through the same systems as me and has come to the same conclusion. He tows a very heavy 28' enclosed equipment trailer with his 2016 Ram 3500 Cummins across the United States twice a year and likewise feels the Equal-I-Zer with sway control is the best system he's ever used.

I have a son, daughters, granddaughters and nephews that also tow large travel trailers or toy haulers with 1 ton trucks and all would not be without their WDHs with integrated sway control.

You are the first person I've come across where they didn't work properly.

 

[Jim M]

That Uhaul is not a good comparison to a travel trailer. It isn't near as tall or long. After towing my TT only once in high crosswinds WITH my WDH(30+ MPH sustained with higher gusts), I would never go without it!. It was no fun and there were a couple times it started to sway but it pretty quickly was stopped by the WDH.

Same with me. It gets dicey quick. But the WDH wasn't adequate by itself for sway, the antisway was very important too. The first time I towed my TT in 30+ mph winds was bad. I had an e2 Roundbar WDH with sliding bars, steel on steel. It didn't do much at all for sway. I stopped as soon as I could and replaced it with the only hitch available, a Camco ReCurve R3 hitch. The ReCurve has a ball that pivots behind a drum coated with brake-lining material. The combination of the swinging ball and the friction in the drum were a major improvement. If I'd had more choices on a late Saturday afternoon 100 miles from home, I probably would have bought an Equalizer ($$) or a Hensley Arrow ($$$). But after towing 5000 miles through the Rockies, I'm pretty satisfied with the ReCurve.

When I bought the TT, I had a Ram 3500 so the e2 was more than adequate on that, but completely wrong for my 1500.

 

[TomB 1269]

Remember Toy Haulers are designed to counter 2% to 5% of tongue weight by loading a toy in the garage. If you do not intend to haul a toy, then do yourself a favor and load the garage with everything you plan to bring with you camping.

 

[bm02tj]

I have a Jeep TJ and tow a Tear Drop trailer and the lightest unit I could get was 3500lb
at double the price of normal hitches
I would not tow with out it just because you can does not make it right
Use a WDH

 

[Jerseybob175]

A lot of great advice is offered by our members. I did tons of research as well before I set up my trailer including reading all the posts from the experienced folks .

A great read that is easy to understand is :

https://campaddict.com/weight-distribution-hitch/


Ultimately, I went with the Anderson sway hitch system ( purchased from etrailer.com) It was more than I "wanted to pay", but recognized the price of my truck and trailer ( not to mention my life and the families) made it worth it. Not only for the quality, but the reputation.
I hope the link helps with understanding towing and the videos also are great for visual understanding.

 

[Hankrebel]

I've been reading dozens of the posts and threads in here regarding towing, WDH and air bags. We just bought our first TT. A 2016 Forest Rover Grey Wolf 26dbh.
The dry weight lists at 5,795 lbs. and hitch weight of 725 lbs. The TT came with a WDH but I don't know the rating yet as its with the TT and we're picking it up today.
I have a friend with a 2500 picking it up for me as I have never towed one before and I want to make sure my 1500 and the WDH is sufficient.
I have a 2015 1500 Lonestar with 8 speed and 3.21 gears. Dodge official says this will tow up to 8,400 lbs.

Say the WDH is rated for 10,000, will this be a good setup for my 1500?
I'm a little confused on using a commercial scale to get the most accurate numbers.
Will a Love's or Flying J let you use their scales?
Am supposed to weigh the truck with the trailer and then without?

 

[crash68]

Say the WDH is rated for 10,000, will this be a good setup for my 1500?
I'm a little confused on using a commercial scale to get the most accurate numbers.
Will a Love's or Flying J let you use their scales?
Am supposed to weigh the truck with the trailer and then without?

You want the WDH bars to be rated for about what the trailer weight is or just above, what you will probably be fine. By the time you get the trailer loaded up the actual weight will probably be in the 7500-8000 lbs range, check to see what the trailer GVWR is(This is the actual trailer axle and tongue weight combined).
It will cost you a a couple of $ but yes you can use the scales at truck stops. You want to weigh the truck and then the truck and trailer as you would have it loaded for camping to get accurate weights for setting the WDH and calculating tongue weight.

 

[Loudram]

On the surface you should be ok. You will also be fine with the 10k hitch. I wouldn't go any bigger on the hitch. The dry weight is your starting weight. Once you add all your stuff you'll have the actual towing weight also known as wet weight. The only difference between your truck with the 8k rating and one like mine with the 10k rating is the gears. It's the same frame, brakes, tranny, everything.

The weak point with our trucks is payload. Watch your tongue weight. Your tongue weight, cargo, hitch weight all count against your payload ratings. If you added a bed liner, step bars, or anything like that, it will also count against your payload. It adds up quick. Get to know your weights, what they are and what they mean. It'll make for a better tow

Congrats and have fun camping.

 

[jejb]

'm a little confused on using a commercial scale to get the most accurate numbers.
Will a Love's or Flying J let you use their scales?
Am supposed to weigh the truck with the trailer and then without?

Call ahead and make sure they have a scale with at least 3 sections. Then drive on so that the trailer axles are on the rearmost pad, hitch jack is on the middle one. Then detach the trailer and drive the truck on to the most forward pad. That way you get the real weight of each. I did that a couple of weeks ago on a CAT scale. Cost was about $15.

 

[Hankrebel]

I went by the camper last night to check on the WDH. The good news is the bars are rated for 10K and the sway bar is there as well.
The bad news is I went by Loves truck on my way to work this morning. They have scales but only 1 pad.
With that in mind, would I weigh the truck with the trailer attached and only the truck on the scale?
That should give me the payload weight correct?

 

[crash68]

I went by the camper last night to check on the WDH. The good news is the bars are rated for 10K and the sway bar is there as well.
The bad news is I went by Loves truck on my way to work this morning. They have scales but only 1 pad.
With that in mind, would I weigh the truck with the trailer attached and only the truck on the scale?
That should give me the payload weight correct?

With a WDH that uses torsion bars ideally you want them rated for what the trailer weighs or slightly above, 10K will be fine for your trailer. Having bars rates to heavy can cause adjustment problems.
As for the scale, you want to weigh each axle on the truck separately (front/rear) and trailer (both axles) to determine where the weigh is and how to adjust the WDH. Get a weight of the truck without the trailer attached then with the trailer attached.

 

[jejb]

I went by the camper last night to check on the WDH. The good news is the bars are rated for 10K and the sway bar is there as well.
The bad news is I went by Loves truck on my way to work this morning. They have scales but only 1 pad.
With that in mind, would I weigh the truck with the trailer attached and only the truck on the scale?
That should give me the payload weight correct?

Do you have any other truck stops within a reasonable distance? I'd want to know the weight at the tongue. Pretty important number for making sure you have the right WD hitch.