How far would you feel comfortable traveling with this setup? (pictures)

[Gordon Carpenter]

While you are thinking about tires: I would look into trailer tires also. There are 2 things many RVers seem to be unaware of. First, many trailers come from the factory with tires that are very near overload. So check your loaded axel weights against the tire ratings. Second, all the trailer service tires that I have seen have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.

 

[Willie Mosher]

I have a 2500 Gas w camp trailer load Up about
5200 Lbs, Tow lot about 8000 miles a
Year, But today 1/2 are rating to tow as
High as some old 3/4 ton, so a guy owes
1500 w 3.21 , Definitely not the idea set up. He can tow his 8500 lbs trailer.
Okay best keep under 65 mph. It safe ,
Keep eye all tires, made sure do all your
Sevice. Some Chevy Colorado Ford Rangers Toyota Tacoma‘s rate to pull 7000 lbs, an Volkswagen pull trailer today,
we see you out somewhere, Willie.

 

[breal201999]

A one day, 2nd trip, and probably last weekend for us this year. Love this spot! Cape Fair, Missouri

 

[OrganizedChaos]

There are some really nice crappie in that area. Have fun!

 

[RaptorHD]

You didn't watch the video, did you? You feel content to just bang on about something that is clearly incorrect and contradicted by the manufacturer themselves?

It's a WDH that has sway control built in.

If you still believe that the sway control comes from friction in a weight distribution switch--I cannot help you, You obviously know nothing about hauling. If you truly do go to the Manufacturers website, its clearly spelled out. The distribution of weight and leveling of both vehicles keep it from swaying, friction as you put it could control minor swaying if they were not level but is negated when its all level.

The point is, get a standard hitch, level both vehicles (truck and trailer) then run down the road, go across the planet if you like, you should not experience the sway.
Millions of trucks with trailers on the road that have no "friction hitches", never seen them sway, neither have any of the engineers that designed the hitches seen them sway--why? Well those trucks are tractor trailers, they are level--imagine? You will argue its different-its not! no matter how or at which point on the vehicle you hook up to, if they are not level you will get the same effect.

Point is you are arguing at best, a secondary effect of a hitch that primarily controls the sway by distributing the weight..

 

[ramffml]

If you still believe that the sway control comes from friction in a weight distribution switch--I cannot help you, You obviously know nothing about hauling. If you truly do go to the Manufacturers website, its clearly spelled out. The distribution of weight and leveling of both vehicles keep it from swaying, friction as you put it could control minor swaying if they were not level but is negated when its all level.

The point is, get a standard hitch, level both vehicles (truck and trailer) then run down the road, go across the planet if you like, you should not experience the sway.
Millions of trucks with trailers on the road that have no "friction hitches", never seen them sway, neither have any of the engineers that designed the hitches seen them sway--why? Well those trucks are tractor trailers, they are level--imagine? You will argue its different-its not! no matter how or at which point on the vehicle you hook up to, if they are not level you will get the same effect.

Point is you are arguing at best, a secondary effect of a hitch that primarily controls the sway by distributing the weight..

Nobody is arguing whether an improperly WDH setup will affect sway. We're simply telling you that the Husky Centerline also has sway control built in, yes, via friction. There are aftermarket sway control bars which work via friction, some better than others, so I'm not sure why you bring this up like it's some sort of impossibility. These mount onto any WDH and the friction makes it harder for the trailer to pivot on the hitch.

Such as this one:
https://genyhitch.com/product/sway-control-arm/

Husky also makes a chain style hitch, the difference here is that there is no sway control built into the hitch, whereas both the brackets on the bars of the centerline, as well as the hitch head itself are designed to be "hard to turn", using friction.

 

[RaptorHD]

Nobody is arguing whether an improperly WDH setup will affect sway. We're simply telling you that the Husky Centerline also has sway control built in, yes, via friction. There are aftermarket sway control bars which work via friction, some better than others, so I'm not sure why you bring this up like it's some sort of impossibility. These mount onto any WDH and the friction makes it harder for the trailer to pivot on the hitch.

Such as this one:
https://genyhitch.com/product/sway-control-arm/

Husky also makes a chain style hitch, the difference here is that there is no sway control built into the hitch, whereas both the brackets on the bars of the centerline, as well as the hitch head itself are designed to be "hard to turn", using friction.

LOL....

 

[dhay13]

Guess he better call Husky and tell their engineers they are wrong. And all those using their WDHs are wrong too

 

[RaptorHD]

Guess he better call Husky and tell their engineers they are wrong. And all those using their WDHs are wrong too

Wow, you just don't friggin get it do you.. The weight distribution hitch controls sway--that is what it does. Just because they add all that marketing hype for their hitch (which is no different than any other) to get you to buy it.. Do you really think that the friction that hitch provides will make any difference? Assume the trailer is grossly loaded, the tongue of the trailer is pointing down, the front of the truck pointing up, now hook up the hitch without leveling it and rely only on the friction--News flash, you will have sway issues!! Its all about the mass of both objects compared to the friction applied onto two little points of the hitch..

Your the kind of guy that would buy a Tesla and proudly tout the cars has "zero" emissions, completely ignoring the coal fired plants that charge that car and think nothing of the ecological disaster when the battery goes bad and they have to dispose of all those heavy metals etc.

Yeah, ignorance at best.

 

[RaptorHD]

Nobody is arguing whether an improperly WDH setup will affect sway. We're simply telling you that the Husky Centerline also has sway control built in, yes, via friction. There are aftermarket sway control bars which work via friction, some better than others, so I'm not sure why you bring this up like it's some sort of impossibility. These mount onto any WDH and the friction makes it harder for the trailer to pivot on the hitch.

Such as this one:
https://genyhitch.com/product/sway-control-arm/

Husky also makes a chain style hitch, the difference here is that there is no sway control built into the hitch, whereas both the brackets on the bars of the centerline, as well as the hitch head itself are designed to be "hard to turn", using friction.

Again, you are wrong.. The friction your speaking of in not static friction, its kinetic friction applied to the hitch--so, as the mass increases the the felt friction decreases, surely you must understand that simple physics application? Then if you did you would not be saying what you are implying, Basically, a weight distribution hitch REALLY controls the sway by leveling both vehicles, not by friction...PERIOD! you cannot change the laws of physics. I agree the husky hitch controls sway, but truly its not by friction, its by weight distribution and the leveling of the loads. anything else is marketing hype to sell their hitch over another--really!

 

[ramffml]

Again, you are wrong.. The friction your speaking of in not static friction, its kinetic friction applied to the hitch--so, as the mass increases the the felt friction decreases, surely you must understand that simple physics application? Then if you did you would not be saying what you are implying, Basically, a weight distribution hitch REALLY controls the sway by leveling both vehicles, not by friction...PERIOD! you cannot change the laws of physics. I agree the husky hitch controls sway, but truly its not by friction, its by weight distribution and the leveling of the loads. anything else is marketing hype to sell their hitch over another--really!

You're beyond help. I even linked to an example (dedicated) sway control bar with friction, which is exactly the same principle the husky uses.

These types of sway control hitches are a benefit when the trailer is getting tossed around in the wind, pivoting on the hitch, and then forcing the back end of the truck around. The friction of the hitch prevents the pivot from occurring as much as possible (obviously it can still turn).

The hensely stinger takes this concept to the max, moving the pivot point to over the rear axel just like a 5th wheel. When you drive with the stinger, wind induced sway is never an issue anymore. That's not because these guys are somehow setting up the WDH differently, it's because the stinger 100% prevents the trailer from pivoting.

But keep on banging away on this if you like, you're one of those guys who just can't admit he's wrong. Stubborn ___

 

[392DevilDog]

Both sides are saying it reduces sway. Interesting.

 

[dhay13]

Both sides are saying it reduces sway. Interesting.

Funny thing is RaptorHD started out saying it does not control sway. Now he is changing his tune to agree that it does help to control sway. So for decades WDH companies have been falsely marketing sway control and nobody has caught on except him?

 

[ramffml]

My brother uses a WDH with just chains. It has no sway control whatsoever, trailer sways in the wind. So he puts on one of those friction sway bars (like the one I linked to several posts ago, but different brand, same idea) and lo and behold, no more sway.

But it's just a figment of his imagination I guess. The mighty raptorHD has spoken, all kneel.

 

[dhay13]

I took the time to type up a long post but decided it isn't worth it. RaptorHD has stooped to name calling and I'm not going to stoop to that level so if he feels he is smarter than everyone else then so be it. I agree that a properly loaded trailer will sway less but sway is not eliminated so sway control helps minimize the rest

 

[Skrap]

My wife and I have been looking high and low for a right fit for our truck. I know we're toward the top end on the scale, and everything is purchased, so no going back now... having said that, what type of trip would you feel comfortable doing with this setup? Two adults, and two pre-teens.

2016 Ram 1500, 3.21 gears, crew cab, 5.7 Hemi.

2018 Coleman Lantern 274bh.
28.58 feet in length
Dry weight 4676 + Payload Capacity 2924 = GCWR 7600
Hitch Weight 568

I have added a Husky 32218 Center Line TS weight distribution bar.

Knowing all this, and being my first time hauling something this size... is this setup capable of cross country traveling into the mountains? Or is this really more of a setup for 200-300 mile local camp sites?

The best part, everything is paid for! Upgrading to a bigger truck isn't an option for me, because we have the MOPAR lifetime warranty... so I'm invested in this truck and don't plan to replace it.

What say you? And thanks for the opinions!
View attachment 223266
View attachment 223267

I read the first couple pages and replied. Here are my thoughts. Your trailer is 4676 lbs, roughly. It shows your Payload for the trailer ot be 2924#. Couple things; that seems like an unusually large payload number considering the size of the trailer. Even with a long vacation and tanks full and loaded up that you would have a difficult time loading your trailer with nearly 3000# of gear. Just don't see it. Thoses are 5th wheel toyhauler carrying capaciites righ there.

Second point is that you say a long range, cross country vacation. This may be the case but are you really probably only gion to be traveling 200-400 miles per segment and then at an RV park for a couple days, is my guess. So there is really no differenece in going on a 300 mile vacation or a cross country vacation because your actual miles per day would probably be the same.

Lots of good info from members but sometimes you have to weed through the craziness.

 

[RaptorHD]

Funny thing is RaptorHD started out saying it does not control sway. Now he is changing his tune to agree that it does help to control sway. So for decades WDH companies have been falsely marketing sway control and nobody has caught on except him?

I never said it did not control sway, (reading comprehension is a great thing) I did say that wiegfht distribution and keeping the trailerand towing vehicle level does!---GEE!

 

[MADDOG]

Gentlemen, keep it civil. I've cleaned up this thread.

If the bickering re-commences I will close the thread and levy some warnings regarding keeping to the rules here at RamForum.

 

[dhay13]

Gentlemen, keep it civil. I've cleaned up this thread.

If the bickering re-commences I will close the thread and levy some warnings regarding keeping to the rules here at RamForum.

And that's why I bowed out. RaptorHD resorted to name calling and I knew it was going to go downhill from there

 

[GsRAM]

Gentlemen, keep it civil. I've cleaned up this thread.

If the bickering re-commences I will close the thread and levy some warnings regarding keeping to the rules here at RamForum.

Thanks Sir.