Weight Distribution Hitch

[Deeuubee]

Setting up the 2017 1500 to tow. Ordered the shocks, air bags, now I need the WDH with sway control.

The hitches seem to be rated for gross weight and 10% tongue weight.

I will be towing a small toy-hauler. (6000 lb gvwr)

Of the people I've talked to, they say their TH tongue weight is around 15% when loaded.

That would put me at 900 lbs TW.

So, do I buy the WDH based on tongue weight or gvwr of the trailer.

For instance:

Do I buy a hitch rated for 10,000 / tw 1000 lbs or 6000 / tw 600 lbs.

 

[sandawilliams]

Definitely buy the 10,000

 

[OC455]

10k rated hitch...

 

[crash68]

If the trailer has a GVWR of 6K lbs, you'll want the WDH rated for that weight or slightly above. You actually don't want to have an over-rated WDH. The manufacturer should have a weight range it is ideal for. Most likely the hitch itself will be 10K rated but the spring bars will rated for closer to the trailer weight.

 

[dexter]

Setting up the 2017 1500 to tow. Ordered the shocks, air bags, now I need the WDH with sway control.

The hitches seem to be rated for gross weight and 10% tongue weight.

I will be towing a small toy-hauler. (6000 lb gvwr)

Of the people I've talked to, they say their TH tongue weight is around 15% when loaded.

That would put me at 900 lbs TW.

So, do I buy the WDH based on tongue weight or gvwr of the trailer.

For instance:

Do I buy a hitch rated for 10,000 / tw 1000 lbs or 6000 / tw 600 lbs.

Get this -
https://www.equalizerhitch.com/frequently-asked-questions

 

[dhay13]

Husky's Centerline TS has different weight rated bars. Don't know what they cost but you can buy different bars with different ratings. The RV shop set my sons up so not sure which ones he ended up with but I towed it 400 miles with my 2013 1500 and he towed it 3000 miles with his 2018 2500 with no issues

 

[Bldrinker]

My last trailer was 6500lb empty
I had the Husky centerline with 600-800bars

I towed it with a 1500 with inside the coil helper bags with 20-25psi in them.

1000lb bars are overkill but would likely work just fine.

 

[Loudram]

My trailer is in the low 7k range when loaded and I use the 10k Equalizer hitch. I love it. And you can switch the bars if you want but I use the bars it came with.

To get the best set up use the loaded weight. Not the dry weight and not the gvwr.

My trailer has a dry weight of 6500 and a gvwr of 9200. Neither weight is good to use. I use loaded weight or a close estimate. (Dry + all gear + food + 200 lbs just in case).

That's what I did last year. This year I'm getting a Haul Gauge and I have a feeling I'll going to close but we'll find out.

 

[Eclipse Aries]

I have a paltry 4500lbs travel trailer. I tried to buy the 8000lb WDH but the warehouse guy gave me the 10,000lb WDH instead. It was too far to take it back so I kept it. I have no complaints. No issues backing it up, and it's quite steady in the horrendous cross winds of the NM/TX panhandle winds. Stock springs with eibach sport struts on the 1500.

 

[Random_Walk]

Do the 10k rated hitch, because you can never have too much, but you can often wind up with not-enough.

I mean, they don't make a trailer full of toilet paper big enough that it will overload your GVWR, but if you inherit a travel trailer of unknown size from your grandparents and you absolutely have to drag it home...

 

[csuder99]

I really wish somebody would do a comparison test using the same truck, 6000 lbs trailer and hitch with different spring bars. There must be a reason manufacturers offer more than one setup.

Contrary to most Internet wisdom I believe running much stiffer bars than needed is detrimental to safety and comfort of the combination. The whole rear of the truck becomes very stiff and more likely loses traction as the rear axle unloads.

My travel trailer is 7000 lbs and I already had a 10k hitch sitting around. That worked ok with my previous 1500 but now with a 2500 it rides noticeably stiffer.

 

[duckman631]

Setting up the 2017 1500 to tow. Ordered the shocks, air bags, now I need the WDH with sway control.

The hitches seem to be rated for gross weight and 10% tongue weight.

I will be towing a small toy-hauler. (6000 lb gvwr)

Of the people I've talked to, they say their TH tongue weight is around 15% when loaded.

That would put me at 900 lbs TW.

So, do I buy the WDH based on tongue weight or gvwr of the trailer.

For instance:

Do I buy a hitch rated for 10,000 / tw 1000 lbs or 6000 / tw 600 lbs.

Just buy the 10k. Have used 2 different 10k wdh on a 4000lb and 6000lb tt. One had the bars you connect with chains and one had the friction bars. Both worked fine but with the chain connection I used a sway control bar with it.

 

[OC455]

I mean, they don't make a trailer full of toilet paper big enough that it will overload your GVWR

 

[crash68]

I really wish somebody would do a comparison test using the same truck, 6000 lbs trailer and hitch with different spring bars. There must be a reason manufacturers offer more than one setup.

Contrary to most Internet wisdom I believe running much stiffer bars than needed is detrimental to safety and comfort of the combination. The whole rear of the truck becomes very stiff and more likely loses traction as the rear axle unloads.

You pretty much answered your own question about the spring bars. Stiffer spring bars can be harder to dial in and could cause the truck/trailer to porpoise more.
The internet wisdom isn't too far off wanting to use a receiver hitch set up for a 10K-12K lbs, but the spring bars should be properly sized. That's the case with most manufacturer's WDH set ups.

 

[sandawilliams]

I really wish somebody would do a comparison test using the same truck, 6000 lbs trailer and hitch with different spring bars. There must be a reason manufacturers offer more than one setup.

Contrary to most Internet wisdom I believe running much stiffer bars than needed is detrimental to safety and comfort of the combination. The whole rear of the truck becomes very stiff and more likely loses traction as the rear axle unloads.

My travel trailer is 7000 lbs and I already had a 10k hitch sitting around. That worked ok with my previous 1500 but now with a 2500 it rides noticeably stiffer.

Why do you even use the WDH with your 2500?

 

[crash68]

Why do you even use the WDH with your 2500?

because the laws of physics applies to 2500/3500 and he's not stupid to think otherwise.

 

[RVGuy]

Another danger with too high of a rated hitch is you can actually damage the trailer frame. I've seen more than a couple trailers come in where the front a-frame is bent from the owner running the largest hitch they could find because "you can never have too much".

Generally the hitches have a 200lbs tongue weight range, if the hitch says 10k or 1000 it's generally accepted it has a recommended range of 800-1000lbs tongue. If it says 8k or 800 it's generally accepted to be 600-800 tongue.
For the trailer in question I would go with a 10k, it's close enough that it won't hurt anything.

 

[olyelr]

Why do you even use the WDH with your 2500?

Because the ass end still sags and the front end still lifts. Plus, you can gain sway control with a lot of the wd hitches too, which can be very handy even with a 2500.

To the OP, its a little tricky setting up a wd hitch when you have bags. Make sure you follow the directions closely. The thing is, when you put air in the bags and it raises the back of the truck, it essentially undoes what the wd bars were doing before the air was added. So you have to hit that happy medium.

Really, as long as your truck isnt leveled, than you should be fine with no bags. A wd hitch should get you back to level or more.

 

[sandawilliams]

because the laws of physics applies to 2500/3500 and he's not stupid to think otherwise.

You drive a little 1500 but know about towing with the 2500? You don't know much.

 

[tron67j]

Check this thread outhttps://www.ramforum.com/threads/what-determines-capacity.157141/

Also, check this video, it shows in technical details the difference between using a weight distribution hitch and airbags to "level" the truck.