Alternating tow vehicle with same travel trailer

[9c1fanatic]

Good evening, This forum has been such a blessing and wealth of information.  I thank you all that provided insight on my previous (and first) post about towing my new TT with an older manual transmission half ton truck.  I have since taken the maiden voyage and the truck does quite well.  As previously stated in my other thread, I am keeping my trips close to home with this truck for a few reasons.

I have since planned a trip to my favorite destination in west Texas, the Davis Mountains which is about 450 miles away through some very sparely populated areas of the state.  I have commissioned the use of a family members 2005 Dodge Ram CC long bed 2WD 5.9L 6Speed truck.  I have researched this vehicles various weight ratings and to no surprise of mine, it gives plenty more wiggle room than my old half ton, even with the bed topper that it has.  This will provide a safer and more economical trip.

My question is, knowing my half ton WD hitch was set up by the dealer and double checked by me to be towing basically level, would the proper way to hitch to the different truck be,

to measure the height of trailer hitch on level ground when hooked up to my half ton with WD engaged and then adjust the hitch accordingly on the Dodge 2500 to get the trailer hitch at the same measurement as it was behind my half ton taking into account the 2500 may squat less?  Once the hitch ball height is set correctly, should my WD bars engage the same or will they need to be re-adjusted also?  And on that note, since this is a bigger truck is there any concern of the WD being too tight and not placing enough weight on the truck?

Despite being hooked up to more capable truck, I still do not plan to throw a bunch more weight in the trailer than what I normally do with the 1500.

 

[SpencerPJ]

So, I looked at a previous thread, looks like you are pulling a 6000# trailer, so yes, I would re-adjust the WDH.  What kind of WDH do you have?  There are videos on how to properly set-up each type of WDH.  More than likely, the 2500 will sit higher and have a firmer stance than the 1500.  I guess first thing I would do is measure the difference in ball height.  If it's fairly close (2-3" max), I'd go ahead and connect trailer.  Put it on level ground, stand back and look at it from a distance, throw a level on the front tongue of the trailer.  It needs to be pretty level. If the front of the trailer is too high, you will start getting towing issues and trailer sway, even with that 2500.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The procedure is pretty much what you surmise.  The 3/4 ton truck may not even notice a mere 600 lbs of tongue weight, so there shouldn't be much squat. You should not need as much tension on the spring bars of the WD either.  Get the ball mount somewhere near level-trailer height and set the WD bar tension as needed.

 

[9c1fanatic]

At the risk of being embarrassed, might I ask if I even need the WD bars engaged when pulling this trailer with the 2500?  This truck has about 2100 lbs of remaining payload which includes the weight of the camper bed topper.  This particular hitch was thrown into the deal by the dealer and does not have the third (anti-sway) bar so I assume it has no sway control capabilities.

 

[kdbgoat]

You probably won't need it. I could have pulled my old trailer with my F-250 without it. I ran my WDH for two reasons. One-I already owned it. Two- being it was a dual cam, I figured it would help with any gusting cross winds that came along. The few times I pulled without it, I didn't notice much difference. I could barely load the spring arms without returning too much weight to the front axle.

 

[SpencerPJ]

One way to find out  : : :

I agree with kdbgoat, you probably won't need a WDH.  sway control is nice for sure  
If you elect to try without WDH, and you need to buy another ball mount to connect to the 2500 receiver, pay attention to weight capacities.  Many of them are only good for 5000#.  Your family member might have the ball mount, but their should be a weight capacity stamped on it.  I pulled a 5200# trailer with a 1500 YukonXL, 250 miles once without WDH, and wasn't that bad, I did get a WDH though   

 

[9c1fanatic]

That makes complete sense.  I was just going to use the shank and ball that came with my WDH (as it is adjustable to get the correct height) and just not install/engage the WD bars.

 

[IBTripping]

Glad that your old 1/2 ton worked for you for local trips. Towing with the 2500 should be a breeze. Enjoy the trip.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I'm of the opposite opinion of most of the other posters. If you have a WD hitch, use it. First, the amount of tension on the WD bars shouldn't appreciably change from one truck to the next.  You aren't correcting rear end squat, you're transfering weight forward from the hitch over the truck's rear axle pivot to the front axle.

If the wheelbase and rear overhang are the same between both trucks, the weight distribution properties of the hitch won't change.  If you have to adjust the equalizing arms, you want the ride height at the truck's front wheels to be the same as when the truck is unloaded.  This ensures the hitch is transferring the proper amount of weight forward.

As far as towing without equalizing bars, even though the rear of the larger truck doesn't squat as much,  you're still removing weight from the front axle if you don't use an equalizing hitch.  The front axle is what gives you steering control and is what provides the majority of braking traction in a panic stop.

I have a Ford F350 I use to tow a 29 ft. Sunnybrook trailer with a little more hitch weight than yours and a stiffer rear suspension than the F250.  I can definitely feel the difference if the equalizing arms aren't properly adjusted even though the truck doesn't noticeably squat without them and I'm nowhere near the truck's rear axle weight limit.

The other thing is your hitch head isn't designed work without the equalizing arms.  Normally the arms are pushing the top of the hitch head forward, towards the shank.  A deadweight hitch is pulling the ball in the opposite direction, away from the shank.

 

[grashley]

WARNING  Towing with the 2500 may cause a bad case of new truck fever! :-[

I agree with Lou.  Towing with a straight, non WD receiver would probably work fine, but since you have, use it.  Set it up as you would if it were a new trailer.  Make life even better!

Glad to know the old reliable has been working well!

 

[Gizmo100]

I have to agree with using the WD on the 2nd truck as well for the reasons listed.

However I'm also going to throw in another reason.

I had to zoom in on your picture to make sure.

It appears that the WD hitch uses spring bars to transfer the weight. I believe the also provides your anti sway control. You may not need it with the heavier truck but if you already have it I would recommend using it.

 

[kdbgoat]

I still say try it first. If you need it, you got it.

 

[9c1fanatic]

You are correct that it has the spring bars and not the chains.  The 2500 is significantly longer wheelbase than the 1500 Chevy.  So the adjustment on my WD hitch is made by moving the brackets up and down on the frame of the trailer.  Would this mean, likely, that I would need to adjust the brackets down from their current position with the half ton?  I might should post a picture of the WD hitch.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It would help if you identified the brand of WD.  On most, it's not hard to increase or decrease the amount of spring pressure being applied, but models like the Equal-I-Zer take more effort.

You aren't correcting rear end squat, you're transfering weight forward from the hitch over the truck's rear axle pivot to the front axle.

But the reason for transferring weight forward is to better balance the load on the tow vehicle suspension, i.e. spreading it over two axles.  Most 2500's have enough cargo capacity that a mere 600 lbs of tongue weight just brings the suspension to a neutral position.

 

[9c1fanatic]

I checked.  It is an Equalizer hitch so it does have some sway control built in and I now understand how the system works without having the third bar mount like other DW hitches with sway control.  Makes sense now.  I will use the hitch with the sway control bars engaged.  I will try it as it first and then measure but I really think as it is set now with my 1500, it will be too tight on the 2500 so I bet I will have to lower the brackets a notch or two.