Weight Distribution Hitch question

WA

WanderingNomad

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2024
Posts
10
Location
Kenton, DE, USA
I’m still rather new, having had a 27' Thor Tahoe Lighthauler 23F toyhauler for 2 years, going back and forth between north in summer and south in winter. Having received outstanding help with a previous post, I thought I’d ask you experienced folks about a perplexity I’m experiencing with a new toy hauler.

My question relates to the weight distribution hitch. I have done a lot of searching on this forum about this, and my head is nearly spinning.

My truck is a Ford F250.

Tuesday the 29th, I’m supposed to pick up a new Forest River Work & Play 30GS toy hauler, 37' long. It is the same as the Coachmen Adrenaline 30GS. I bought it at the Hershey RV show this fall.

Here are the specs from the brochure:
Shipping weight (lbs): 8974
Carrying capacity (lbs): 3466
UVW: 9033
GVWR: 12,500
“Hitch Height”: 1438 (perhaps this is a misprint and should be hitch weight?)

I will mention that I got a toy hauler because I need the garage space, not for “toys” but for my office along one side (4 two-drawer file cabinets with extended countertop for a desk, with printer, copier, computer), and along the other side is an exercise machine weighing 405 lbs. It’s a ROM machine: ROM 4 Minute Workout Crosstrainer Time Machiner | Fitness Superstore
So the heaviest part of my load will be in the garage. Of course there is propane, and some water. The rest of the stuff in the load will be much lighter, clothes and stuff in the fridge, etc. I don’t think I’ll be anywhere near the 3466 lb carrying capacity.

When I called the dealership about a weight distribution hitch I was referred to the parts department. He seemed unable to recommend which hitch is appropriate for this model. He said they had 3 models of Equalizer E2 round bar hitches and sent me a link to it on the manufacturer’s site, though I don’t know which three models. Then for heavier travel trailers they have a Blue Ox that handles up to 12,000 # GVWR. That is the only model of Blue Ox that was mentioned. I just e-mailed asking whether they have other Blue Ox models, too.

I was told that when I go to pick it up, they would be installing the WD hitch while they are giving me the explanatory walk-through or whatever you call it. When I questioned whether it shouldn’t rather be installed once the toy hauler is loaded, I was told they always install them empty. But I was told that if I’d rather come back and have it installed after it is loaded I could. (The dealer is a half hour/27 mile drive from my home.) Then I read elsewhere on this forum that dealers almost never install them correctly. :(

From what I’ve read, it sounds like Equalizer is tedious to get adjusted right, plus you have to be careful to get the right one, because if you get the wrong one, you have to replace nearly the whole thing. In contrast, it sounds like with Blue Ox you have an easier installation, and the spring bars interchange for different weights of campers.

On my much smaller first toy hauler (used) it came with a Curt WD hitch rated for 14,000 lbs and 1400 lb max tongue wt. Also included was a Curt sway bar. I wonder now whether that was overkill for 7700 lb GVWR. But I was new and dumb, hooked it up and adjusted the chains as tight as I could, and thankfully all went well.

So I’m wondering what to do.
Should I wait to let them install the WD hitch until the toy hauler is loaded, or let them install it empty?
Should I try to figure out how much my stuff will weigh so I know which WD hitch to get, then adjust it myself once loaded? (Something that I’ve never done which looks daunting.)
Or am I over-thinking this?

Thanks in advance for all your advice
 
The elephant in the room is weight balance of the trailer when loaded as you stated. The weight balance should be 60/40, 60% in front of trailer axles. This should result in a tongue weight of a minimum of 10-12%/maximum 15% of total trailer weight.
This means an equalizing hitch cannot be properly set-up with an empty trailer.
BTW, this is the most complete and accurate article for How to properly set-up an weight-distributing hitch I've ever read.
To go along with that article, consider the advice in these links:
 
Ray,

I found the set-up article in one of your other posts. I copied and pasted it, including illustrations, to print out. It is 11 pages!

I've copied the other two web pages as well. Looks like I have some homework to do.

I have since learned that this dealer only stocks the one Blue Ox WD hitch that handles up to 12,000 # GVWR, which includes the sway bar. For lower-rated WD hitches they only carry Equalizer, no other brands.

My head is still nearly spinning....
 
WanderingNomad said:
Ray,

I found the set-up article in one of your other posts. I copied and pasted it, including illustrations, to print out. It is 11 pages!

I've copied the other two web pages as well. Looks like I have some homework to do.

I have since learned that this dealer only stocks the one Blue Ox WD hitch that handles up to 12,000 # GVWR, which includes the sway bar. For lower-rated WD hitches they only carry Equalizer, no other brands.

My head is still nearly spinning....
Click to expand...
Equalizer makes a 14000 and 16,000 lb hitch.
1730156623543.png
 
When I hard a pull behind, my hitch was a couple thousand pounds over what was needed to insure it could handle the trailer without wearing out to fast. As posted above, you won’t get a good level setup with an empty trailer. Have learned dealers suck at setting these up properly. Get the right one either from them or on your own, load up the RV, then set it up on a level driveway. If your driveway isn’t level, find a large parking lot in your area that’s level. As time goes on, you will be re adjusting. Good luck.
 
With the Equalizer, it is important to have the correct weight hitch, as it depends on friction of the bars rubbing on the frame brackets for anti-sway control. If the hitch is rated too high the bars will be too stiff and you will not be able to put enough pressure/friction on the frame brackets without over stressing the frame.

The Blue Ox (I assume the Sway Pro) uses peculiar geometry and flexing of the bars for sway control in addition to Weight Distribution. Some Blue Ox hitches are also friction hitches.

Quite frankly, for a trailer that heavy, a Reese Strait Line or Dual Cam models probably do a better job of sway control and weight distribution.

That or go all out and get a Pro Pride or Hensley hitch.

I would like to see the numbers on the truck, but I really think you do not have enough truck for a trailer that size and weight.

Diesel? Crew Cab? Long bed? Dually? Payload as listed on the door sticker? Bed topper?

Charles
 
Charles,

Truck: Gas, crew cab, short bed, single-wheel, payload 2790, no bed topper, GVWR 9600.
TT: Shipping weight 8974, Carry capacity 3466 (I will likely have less than 1000#), UVW 9033, GvWR 12,500, Hitch wt 1438.

Using the towing capacity calculator in Ray-IN's post above, to the best of our understanding, we get this result:
Under payload (2279) by 816
Acceptable GCVW. Combined weight = 19425. Under GCVWR by 2575.
 
This need not be a difficult question. Your trailer GVWR is 12,500 lb so the max tongue weight will be 10-12% of that or roughly 1250-1500 lbs. You need a WD hitch capable of handling that much weight. Since your tow vehicle is a 3/4 ton truck it will have hefty rear suspension of its own, so I would not be afraid to stay on the low end of the WD range, i.e. 1200 or so lbs. The E2 or the top-line Equal-I-Zer with a 1200 lb rating should do it, but you could choose the 1400 lb model if you want to be conservative. Other brands like Blue Ox Sway Pro or Reese Strait Line would do as well.

All WD hitches need to be adjusted for the actual loaded trailer weight, so yes it should be re-adjusted after installation. Once you have it loaded as you would for travel, you can go back to the dealer or do-it-yourself. It's not really difficult if you can turn a wrench.

Your F250 should handle a 12,500 lb travel trailer comfortably. With a 2790 lb payload, it probably wouldn't even need a WD hitch except that the hitch receiver may not be rated for a 1250 lb tongue without the WD spring bars. You should check the hitch receiver rating. It should have a weight carrying rating (no WD) and weight-distributing rating (WD required).
 
When figuring trailer weight and what you will be carrying, figure in water and propane also. Water especially can make a huge difference in trailer weight and balance. AFTER you get the trailer loaded, you will need to weigh the entire rig, road ready.

Weigh truck by itself, full fuel and loaded with whatever you will be carrying in it.

Weigh truck and trailer together with weight distribution bars disconnected.

Take the weight of the truck alone, and subtract it from the total of the entire rig weight. The result is the trailer weight.

Take the trailer's axle weight from the second weigh ticket and subtract it from the trailer weight you just calculated. This result is tongue weight.

Lastly, take the tongue weight and divide it by the trailer weight. The resulting percentage should be between 10% and 15%, preferably !3% or so.

This is a very long trailer in the bumper pull world, and a huge billboard going down the road. Anti-sway control built into most hitches can do only so much. Anti Sway comes in a couple of forms. Hitches such as the Equalizer, Blue Ox TRACK PRO, and a good many others that have bars that slide on brackets, use friction to dampen the sway of the trailer as it occurs (hopefully a well loaded and configured trailer will not be prone to much sway). Other hitches such as the Blue Ox Sway Pro, and the Reese Straight Line, and a few others are designed to force the trailer to stay straight behind the tow vehicle. At the top of this category is the Pro Pride and the Hensley hitches which use magical linkage mechanisms to literally lock the truck and trailer together. The trailer cannot by itself force the two units to get out of line with each other, however the truck CAN (as in making turns)

Charles
 
Update: My nephew and I went to pick it up this afternoon. (It's nice to have smart nephews!) Since I didn't like the WD hitches the dealer had, we drove it home without one, around 28 miles, mostly on a 4-lane highway, but also some back roads, even on rough stretch. The truck pulled it without difficulty, and trailer handled quite well, thankfully.

I had done some measuring of the truck's wheel well fenders last night. After the trailer was hitched, without a WD hitch, the front went up 1/2", but the back is down 3 1/2".

I weighed the truck with just me in it and a 3/4 tank of gas. I intend to do some weighing in the morning, truck, both, and hopefully just the trailer, which is empty. Then I'll repeat it once it is loaded, which may not be for several days as a shop will be setting up my office in the back.

I thank all of you for you responses!

Les
 
Gary,

You wrote, "a 1200 lb rating should do it, but you could choose the 1400 lb model if you want to be conservative."

Does this mean that it is quite ok to have a higher weight rated WD hitch?

I have been considering the Blue Ox Pro Sway.

Thanks for your help.

Les
 
Les, I pulled a 9,000-ish lb trailer for 7 years using a 1,400/14,000 lb Equal-i-zer hitch with no negative effects. I went with the higher rating since that trailer had an 11,000 GVWR so (1) I wanted to be safe if I was loaded up and (2) I wanted to future proof (but then ended up getting a 5th wheel next, LOL).
 
Hi hope you are well i have a question regarding a tow hitch weight distribution system and swaybar.
I just bought a small Keystone Springdale Mini RV.
I would say weight is 5000LBS. My tow vehicle is a 2020 F150 XLT 5LV8. I am looking at getting a hitch as mentioned but what is the negative of going with 1500lbs weight tow hitch and not 1000LBS one? I am also looking at "VEVOR Weight Distribution Hitch, 1,500 lbs Weight Distributing Hitches Kit with Sway Control" or the "Equal-i-zer 90001200 Equalizer Hitch". What would you recommend? First time RV owner long time boat owner but dont use this hitch things on boats and find towing RV is much different! More sway and less aerodynamic.
 
JacobusS said:
Hi hope you are well i have a question regarding a tow hitch weight distribution system and swaybar.
I just bought a small Keystone Springdale Mini RV.
I would say weight is 5000LBS. My tow vehicle is a 2020 F150 XLT 5LV8. I am looking at getting a hitch as mentioned but what is the negative of going with 1500lbs weight tow hitch and not 1000LBS one? I am also looking at "VEVOR Weight Distribution Hitch, 1,500 lbs Weight Distributing Hitches Kit with Sway Control" or the "Equal-i-zer 90001200 Equalizer Hitch". What would you recommend? First time RV owner long time boat owner but dont use this hitch things on boats and find towing RV is much different! More sway and less aerodynamic.
Click to expand...
I would suggest starting a new separate thread for yourself.

WDHs are often debated endlessly...and often by people unqualified to do so... If you have a behemoth TV relative to what you are towing, it can be rightly said that you don't NEED a WDH at all. But if you go that route, your towing MPG will be much less than it could otherwise be. It can also be rightly said that even then, a WDH will still improve handling under poor road conditions and will reduce wear and tear on the TV by restoring the axle load distribution. A WDH also having anti-sway capability and which can be used when backing up is also worthwhile.

We tow our small 17' 3,500 pound max weight Casita trailer with a Honda Ridgeline and use an Andersen WDH. We went to extremes to minimize frontal surface area and associated aerodynamic drag to get 23 MPG towing performance. Being a licensed professional mechanical engineer, I also created these calculators for our trailer and WDH too for those having similar objectives who follow in our wake:



More details on all our Casita trailer modifications may be found by Googling our trailer name if interested.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"
 

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Sunnyfalls said:
I would suggest starting a new separate thread for yourself.

WDHs are often debated endlessly...and often by people unqualified to do so... If you have a behemoth TV relative to what you are towing, it can be rightly said that you don't NEED a WDH at all. But if you go that route, your towing MPG will be much less than it could otherwise be. It can also be rightly said that even then, a WDH will still improve handling under poor road conditions and will reduce wear and tear on the TV by restoring the axle load distribution. A WDH also having anti-sway capability and which can be used when backing up is also worthwhile.

We tow our small 17' 3,500 pound max weight Casita trailer with a Honda Ridgeline and use an Andersen WDH. We went to extremes to minimize frontal surface area and associated aerodynamic drag to get 23 MPG towing performance. Being a licensed professional mechanical engineer, I also created these calculators for our trailer and WDH too for those having similar objectives who follow in our wake:



More details on all our Casita trailer modifications may be found by Googling our trailer name if interested.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"
Click to expand...
Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
 
Use the trailer GVWR as the weight and estimate that the tongue (hitch) weight is 10%-12% of that. That's the weight your hitch ball will be carrying. Using your 5000 lb estimate as the example, that's 12% x 5000 = 600 lbs. Then look at the hitch receiver rating for your truck - it will say xxx lbs Weight CARRYING and yyyy lbs Weight DISTRIBUTING. If the trailer tongue weight will exceed the Weight Carrying rating, you NEED a WD hitch. If not, it's a judgement call (see sunnyfalls' reply). If the tongue weight is anywhere close to the Carrying rating, I'd go with WD.

You asked why not just use 1500 lb spring bars and be done with it. The answer is that a significantly excessive spring bar won't have much, if any, spring tension and thus won't do its job properly (especially if it's the type with built-in anti-sway action). Even 1000 lb bars are overkill for a 5000 lb trailer.. I'd suggest 600 or 800 lbs tops. Most pickup trucks, even the half-ton F150, have sufficient payload (CCC) to 500-600 lbs without suffering from rear end squat or the sensation that the trailer is steering the truck rather than vice versa.

Either one of those hitches should be fine, but I would not choose the 1500 lb model.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Use the trailer GVWR as the weight and estimate that the tongue (hitch) weight is 10%-12% of that. That's the weight your hitch ball will be carrying. Using your 5000 lb estimate as the example, that's 12% x 5000 = 600 lbs. Then look at the hitch receiver rating for your truck - it will say xxx lbs Weight CARRYING and yyyy lbs Weight DISTRIBUTING. If the trailer tongue weight will exceed the Weight Carrying rating, you NEED a WD hitch. If not, it's a judgement call (see sunnyfalls' reply). If the tongue weight is anywhere close to the Carrying rating, I'd go with WD.

You asked why not just use 1500 lb spring bars and be done with it. The answer is that a significantly excessive spring bar won't have much, if any, spring tension and thus won't do its job properly (especially if it's the type with built-in anti-sway action). Even 1000 lb bars are overkill for a 5000 lb trailer.. I'd suggest 600 or 800 lbs tops. Most pickup trucks, even the half-ton F150, have sufficient payload (CCC) to 500-600 lbs without suffering from rear end squat or the sensation that the trailer is steering the truck rather than vice versa.

Either one of those hitches should be fine, but I would not choose the 1500 lb model.
Click to expand...
Interesting--I always think bigger is better. But your explanation makes alot of sense.
SIZE MATTERS. But bigger maybe not always be better...LOL
 
The main reason the hitch makers offer the spring bars in multiple weight ratings (typically 200 lb increments) is that the spring-action that makes the bar work is linear over only a relatively narrow range. The bar doesn't transfer weight at all until enough pressure is applied to bend the bar and then the amount of weight transfer remains more-or-less linear over a limited range. It's a spring, not a pry-bar. :cautious:
 
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