Quahog wrote: Looking for advice. I picked up a used Reese Dual-Cam hitch yesterday. Shank and ball mount are rated at 12000# and so are the cams but the bars say 1700/17000# on them. Is there a risk or downside of running with heavier bars than what the other components are rated at?
Hi Quahog,
Is this your camper? 2010 Jayflight 22FB? I looked it up here.
I have the 1,700# WD bars and I have them on purpose. 1,400# tongue weight plus bed weight aft of the rear truck axle. Plus when I bought them they did not offer the 1,500# WD bars.
The Reese trunnion bar weight ratings are:
600#
800#
1,200#
1,500#
1,700#
And they all work with the newer HP trunnion bar hitch head.
For a TT of the size you have the 1,700# bars are too big in my opinion. Not a little to but but a lot a too big. Could be close to 100% too big.
If you use them and hit one real bad bump fast where the truck drops in a hole and you bounce hard, that impact with those heavy a bars have the potential to do damage. The TT A frame and the truck receiver. A back flex in the hitch coming off a high up RR track is not good either.
They will only work with the 2 1/2" Tow Beast hitch shank so you will need the new heavy shank plus a truck with a receiver to handle it. You are into a high rated 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck at this point along with a TT a lot bigger. In the 10,000# GVWR or larger range.
You can buy the smaller bars, I would weigh it first since you have some kind of hitch to get to the scales. Then based on a loaded weight slip, buy the correct bar. The best ride is actually when the loaded tongue weight is equal to the WD bar rating.
Hope this helps and good luck
John
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver
2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
(I wish we were camping!)
Yes, that is the trailer I presently have. Your suggestion to weigh it using the current hitch will yield the most accurate weight readings from which I can make the best bar choice. It'll probably be 800 lb bars but I will hold off and get it to a scale to be sure. Thanks for all the input folks... I do appreciate it.
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Mike, Sue, and Buddy
2012 Ford F-150 XLT SuperCrew, EcoBoost, HD Payload/Max Towing
2010 JayFlight 22FB, Reese HP DC, Honda EU2000i
Quahog wrote: Following the method prescribed by afob3, I weighed the trailer's tongue rate at 600.6 lbs. This is pretty darn close to what I thought...
I also contacted eTrailer and they were very helpful with part numbers, etc. so now I have two 800 lb spring bars on order.
Thanks everyone for all the good advice and help!
Quahog,
Good for you!! Scales tell all. Once armed with real world data one can make the right decisions and feel good about them.
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