Close to our next travel trailer purchase decision.
I am not too familiar with WD hitch "theory" as we did not need one on our last camper/truck combo.
The max tongue weight on our current Tow Veh. is 450 lbs. The Dry hitch weight on one of the campers we are considering is 342, which means by the time you add propane, battery, the WD hitch itself, plus any weight contributed by "stuff" in the camper we will be at, if not over the max tongue weight.
Does a WD hitch set-up eliminate/relieve some of the tongue weight on the receiver? Or does it not work like that and all of that tongue weight will still be on the receiver/hitch.
If you are going to be over the tongue weight YOU ARE GOING TO BE OVER THE TONGUE WEIGHT. A weight distribution hitch does not reduce that number. All it does is transfer some of the weight that was on the rear end to the front end. You will still be over. And if that is the case, this is NOT a good match.
Donn,Lorri,Max (The Rescued Lab)
Resident Know It All
By transfering weight, that means that if say your rear axle weight is 3000lbs w/o WD. Then with a WD you may be 2800lbs. But your still carrying the full TW on the reciever. It just changes the weight on the axles.
The weight that manufacturers use when specifying WD capacity is the actual DEAD weight of the tongue. No "magic tricks," just a scale under the ball socket. Whatever that scale says counts against the rating.
Why? Because there's really no easy way to know how much weight is "transferred" without actually weighing it. 99% of RV rigs will never be in the same parking lot with a scale, let alone be driven across one, so they had to make it simple.
2002 Chevy 3500 DRW 8.1L/Allison
2000 Palomino B1500
...and the reason why I need a DRW to haul a Palomino:
2004 United 7x14 tandem axle enclosed toy trailer
2011 PJ 8x20 7-ton deckover equipment trailer
goducks10 wrote: By transfering weight, that means that if say your rear axle weight is 3000lbs w/o WD. Then with a WD you may be 2800lbs. But your still carrying the full TW on the reciever. It just changes the weight on the axles.
Based on the excellent info in the referenced thread a few posts up, and from pondering this question myself, I disagree. The 200 pound difference you mention has been removed from the TV and transferred to the TT axles. The receiver load has been reduced by the 200 lbs, this is why a tow vehicle will have two different max tongue load ratings based on the use of a WDH or not. It is also true that the tongue weight of the trailer did not change, but location of the reactive forces counteracting the tongue weight has changed to now include 200 lbs transferred off of the receiver and onto the TT axles. The full tongue weight is still pushing down, but now the weight distribution hitch is causing a 200 lb force upwards at the same location. The sum of these forces that the receiver sees is tongue weight - 200 lbs. These 200 lbs are now realized at the TT axles to balance the sum of forces to zero.
I'll be happy to be proved wrong, but this is the way I understand it after reading through the thread referenced above (many many times!).
mkirsch wrote: Why? Because there's really no easy way to know how much weight is "transferred" without actually weighing it.
That is one of the problems I was envisioning. How do you know how much weight has been taken off the receiver with a WDH if you can't weigh the tongue due to it being hooked up to the vehicle. Take it off the vehicle, and no more weight distribution....
* This post was
edited 04/06/12 10:10pm by Newbiecampers *
Ron Gratz wrote: If the "Dry hitch weight" to which you refer is taken from a sticker on the trailer,
it already includes weight of propane and probably a battery.
The trailer's tongue weight does not include the weight of the WDH.
The WDH should be included as part of the weight of the TV.
However, unless someone can provide a definitive statement from a TV manufacturer,
I think we must assume that when the receiver label says "Tongue Weight",
it means the actual tongue weight and not the reduced amount which is applied to the receiver.
Ron
The dry hitch weight figure is coming from the manufacturer's website, which unfortunately does not have any "fine print" explaning what that weight includes. Don't most travel trailers come from the factory without propane tanks and batteries (installed at dealer)? I was also assuming that "dry" implied no propane or battery. Not sure what would entail being a "wet" weight. If the figure did include those items, my problem is basically solved.
Your last statement is the "devil in the details." The Ford towing guide for my 2009 year shows some models with two receiver weights: one with, and one without WDH. Mine (Ford Flex) only shows one weight of 450.
I don't know what I don't know about WDH, so I thought there was a chance that some weight would be removed from the receiver with a WDH.
To ease minds: I'm aware of the hazards and not going to push anything. I don't even want the weight to be within 50-75 pounds of the max.
I would call the manufacturer about what is included in the dry hitch weight but they aren't exactly stellar on answering phone calls or returning messages.....(imagine that)
Yet another EDIT: just went back to the manufacture website and the model in question actually says Hitch weight, not "dry" hitch weight. More confused now.....
* This post was
edited 04/06/12 10:07pm by Newbiecampers *
Newbiecampers wrote: The max tongue weight on our current Tow Veh. is 450 lbs. The Dry hitch weight on one of the campers we are considering is 342, which means by the time you add propane, battery, the WD hitch itself, plus any weight contributed by "stuff" in the camper we will be at, if not over the max tongue weight.
If the "Dry hitch weight" to which you refer is taken from a sticker on the trailer,
it already includes weight of propane and probably a battery.
The trailer's tongue weight does not include the weight of the WDH.
The WDH should be included as part of the weight of the TV.
Quote: Does a WD hitch set-up eliminate/relieve some of the tongue weight on the receiver?---
Yes, the WDH transfers some of the TW to the trailer's axles.
The load on the receiver is reduced by that amount.
With WD, the trailer-induced vertical load applied to the receiver is equal to about 75% of the tongue weight.
However, unless someone can provide a definitive statement from a TV manufacturer,
I think we must assume that when the receiver label says "Tongue Weight",
it means the actual tongue weight and not the reduced amount which is applied to the receiver.
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