WD and higher tongue weights

[blujay40]

We have a 2017 Jayco 330RSTS on order and with the published tongue weight of that trailer at 1270#, my current WD and OEM receiver can handle that. it now has me thinking about upgrading both my WD hitch as well as the OEM hitch on the truck. Right now I have a 1400# Equalizer and the truck hitch is rated at 1500# with or without WD but with a empty tongue weight of 1270 (give or take) and the trailers GVWR of 11250, I am already at 11 percent.

So by the time we get "belongings" loaded, two full 30# propane tanks and probably 2 batteries (or more if the tray can hold them) for the residential refrigerator, I can easily see where that tongue weight will most likely be pushing much closer to 15 percent and probably overweight for my current equipment. I do plan on loading the trailer when we get it and not only weighing it myself with my Sherline scale, but taking it to the CAT scales as well.

So, in the likely event that I will need to upgrade, I have been poking around on the interwebs to see what is out there, which seems to be not much. The two I have found so far are the Reese Dual Cam that's rated at 1700# and the Blue Ox Sway Pro at 2000#.

Right now, I am kind of leaning towards the Sway Pro because it is less expensive than the Dual Cam and it gives me more overhead for safety reasons. Also, can anyone suggest another hitch to look at that I haven't come across yet?

Thoughts?

[JetTech]

What are the listed payload and tow capacity of your truck? You might be safe already, short of leveling out your truck. Another option to level out is to add airbags. Not sure on the GMC lineup, but the Ram 2500 has a class v hitch and about 2500 lbs of payload capacity, and factory airbags are an option. Don't quote me on this (well, for the sake of the forum, go ahead!), but I think Jayco's posted weights include full propane tanks, but not water.

[need-a-vacation]

I honestly don't know if another wdh rated for that high. Knowing how we pack, if you have a front pass through like we do, I would probably go with the BO as well. Not sure the DC would be enough, as you are at about 1500# w/ the 2 propane tanks and 2 batteries.

IF you decide on the DC, make sure the dealer knows what the heck they are doing installing the cam brackets.... I was going to install ours due to reading about dealer issues (in general) in the past, but the salesman didn't tell the shop that info. And guess what, I now have a bracket with stripped holes!!! So working on a fix for that currently....

And you will probably want to replace the factory truck receiver hitch as well. I would go with a 2.5" again, and get the Reese Titan shank. Know that the Reese shank won't work with Cirt receivers though!!!

Good luck!!!

[Rustic Eagle]

If I knew I was going to exceed my 2016 2500HD receiver's WD mode limit of 1,500lbs, I would upgrade the receiver.

My present TT has a 1,300lb loaded tongue weight and my WDH is the Reese Dual Cam with 1,500lb bars......, has preformed great for 10 years. I did however "bolt-thru" my A-frame the mounting of my snap-up brackets and the Reese Dual Cam "Frame Plate"........ rock solid.

The Reese Strait-Line (Dual Cam) does come in a 1,700lb model as well (#66075).

Bob

[blujay40]

Originally Posted by JetTech

What are the listed payload and tow capacity of your truck? You might be safe already, short of leveling out your truck. Another option to level out is to add airbags. Not sure on the GMC lineup, but the Ram 2500 has a class v hitch and about 2500 lbs of payload capacity, and factory airbags are an option. Don't quote me on this (well, for the sake of the forum, go ahead!), but I think Jayco's posted weights include full propane tanks, but not water.

I have a 2015 GMC 2500HD with an OEM Class 5 hitch and the payload capacity is 2793#. So even if I have to max out at 15 percent hitch weight, I still have about 1100# to play with which should be just fine in that regard. If we carry any water at all, it will probably be in milk jugs to use the toilet on our journeys. I also know that Jayco "says" that the tongue weight includes full propane but I will believe it when I see it. Coachmen said the same thing on our current trailer but ended up not being the case.

[blujay40]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

If I knew I was going to exceed my 2016 2500HD receiver's WD mode limit of 1,500lbs, I would upgrade the receiver.

My present TT has a 1,300lb loaded tongue weight and my WDH is the Reese Dual Cam with 1,500lb bars......, has preformed great for 10 years. I did however "bolt-thru" my A-frame the mounting of my snap-up brackets and the Reese Dual Cam "Frame Plate"........ rock solid.

The Reese Strait-Line (Dual Cam) does come in a 1,700lb model as well (#66075).

Bob

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I will have to upgrade the receiver and WD hitch to play it safe. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed any options going forward.

Our current Coachmen's dry hitch weight started out at about 900# and I ended up buying a Husky Centerline TS hitch with 1200# bars. Fast forward a couple of months and once the DW got done "moving in", the tongue weight went north of 1200#!! So bought the 1400# Equalizer last fall and now I am outgrowing it again! So already having a fairly good idea of what will be involved with this new trailer, it is all but a forgone conclusion that my current hitch/receiver just isn't going to do it.

My "money tree" is looking more and more bare with each passing month, so I will probably opt for the Blue Ox over the Reese. The Blue Ox also comes with the shank where the Reese doesn't. And now I will have TWO WD hitches that were barely used 6 months each to put on Craigslist.

[blujay40]

Originally Posted by need-a-vacation

I honestly don't know if another wdh rated for that high. Knowing how we pack, if you have a front pass through like we do, I would probably go with the BO as well. Not sure the DC would be enough, as you are at about 1500# w/ the 2 propane tanks and 2 batteries.

IF you decide on the DC, make sure the dealer knows what the heck they are doing installing the cam brackets.... I was going to install ours due to reading about dealer issues (in general) in the past, but the salesman didn't tell the shop that info. And guess what, I now have a bracket with stripped holes!!! So working on a fix for that currently....

And you will probably want to replace the factory truck receiver hitch as well. I would go with a 2.5" again, and get the Reese Titan shank. Know that the Reese shank won't work with Cirt receivers though!!!

Good luck!!!

Good to know about the shank because I was looking at the Curt #15809 or #15860 Class 5 receiver. Thanks!

[JetTech]

Originally Posted by blujay40

I have a 2015 GMC 2500HD with an OEM Class 5 hitch and the payload capacity is 2793#. So even if I have to max out at 15 percent hitch weight, I still have about 1100# to play with which should be just fine in that regard. If we carry any water at all, it will probably be in milk jugs to use the toilet on our journeys. I also know that Jayco "says" that the tongue weight includes full propane but I will believe it when I see it. Coachmen said the same thing on our current trailer but ended up not being the case.

So you're well within all specs, you're just leveling it out? You might find adding airbags to the rear axle as a great way to go! It doesn't push the front end over, but lifts the rear back up. Does 900 lbs really settle your 2500 that much?

Also, can you put some of the weight towards the back of the trailer, lightening the tongue weight?

[blujay40]

Originally Posted by JetTech

So you're well within all specs, you're just leveling it out? You might find adding airbags to the rear axle as a great way to go! It doesn't push the front end over, but lifts the rear back up. Does 900 lbs really settle your 2500 that much?

Also, can you put some of the weight towards the back of the trailer, lightening the tongue weight?

Not sure what the 900# is that your talking about?? Maybe after I have a couple more cups of coffee, it will hit me!! But to answer your question in regards to the truck settling, I don't have any problems in that regard, at least I haven't with our current trailer and I don't expect any issues with the new trailer either because as you mentioned, I am still well within my trucks capabilities. I am looking to upgrade because I totally expect that the tongue weight that I will end up with after "moving in" to the new trailer will exceed my current hitch and receiver maximum capacities, and probably by quite a bit. Knowing that once "we" (aka: the DW) moved our stuff into our current trailer, the tongue weight went up by about 270# and I have every expectation that will be the case this go around. I have also seen where others that have a 338RETS, which is basically the same trailer as ours with a slightly different floor plan in the rear, are pushing or equaling 1600# of tongue weight!

As for "creative packing" in our new TT (330RSTS), I thought about that as well. Unfortunately, the "rear living" floor plan of our new trailer has little to no storage capacity behind the axles that could hold the amount of weight I would need to offset what will be going "up front" AND maintain a safety margin on the hitch and receiver. I had thought of possibly getting some large storage containers to sit on the floor behind the axles but having to continually move them around at each stop just to function, as well as trying to secure them some how while going down the road could get really old really fast and I am sure that the DW would have something to say about having to live out of those containers while we were on the road as well !!! So with all things considered, and having pondered on it all last night, I have come to the realization that my peace of mind in regards to safety, but more importantly, the DW's overall "happiness" while traveling is much more important than the cost or hassle of just upgrading.

[JetTech]

I'm sorry, I mis-read the 900 lbs as the tongue weight of your TT. But even with the 1270 lbs, if all other specs are in tolerance, and the vehicle isn't settling down in the rear, and/or pulling the front end off the ground, I guess I'm just asking if a WDH is even necessary? A class 5 hitch should be able to safely support towing capacities upwards of 20000 lbs and tongue weights of 2000 lbs. I'm sure there are some variables, but I think on average, or maybe even by reg, those are the numbers. Keep in mind that the stinger should also be class 5 rather that using an adapter and a class 3 stinger.

Where I'm coming from on this is my last camping setup was a 5500lb pop up with a heavy tongue weight around 1000 lbs that I was pulling with an '08 Hemi powered Durango. If I didn't use a weight distributing hitch, the rear of the Durango drooped pretty severely. The hitch lifted that rear end up and pushed the nose over a bit, leveling the tow vehicle, so it was necessary there, but connecting that to my Ram 2500, without the WDH, and you would never hardly know it was there. Yes, it drooped down a little, but it was fairly insignificant.

On that truck though, even the little bit of droop was corrected by factory installed airbags that raised the rear back up that inch or so, but even if it hadn't, I'd have been alright towing without the weight distributing hitch.

[blujay40]

Originally Posted by JetTech

I'm sorry, I mis-read the 900 lbs as the tongue weight of your TT. But even with the 1270 lbs, if all other specs are in tolerance, and the vehicle isn't settling down in the rear, and/or pulling the front end off the ground, I guess I'm just asking if a WDH is even necessary? A class 5 hitch should be able to safely support towing capacities upwards of 20000 lbs and tongue weights of 2000 lbs. I'm sure there are some variables, but I think on average, or maybe even by reg, those are the numbers. Keep in mind that the stinger should also be class 5 rather that using an adapter and a class 3 stinger.

Where I'm coming from on this is my last camping setup was a 5500lb pop up with a heavy tongue weight around 1000 lbs that I was pulling with an '08 Hemi powered Durango. If I didn't use a weight distributing hitch, the rear of the Durango drooped pretty severely. The hitch lifted that rear end up and pushed the nose over a bit, leveling the tow vehicle, so it was necessary there, but connecting that to my Ram 2500, without the WDH, and you would never hardly know it was there. Yes, it drooped down a little, but it was fairly insignificant.

On that truck though, even the little bit of droop was corrected by factory installed airbags that raised the rear back up that inch or so, but even if it hadn't, I'd have been alright towing without the weight distributing hitch.

The Class 5 OEM receiver on the truck is rated at 1500# with or without WD so that has to be upgraded regardless.

As for using a WD hitch, do I have to? No, not once I upgrade the receiver, BUT......

I suppose it all comes down to a personal preference.

I have towed our current trailer, which is 36' long and about 9200# with a tongue weight just north of 1200#, with and without WD/Sway control and I feel much more confident and comfortable with it. So with our new trailer being almost 40' in length, a GVWR of 11250, and hauling it on a 3000 mi. round trip to Florida and back, I like the notion of having WD/sway control vs. not having it.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by JetTech

I'm sorry, I mis-read the 900 lbs as the tongue weight of your TT. But even with the 1270 lbs, if all other specs are in tolerance, and the vehicle isn't settling down in the rear, and/or pulling the front end off the ground, I guess I'm just asking if a WDH is even necessary? .........snip

JetTech,

Welcome to JOF

The one benefit in utilizing a WDH in applications where a WDH may not be required is that it will enhance maintaining TV suspension "stability" while in-tow. Minimizing the TV/TT porpoising effect in less then ideal towing conditions can make for a better towing experience.


blujay40,

I tend to agree that your new 330RSTS will easily fall in the 1,400lb to 1,600lb loaded tongue weight range.

Bob