Help on WD adjustment

[suzhou]

As expected, after loading the trailer it needs some adjustment in the WD hitch. It was fine at the dealer but that was empty. We have really added very little actual weight to the trailer, we are light travelers, but likely more than I estimate. On our last trip I could tell the front felt very light and seemed to float. When looking at it the back of the TV is lower than before but the front has not changed much. My numbers (measured to top of TV wheel well) are:

without trailer: front 39" / rear 38 3/4"
with trailer and WD setup: front 39 1/2" / rear 36 1/2"

As you can see the rear is 2"+ lower when the trailer is attached but, the front is not really much higher. Only 1/2" difference in the front. I would expect the front to be higher by the same or close to the same as the back is lower but I am new to WD hitches. I am considering moving the L brackets mounted to the A frame of the trailer up a notch to put more weight on the front. My manual (E2 Hitch) talks about adding/removing spacer washers and brackets to adjust the front of the TV to the right height, not the rear. I have 5 of the 9 washers installed. Based on my measurements would I be better off adding washers or moving the brackets? Just puzzled that the front barely moves while the rear squats down quite a bit. I do need to balance it. The front being "floaty" makes it very uneasy to drive. I've read through the posts here including the one on WD hitch setup and all seem to refer to adjusting based on the change in height of the front. Not sure what to do since my front height isn't really changing.

[need-a-vacation]

Suz,

Not sure what rig combo you have, but I would suggest first looking in the tv owners manual to see what is recommended for the wdh adjustment. You do want to go by the front fender height to try to estimate how much lost weight your transferring back to the front axle. Only a trip to the CAT Scales can tell you if you are possibly exceeding the rear axle's rating.... Follow my signature link for the how to at the CAT Scale and where to find one.

One set of measurements you didn't post is with the tt hooked up, but without the wd bars. That will give us an idea if you are transferring much weight or not.

The E2 is from Equal-I-Zer, correct? If so, I would think the adjustment would be similar to the 4 way model in that changing a washer in the hitch head is about equal to moving the tt tongue brackets in the same respective direction (add a washer ~ = to moving the brackets up a hole, remove a washer ~ = to moving the brackets down a hole). From how much weight it looks like you need to restore to the front axle I would suggest starting by adding 2 washers to the hitch head, and go from there. (You may need to do a combination of both the washers and brackets) If close, then try moving the brackets up a hole to see the results. Caution: make sure the wd bars will not interfere with anything if you do move the brackets up. Worst case, if you measurement is closer with 2 washers, try changing the brackets. If you like the results, move the brackets back down and then add a washer to the hitch head.

One other thing to consider: what is the "dry tw" of your tt, and what are your wd bars rated for? Make sure you have the proper sized wd bars for a loaded tt tw!!! Some dealers end up giving say 800lb wd bars because the "dry tw" is say 7XXlbs.... Well once the tt is loaded the wd bars are exceeded.

Good luck and keep us posted how things work out!

[Rustic Eagle]

suzhou,

The rear of a TV will squat more then the front due to the fact that the TT's tongue weight load is placed close to the TV's rear axle (on the hitch ball). The WDH's main design function is to address weight changes that take place at the TV's front suspension, not the rear. Through proper WDH adjustment the objective is to return the same weight removed from the TV's front axle back to it, thus returning the TV's front suspension's steering/braking characteristics back to the TV's unhitched condition.

Once a WDH is properly adjusted there will be "some" relief of the TV's initial rear squat, but it's normal to see a 1" to 2" rear TV squat after a proper WDH adjustment. It should be noted that different TV suspensions react differently to a WDH adjustment. For example, with my 2500HD truck a 1/4" front suspension rise can represent almost a couple hundred pounds (confirmed at the CAT scale). Also, just the settling of the TV suspension can throw off the results of the TV fender-well measuring process.

Experiencing a 1/2" front suspension rise under your present WDH adjustment can still represent a lack of adequate weight return, it depends on your particular TV suspension. I would adjust your WDH such that your front suspension fender-well height is as close to it's 'unhitched' height as possible (but not lower). Your TV's final rear suspension squat will be a by-product of the final WDH adjustment (is-what-it-is)

It sounds like you have the Equal-i-zer WDH, I'm sure some JOF members with that particular WDH will chime in with some detailed adjustment guidance. In principle to transfer additional weight to the TV's front suspension one would want to tilt the WDH ball mount a little more toward the TT via proper spacer placement. Also, the Equal-i-zer spring bars should be adjusted such that they are parallel to the TT's A-frame once engaged (bars square with L-brackets).

The best way to confirm any WDH adjustment is a visit to your local CAT scale under loaded TV/TT conditions.

CAT scale how-to: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...v-tt-3871.html

Hope this helps.

Bob

[suzhou]

Thanks for the detailed info. My new TT is in for service (water heater, furnace, water leak, etc) after our first few trips so will have to wait a bit to get back at trying to adjust it. I wanted to get some advice before I picked it up, hopefully this week. My WD bars are stamped for 1,000lb, 10,000lb trailer weight. My TT is a 265RLSW with a sticker of 6,118lb empty. TV is a 2014 super cab F150 Platinum with a max trailer rating of ~11,000. Door sticker says 4,050lb rear axle, 3,900lb for front axle, 7,200 GVWR. I should be well within my specs for towing. I've been through the manual several times but since it speaks of adjustments based on front wheel well height movement, and mine barely moves, I wanted to get some input on next steps. Sounds like a little movement in my truck front height may mean a lot of weight. When I get it back I'll spend some time working on re-balancing and try to find where I can get access to some scales. Sounds like that is really the best option to be sure.

thx