Towing question

[TWP723]

Always hook mine up, regardless of distance. The piece of mind is priority.

[ALJO]

So the message is clear; "No Shortcuts With Trailering"
Just the other day coming home a combo TV-TT was jackknifed. Cause unknown to me, but I am sure the occupants where shaken up.
After over 50 years of owning an RV I have seen a few accidents with RV's involved.
Mostly due improper equipped and "SPEED".

[milw156]

Even when moving the trailer from the side yard to the driveway, it's easier to do a loop around the neighborhood to point the trailer in the best direction for backing in. I will fully hook up the trailer with WDH. Is it overkill? Maybe. But it's best practices and safest for everyone.

[Gone campin]

Our storage is about 2 miles from the house and the speed limit is 35 MPH max the whole way - if I plan to bring it home and unhook it again, I'll leave them off. Having towed horse trailers, boats, and race car trailers with no WD/sway, I am comfortable with that. But, that's just me...

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by Gone campin

Our storage is about 2 miles from the house and the speed limit is 35 MPH max the whole way - if I plan to bring it home and unhook it again, I'll leave them off. Having towed horse trailers, boats, and race car trailers with no WD/sway, I am comfortable with that. But, that's just me...

Does it take long to connect the Reese DC hitch? That would play I role I think. On my Equalizer hitch, it's literally swinging the bars onto the brackets and dropping in the locks, so it's a no brainer. But I could see being more willing to do without on short trips if it were 5 minutes of effort to get it all connected up. I don't have any experience with any other hitches than the one I've got now.....

[Gone campin]

Originally Posted by Rootus

Does it take long to connect the Reese DC hitch? That would play I role I think. On my Equalizer hitch, it's literally swinging the bars onto the brackets and dropping in the locks, so it's a no brainer. But I could see being more willing to do without on short trips if it were 5 minutes of effort to get it all connected up. I don't have any experience with any other hitches than the one I've got now.....

It doesn't take long - it is more the wear-and-tear on the electric jack that I am minimizing. On the Reese, you have to lower the jack onto the ball, latch the ball latch, then raise the jack back up to lift the back of the truck a bit, put the bars on and latch the chains up, then run the jack back down to go.

Without the bars, I just lower it onto the ball and go... to go a couple of miles up the street, and then reverse the process to unhook it at the house, makes no sense to me. There is a bar that you can use to raise/lower the latches, but if you don't raise the truck some to get the pressure off, that can be dangerous...

[michigancampermcsmrs]

Always use Weight Distribution Bars. Never use Sway Bars, don't need them.

[Force]

Unless I missed it I don't see that the OP offered up what his truck and trailer combo was so it's difficult to offer an opinion that aligns with his exact situation.

That said, when I had my 1/2 ton and a 6,000# TT I would always hook up WDH and sway regardless of travel distance.

When I moved up to a 3/4 ton I stopped using the WDH after my 2nd tow. I figured a 600# tongue weight on a truck capable of 1500# was plenty of capacity. I can't say there was a big difference in towing or stopping, and I drove a few trips at 200 miles each that way.

To each his own but I don't think saying you must use WDH in all circumstance is true. But hey, I'm also the guy that doesn't think you need to use 4 Low to go up a dirt driveway so perhaps I'm not the guy to ask about doing things "cautiously"

[JoeTampa]

Originally Posted by Force

When I moved up to a 3/4 ton I stopped using the WDH after my 2nd tow. I figured a 600# tongue weight on a truck capable of 1500# was plenty of capacity. I can't say there was a big difference in towing or stopping, and I drove a few trips at 200 miles each that way.

It's not so much the capacity - the major safety issue with a WDH is making sure that you are level when towing and that both sets of wheels have maximum contact with the ground.

If your front wheels are as much on the ground (same weight/height) as before you hitched up and your hitch receiver is rated to hold the total tongue weight (and this may not be the same number as your truck's capacity for the axle), then you presumably don't need a WDH.

I've seen trucks with rear axle specs of 1500lbs but a hitch receiver with a maximum weight rating of 900lbs.. I had to replace the hitch receiver on my Silverado 2500 because it was not rated enough to hold the tongue weight of my TT.

[Force]

Good points. I did check all my numbers and was well within spec in that regard, and was level without the WDH. My truck happens to have electronic sway control too, though I've never felt it 'in action' so who knows if that even works lol

In a way this just helps prove my point though, that without knowing OP's truck, trailer, and travel distance goals, we are all offering advice that may not directly apply to his situation (other than pointing out caution is a good general rule)

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by Force

Good points. I did check all my numbers and was well within spec in that regard, and was level without the WDH. My truck happens to have electronic sway control too, though I've never felt it 'in action' so who knows if that even works lol

In a way this just helps prove my point though, that without knowing OP's truck, trailer, and travel distance goals, we are all offering advice that may not directly apply to his situation (other than pointing out caution is a good general rule)

Would it be safe to say that a properly configured WDH is always an improvement, even if you don't strictly need it? I.e. your truck may be perfectly within specs as-is, but physics says you have less weight on the front axle than with no trailer, so a WDH *would* help, but maybe not meaningfully in your situation.

[Force]

Originally Posted by Rootus

Would it be safe to say that a properly configured WDH is always an improvement, even if you don't strictly need it? I.e. your truck may be perfectly within specs as-is, but physics says you have less weight on the front axle than with no trailer, so a WDH *would* help, but maybe not meaningfully in your situation.

"Always an improvement"...objectively, yes I'd have to say that is a fair statement.

All I was trying to get across that using WDH is not absolutely necessary in a specific situation, but I think we are both on the same page on that.

To be honest about it, I read a lot of the earlier replies as being black & white and felt a counter response was worth adding to the discussion, even if everyone things I'm dead wrong.

In any event, hopefully OP will reply with his/her details as that will lend itself to getting better advice.

[bankr63]

I always use the WDH - mandatory for my combo. I don't use the sway control on the short trip to storage lot over county roads (45 mph max) unless it is quite windy. For the 20 minute trip it is a pain to have to remove it to back into the parking site, and I have never had an issue with sway at slow speeds. It goes on anytime I contemplate hitting a highway however.

[thomasmnile]

If it's leaving the storage yard, it's on the WDH with the trunnion bars in place. Always.

[Force]

I thought of another WDH vs non-WDH question and curious as to everyone's thoughts:

I have a 10000# rated utility trailer and use it to move a 6000# tractor, so roughly 7500# total give or take. It connects to the truck via pintle hook only. Not sure the tongue weight (have never gone to a scale with this one), but let's say that's at least 750# worth of tongue weight for sake of the question.

My TT came in at 6000# and a 650# tongue weight. I am choosing NOT to use the WDH bars, just the 2 5/16" ball.

Both of the above setups are level at hookup and are within truck capacity specs, and both trailers have electronic brakes.

Why then do I have to worry about WDH when it comes to the camper, but for the other trailer (which is heavier) I can just hook up the pintle and drive away?

Or are these not as apples to apples as I'm thinking? Meaning somehow the 'forces' on the truck when it comes to pulling and stopping are different between the two trailers based on the hitch type (or some other factor)?

[cekkk]

I prefer the wheels on my steering axle stay on the road.

[JoeTampa]

Originally Posted by Force

Why then do I have to worry about WDH when it comes to the camper, but for the other trailer (which is heavier) I can just hook up the pintle and drive away?

The trailer likely has a significantly larger wind profile, for one - far more susceptible to gusts of wind perpendicular to your direction of travel. This, of course, really talks more to the ability of your WDH to control sway than weight distribution.

[Force]

Originally Posted by JoeTampa

The trailer likely has a significantly larger wind profile, for one - far more susceptible to gusts of wind perpendicular to your direction of travel. This, of course, really talks more to the ability of your WDH to control sway than weight distribution.

Spot on and I agree. In my case the WDH has a single friction bar to manage sway.

For purposes of the question however, sway control is not a concern as the truck has electronic sway control. (in the real world I usually slap the sway bar because that takes all of 2 seconds, even if I don't use the WDH bars)

[Dustdevil]

It's not just hte trailer, or the effects of wind. But most Class IV and V hitches are bolted or welded to the frame. A 600-750# or more tongue weight is likely to someday rip that hitch or the frame it's attached to with a dead weight on the rear bolts/welds. When a WD setup is used and properly adjusted, the load is spread between both front and rear attach points. A pintle is typically secured to a much heavier frame, heavier hitch (although not an ideal situation if it's merely fastened to a regular Class IV or V hitch), and presumably used only on something heavier than light duty pickups. Additionally, the pintle itself is much stronger than the weak link in a TT setup, which is the stud on the hitch ball. Even on a 2-5/16" ball, that's only about a 1" or 1-1/8" stud, and is subject to all sorts of stress, stress corrosion, and fracture/shock loads. The pintle is specifically designed for such loads right out of the box. You can put a pintle on a 1/2 ton pickup, but it's not normally recommended. What most people will do is recommend best practices. Some consider that overkill. But it's one thing if an operator doesn't mind taking his own life in his hands and operating at bare minimums or even over hard limits. But when other peoples' lives are at risk as well, I would certainly feel better knowing they covered the bases and did their homework, and followed the best practices.

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by Force

For purposes of the question however, sway control is not a concern as the truck has electronic sway control. (in the real world I usually slap the sway bar because that takes all of 2 seconds, even if I don't use the WDH bars)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of the sway bar to damp yaw so that it doesn't escalate to sway? By the time the truck's electronic sway control kicks in, you're in a full sway event and the only thing keeping you on the road is the truck working some magic -- great, but still means new underwear, and I wouldn't want to depend on it I guess .