WDH Too Big?

[flintsters]

First of all, I have learned SO much from spending time on this forum, and for that I want to start by saying thank you. Among the many things I have learned here is the buy your second camper first and to get a TV that has more capability than the max specs on paper will show it is able.

Well, we got our 2nd camper first, and have a TV that can comfortably tow and handle it. With these lessons in mind, when thinking about upgrading my WDH I found myself wondering why I shouldn't just buy the biggest one available, just in case we do get a bigger TT. Are there disadvantages to having a WDH maxed out or exceeded? Conversely, are there advantages/disadvantages to having a WDH that is too big for a particular TT?

[mike837go]

Originally Posted by flintsters

...snip... Are there disadvantages to having a WDH maxed out or exceeded? Conversely, are there advantages/disadvantages to having a WDH that is too big for a particular TT?

First, maxing out or overloading any part of a towing system puts one squarely in the path of Bad Things. And is generally avoided by most 'right thinking' folks.

You can't have 'too much' of a WDH hitch. However, the spring bars must be matched closely with the trailer for the system to work properly. Too weak and not enough weight is transferred to the front axle of the tow. Too strong and you start to unload the rear axle.

So, you can buy a WDH for your 4th trailer. But you will probably have to replace the spring bars each time you upgrade.

[NVGun40]

Just like TV, when a person is hauling cargo or towing a load, you will never hear someone say, "I wish I had less truck."
Same can be said for WDH. There is one caveat though on this. If you are close to maxing out your TV potential, then the added weight of a higher capability WDH could put you over the limit.
However, as you state, you purchased your TT with the idea of the second camper first and your TV should be well into the comfortable range for towing the upgraded and bigger TT. You may as well get the WDH which can handle it.

Are there disadvantages of having a WDH maxed out or exceeded? Let me answer that by asking this question: Are there disadvantages to having a TV maxed out or exceeded?

There is huge difference to driving a TV and TT down the highway during a heavy wind storm or when the big rigs fly by you and you find yourself in one of three positions. You are either 'white knuckling' the whole time; or, you find yourself on the edge of your seat pucker factor slowly showing itself, heart pounding a little more as you ready yourself for the possibility of the white knuckle situation while telling yourself things are going great and you've never had a problem before; or finally, you are sitting back relaxed and knowing that all is travelling well, you're ready for anything but you're heart rate is not at all racing, and everything is calm.
Personally, I prefer the later.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by mike837go

First, maxing out or overloading any part of a towing system puts one squarely in the path of Bad Things. And is generally avoided by most 'right thinking' folks.

You can't have 'too much' of a WDH hitch. However, the spring bars must be matched closely with the trailer for the system to work properly. Too weak and not enough weight is transferred to the front axle of the tow. Too strong and you start to unload the rear axle.

So, you can buy a WDH for your 4th trailer. But you will probably have to replace the spring bars each time you upgrade.

What he said... but of course you'll have to be sure that the only difference is the spring bars if you plan/need to replace just the spring bars. Also keep in mind that the hitch and spring bars are good for a range of trailer weights.

[Jagiven]

biggest disadvantage I can think of is the bar strength and the stresses it could put on the TT frame. Some WDH can easily be upgraded with new bars, others you have to buy the assembly. When I purchased ours, the dealer specified the largest recommended bars for our HTT (1000#). It rides fine. I bet if I had lighter bars I might get a little less "porpoising" while driving on rougher roads.

[Vaneta]

When I bought my first TT, the guy had bought a weight distribution system that was way too much for the small trailer. Not realizing that, I used it for a while until I realized that was part of the issue with things being way too "stiff".
So I changed to a blue ox because I could change out the bars easily if I got a heavier trailer . When I got my Jayco, I ordered bars for a heavier load and pretty quickly realized something was wrong. It took some time though to figure out that the Jayco has an underslung coupler and I needed a whole different set up. So my advice would be to buy what you need for your camper now and then sell it with the camper and Buy your next one to fit the camper you're buying then.

[bigbird]

You might want to look on the front of your trailer frame near the latch. Mine is stamped in saying not use a wdh higher than 1000#.

[Ottawasteve]

Having oversized spring bars will add unnecessary weight and expense to your current setup. As mentioned, the spring bars will have a recommended weight range and they are adjustable for that reason. In the extreme, spring bars that are much too heavy for the weight of the trailer will put stress on the trailer frame and possibly damage it. In the simplest terms possible, the WD hitch utilizes the trailer frame as a lever to transfer weight back onto the trailer tires and uses the truck frame as a lever to transfer weight from the rear TV wheels to the front TV wheels. Lighter trailers have lighter trailer frames and will not handle as much stress as heavier trailer frames. A lot of people towing light fiberglass trailers (ie. Boler, Casita, Trillium etc.) found this out after their frames were damaged. I believe Boler even recommended against WD hitches. Looking ahead is great, and you may want to look at hitches which have replaceable spring bars if you might go that route. The sizing of your WDH has nothing to do with the size of your TV.

[scottyt24]

Originally Posted by Vaneta

When I got my Jayco, I ordered bars for a heavier load and pretty quickly realized something was wrong. It took some time though to figure out that the Jayco has an underslung coupler and I needed a whole different set up. So my advice would be to buy what you need for your camper now and then sell it with the camper and Buy your next one to fit the camper you're buying then.

We have a blue Ox and are looking at an upgrade in the spring and the trailer we are looking at has an underslung coupler. Curious on what the issue was with Blue Ox and what you ended up getting that worked best with the underslung.

Thanks

[SouthCo]

Originally Posted by scottyt24

We have a blue Ox and are looking at an upgrade in the spring and the trailer we are looking at has an underslung coupler. Curious on what the issue was with Blue Ox and what you ended up getting that worked best with the underslung.



Thanks

Blue OX makes a WDH for regular couplers and underslung couplers. My first camper was a regular coupler and my Blue OX was great. The new camper is an underslung coupler so I gave the old WDH away with the first camper and bought a new Blue OX underslung WDH. It has to to do with the angle the bars come out of the head... I believe you can just buy a new underslung head as the bars and shank are the same.

[NVGun40]

I have towed lots of different vehicles and cargo with a variety of different chassis' during my life. However, I still understand and recognize that I don't know everything, i make mistakes and I can and do strive to learn something new. Yet, whenever i am faced with information I am unaware of; or hearing information I have not heard of before, I immediately turn to research, and look for confirmation. I have a nice motto, "trust but verify."
With that said, I want to say thank you to a couple of people on this post for making me learn something new and finding information I was unaware of. Mike837 and Ottawasteve pointed to having spring bars which are rated too heavy for a trailer frame. What they said makes sense, so I started checking. After conferring with Blue Ox and Reese and Equalizer directly, I found this out.
When talking about typical RV trailers (like the Jayco's) with two axles (some with single axles), it is not possible to have a spring bar which is too much for the frame. Spring bars have an upper and lower weight range. So can a spring bar which is rated significantly higher than the trailers tongue weight damage the trailer or trailer tongue or trailer frame? No it can't. If your tongue weight is 500 pounds fully loaded and you have spring bars rated 600 to 1200 pounds, that is ok, it will not hurt the trailer or the vehicle, because once hooked up the bars are only going to take the amount of weight to torque they are designed for. However, with oversized bars your ride may be significantly stiffer and your TV may not handle as well as as it should, you may encounter a porpoise effect (what Jagiven eluded to), or a jerking effect when encountering bumps.

Ottawasteve was good enough to point out the exceptions to this rule with trailers which utilize much lighter frames and building materials (ie. Boler, Casita, Trillium etc.). (Thank you very much for pointing this out) Which also go along with why WDH's are not utilized with small single axle utility trailers, or flat bed toy trailers and a lot of the single axle boat trailers with the small fishing boats, etc. The spring bars can put so much stress on the trailer frame that damage can happen at the tongue and attachment points of the spring bars from having too much loading transferred from the trailer axle to the front portion of the tongue (as reese explained it me: imagine the triangle created at the hitch point to the spring bar attachment point. Now imagine if you utilized only that small area to lift the entire trailer)

With the research I conducted by contacting the companies directly and utilizing my son's superior mathmatics and physics knowledge; I learned that RV's which are in the weight range requiring double axles and SOME with single axles, it is ok to have a larger than necessary weight distribution hitch and more specifically, spring bars. However, every manufacturer and tech I talked with all said the same basic thing. "You should utilize a weight distribution hitch which fits the weight range of your trailer. This will give you and your trailer a smoother ride and maintain proper handling."
Thanks again to the good folks on this site for forcing an old dog to get out of his comfort zone and learn something new.