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Old 02-12-2011, 03:54 PM   #1
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Which WDH capacity for 28BHS

I have a new 28BHS and have settled on the Reese straight-line for its combination of cost and effectiveness. The 28BHS has a dry hitch weight of 690lbs and a gross weight of 7500lbs. I've installed a second battery for dry camping, so I am assuming that the we'll be pushing an 800lb hitch weight when loaded. Does that mean that I should get the Reese with the 800lb capacity? Do I need to account for the cargo in the Expedition that is behind the rear axle? I've read that I do not want to get a hitch with a capacity that it too much more that what is required and the next step up is 1000lbs. Why is that?

Thanks,

Steven.
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Old 02-12-2011, 04:21 PM   #2
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You suppose to figure in roughly 13% of the gross weight being hitch weight.

7500# GVWR x 13% = 975# Hitch weight

Rather be too beefy on the hitch and not have something break than be too weak and loose your trailer... Trust me I talk to a friend that has towed for many many miles (957,000 miles on his truck) and he broke everything hitchwise on the truck and trailer at least once. You also got to remember all the pulling, tugging, bouncing, etc this hitch has to take care of...
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Old 02-12-2011, 09:16 PM   #3
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Well, I have no problem buying more than I need if it does not cause a problem. It turns out that the next step up from 800lbs is 1200lbs. The thing is that the max tongue weight for our Ford Expedition EL is 890lbs. We thought this was giving us a more than a 10% buffer in both towing capacity and tongue weight, but the 13% number throws that off a bit. It seems logical to get something greater than the 800lb version, but I just want to make sure that the 1200lb version will not cause a problem.

Thanks,

Steven.
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Old 02-12-2011, 09:41 PM   #4
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I would check with the manufacturer, but 1200 is in the ball park. You mentioned batteries but not propane tanks, so if that's a factor you need to keep it in mind. Also, Jayco shows a dry weight of 5305, and 13% of that for dry tongue weight. If you load up with a thousand, 1100 pounds, at the 13% number you're still over weight for 800# bars. Weight in the TV becomes a factor regarding axle capability. Your WDH will relieve some weight from your rear axle. It gets a bit complicated. Here's a good starting point:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...pa/pging/1.cfm
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Old 02-13-2011, 12:23 AM   #5
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Is the 13% constant? It seems like that is highly dependent on where the load is. For example, if it is aft of the Center of Gravity, it should reduce the tongue weight. This trailer has a 90 gallon fresh water tank. Does anyone know where the tanks are on the 28BHS? I was thinking about getting a tongue weight scale to be safe.

Thanks,

Steven.
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Old 02-13-2011, 01:35 AM   #6
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Is the 13% constant? It seems like that is highly dependent on where the load is. For example, if it is aft of the Center of Gravity, it should reduce the tongue weight. This trailer has a 90 gallon fresh water tank. Does anyone know where the tanks are on the 28BHS? I was thinking about getting a tongue weight scale to be safe.

Thanks,

Steven.
The rule has always been between 10 and 15%, hence the usual number of 12-13%. Loading, full water tanks etc. will always change the tongue weight number. Any truck stop will weigh the tongue for a small fee. Of course you will have to unhitch to do it.
Most hitches have two ratings on them. One is for dead weight, that is, no equalizer hitch. Your trailer, of course, needs an equalizer hitch, so you would use that number. That number will be considerably higher than the dead weight number.

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Old 02-13-2011, 06:59 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abertasi View Post
Is the 13% constant? It seems like that is highly dependent on where the load is. For example, if it is aft of the Center of Gravity, it should reduce the tongue weight. This trailer has a 90 gallon fresh water tank. Does anyone know where the tanks are on the 28BHS? I was thinking about getting a tongue weight scale to be safe.

Thanks,

Steven.

13% is the ideal tongue weight but no, not a constant. The water tank on my 2010 28BHS is just forward of the front axle, thus adding to tongue weight if filled. IT is 53 gallons, but I understand Jayco went to a 90 gallon system for 2011, not for sure where they hung it. But more then likely the black is in the back, grey in front of the black, behind the axles and fresh in the front of the axles.

As for the WD bars I also think you should go to 1000+ lb bars to cover your loaded tongue weight. An obvious question may be what size bars am I using? Truth is I`m not sure. MY FIL had a TT for a brief time about 10 yrs ago before switching to a Fiver. The hitch stayed in his shop for years and when I bought my first TT he gave it to me. It is a Drawtite WD hitch with the Reese Dual cam. Unfortunately there was no paperwork with the hitch, but he was pulling a fairly large TT so I assume the bars are at least 800 and possibly 1000 lbs or more rated. If you get a tongue scale please let us know what the weight is, I`m curious.

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Old 02-13-2011, 08:52 AM   #8
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Like mine has the fresh water tank in the very rear of the trailer so I can use it as a balast tank to add/subtract tongue on my trailer.

But you also got to consider the TV and TT are moving down the road and bouncing too.

As for hitch you might look at what I got I got a Eaz Lift which is rated for 1,000# tongue weight and 10,000# trailer weight.
http://www.eaz-lift.com/eazlift/pro/pro_elite.html

So there is a step between 800# and 1,200#

The other way of doing it is to load up the trailer completely and weigh the tongue everytime then you know exactly what you got...
http://www.sherlinedirect.com/index....Product_ID=169

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Old 02-13-2011, 11:41 AM   #9
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The 2011 Expedition EL has a dead hitch weight of 600lbs and 890lbs with WDH. If the 13% stays constant, that allows me 1541lbs to stay under the limit. This is doable, but kind of annoying since we consulted with the place we bought the TT and they said to factor in 10%. This would not have changed our mind b/c 1541lbs seems pretty reasonable (e.g. I doubt that we'll be driving down the road with is 720lbs of water very often) and I plan to get a tongue weight scale. Both my wife and I are pilots, so we're used to doing a serious weight & balance before we depart.

Thanks for the responses,

Steven.
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Old 02-18-2011, 08:01 AM   #10
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The 2011 Expedition EL has a dead hitch weight of 600lbs and 890lbs with WDH. If the 13% stays constant, that allows me 1541lbs to stay under the limit. This is doable, but kind of annoying since we consulted with the place we bought the TT and they said to factor in 10%. This would not have changed our mind b/c 1541lbs seems pretty reasonable (e.g. I doubt that we'll be driving down the road with is 720lbs of water very often) and I plan to get a tongue weight scale. Both my wife and I are pilots, so we're used to doing a serious weight & balance before we depart.

Thanks for the responses,

Steven.
Don't forget to factor in a full tank of fuel. About 6#/gallon. Puts a big dent into the payload.
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Old 02-18-2011, 10:34 PM   #11
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Another question that I have is what part of the WDH do I include into the tongue weight? The majority of the weight of the hitch is connected to the Expedition itself and not on the camper. If I just weigh the camper with a tongue weight scale, is that the only portion that I figure into the 890lbs tongue weight limit? Since the Expedition explicitly lists the 890lb limit as being for use with a WDH, does that mean they have somehow accounted for it (even though they don't know how much the WDH weighed)?
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Old 02-19-2011, 01:07 PM   #12
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I had an Eaz-Lift 1000 lb hitch which worked well. I had to add sway control to it. Then, I decided to improve the hitch setup and changed to the Reese Strait-line 1200 lb. It takes more effort to get it dialed in, but as far as I can tell, it does the job. Hardly any sway.
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Old 02-19-2011, 03:12 PM   #13
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Another question that I have is what part of the WDH do I include into the tongue weight? The majority of the weight of the hitch is connected to the Expedition itself and not on the camper. If I just weigh the camper with a tongue weight scale, is that the only portion that I figure into the 890lbs tongue weight limit? Since the Expedition explicitly lists the 890lb limit as being for use with a WDH, does that mean they have somehow accounted for it (even though they don't know how much the WDH weighed)?
I would think that since the hitch weight itself is on the vehicle hitch, it should be included in the tongue weight. Not a professional opinion, mind you, but I would include it.

Tom
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Old 02-20-2011, 08:44 PM   #14
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We weighed the tongue with the Sherline scale. The two propane tanks were full and I have an extra battery installed. That brought the tongue weight up to 700lbs. I still have to install the hitch, but it seems like we'll be ok. We also confirmed that some deliberate weight distribution can change the tongue weight appreciably. With my pregnant wife standing on the rear bumper, the tongue weight decreased by 40 lbs. She's probably not going to want to go down the road like that, but the bikes in the back will help. I still have yet to locate and fill the fresh water tank to see what effect that has.
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Old 02-21-2011, 10:17 AM   #15
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That`s good to know. The 700lbs is coming in lighter then I expected.

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Old 02-21-2011, 11:33 AM   #16
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Frankly, we were surprised as well. We weighed it a few times and got consistent results. One thing that we did have to do was wiggle the tongue a little (the trailer, not ours) when we weighted it. I guess the cylinder in the scale was binding a little bit because it was not completely level (even though we tried to level it). Since it went to the same weight each time (after a little wiggle), I am hoping it was accurate.
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Old 03-09-2011, 04:29 PM   #17
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I have the Equalizer 1200/12000 to pull my 29BHS but I do pull doubles (7x10 flatbed with 2 fourwheelers/2 dirtbikes)
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Old 03-09-2011, 06:48 PM   #18
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With my pregnant wife standing on the rear bumper, the tongue weight decreased by 40 lbs. She's probably not going to want to go down the road like that, but the bikes in the back will help.
So you stood your preggie bride on the back bumper?!? Please, send me your wife training manual. Also, NEVER believe your salesman. You could have pulled up on a Cushman and he'd have no-sweated you. Really. The back bumper.
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