Air bags and weight distribution--which comes first?

GeoBoy wrote:
If I had a 1 ton pickup truck I wouldn't use the Land Cruiser due to the short wheelbase. The truck will be a much safer tow vehicle.

Agreed. The F350 tows better. But the Land Cruiser is a lot more fun :B when I get where I'm going. I generally use the one-ton when I'll be traveling more than about 2000 miles round trip.

Damdifino wrote:
---My question is, what do I do when hitching up? Air up the bags first, then weight distribution? Vice-versa? How do I go about integrating the air bags with the weight distribution hardware?

AlbertaNewbie got it right -- air up first, then add tongue weight, then add wdh.

I don't know why Equal-I-zer would say to attach trailer and wd to tv first, then air up. There's nothing to that effect stated in their online set up instructions.

When you adjust the WDH first, and then add air, the bags will lift the rear of the TV.
When the bags lift the rear of the TV, the load on the WD bars will decrease.
When the load on the WD bars decreases, the load on the TV's front axle will decrease and the load on the rear axle will increase.
When the load on the front decreases and the load on the rear increases, the WDH will no longer be properly adjusted.
When the WDH is no longer properly adjusted, you get angry.
When you get angry --- (sorry, I just watched a DirecTV commercial)

Ron

If I had a 1 ton pickup truck I wouldn't use the Land Cruiser due to the short wheelbase. The truck will be a much safer tow vehicle.

If you install a properly sized and properly adjusted WD system you can stop right there and no air bags or helper springs should be required. Really does nothing when towing a conventional trailer but can level you out with improper sizing or adjusting of the WD system.
Good luck / Skip

WD first, if you're still not level, then get air bags.

the instructions on our equalizer brand wd hitch say to attach trailer and wd to tv first, then air up.

air up first, them add tongue weight, then add wdh according to my air lift bags.

Most important is the weight distribution. You need to transfer weight back to the front axle. Once you have the WD configured correctly, if you still have squat you can use the air bags to level out.