Hitch - Weight Carrying Capacity
Was reading some other active posts in towing section and have a question on weight carrying capacity that does not seem to get addressed. I also want to expand my knowledge of course.
Is this capacity "performance" related? Meaning once you go over say 500 lbs (what most are) the front of the truck is up too high and you need a weight distribution hitch to distribute the weight and level it out.
When I say forward most, I mean closest to axle and when I say rear most, I mean closest to bumper.
Not taking into account any shear force on bolts because I only see that as being relative to the max tow rating.
When no WDH is used, it seems to me that say 1000 lbs on the hitch pushes down on the receiver and the rear most bolts on the receiver are in tension to support that weight and the forward most bolts do less and maybe nothing because the forward most part of the receiver pushes up against the frame, assuming there is some kind of rotational force due to the hitch connection (On edit, forward most bolts probably have some tension as well). Then when WDH is used, the rear most bolts are in tension from the hitch weight as above and the forward most part of the receiver is pulling away from the frame so the forward most bolts are now also in tension.
Seems to me like either the forward most bolts or forward most and rear most bolts get the tension depending on use of WDH, so what's the difference since they are the same kind of bolts.
With 1000 lb tongue weight, does the WDH actually cause more tension in the forward most bolts when engaged than there is on the rear most bolts without the WDH?
What am I missing or not taking into account?
Seems structurally there is no difference, so that would make the rating driven by performance based on the suspension.
Is this capacity "performance" related? Meaning once you go over say 500 lbs (what most are) the front of the truck is up too high and you need a weight distribution hitch to distribute the weight and level it out.
When I say forward most, I mean closest to axle and when I say rear most, I mean closest to bumper.
Not taking into account any shear force on bolts because I only see that as being relative to the max tow rating.
When no WDH is used, it seems to me that say 1000 lbs on the hitch pushes down on the receiver and the rear most bolts on the receiver are in tension to support that weight and the forward most bolts do less and maybe nothing because the forward most part of the receiver pushes up against the frame, assuming there is some kind of rotational force due to the hitch connection (On edit, forward most bolts probably have some tension as well). Then when WDH is used, the rear most bolts are in tension from the hitch weight as above and the forward most part of the receiver is pulling away from the frame so the forward most bolts are now also in tension.
Seems to me like either the forward most bolts or forward most and rear most bolts get the tension depending on use of WDH, so what's the difference since they are the same kind of bolts.
With 1000 lb tongue weight, does the WDH actually cause more tension in the forward most bolts when engaged than there is on the rear most bolts without the WDH?
What am I missing or not taking into account?
Seems structurally there is no difference, so that would make the rating driven by performance based on the suspension.
