Newbie...So I Need Help with WDH

Fred,

Thanks for the reply, great information. I checked the sticker and it says 2861lbs. Cargo Carrying Capacity.

Hi,

There is a sticker in the glovebox that has the cargo rating for your truck, and knowing that information will help a lot of people who will offer advice on the hitch set up. You do have plenty of cargo rating from what I see, but like stated above, a lot of firewood in the bed of the truck, and you will get close to the GVWR.

Yes the hitch weight can go up by 200 - 400 pounds when the water tank is full (depending on it's location) and you start filling the cabinets with food and camping gear. I would be selecting a hitch rated at 1000 pounds of hitch weight, even if yours is only 800, you will have a lot of safety margin, and probably will be less likely to need to upgrade in a few years if you buy another RV.

Many who are towing with 3/4 ton trucks try to get the WD bars really tight, and that is not really required with your truck, where the back end will not sag, and the front end is not pointed skyward by the hitch weight. Tighten them to much, and it will bounce, and not add to the stability. If they are very loose, all that extra weight on the rear tires will add side to side stability. But you don't want it very loose.

Also have the dealership show you how to raise the trailer A-Frame enough to make putting on the WD bars easy. Many skip this step, and try to use brute force to install the WD bars, and while that is possible, taking them off under tension can break your arm if the handle gets out of control.

For that reason alone, I like the ProPride hitch. You tighten the WD bars with a drill that is a jack-screw, and it lifts the bars into place with a 3/4" bolt driving a screw that pulls on the bars. IT tracks better than other hitch systems. But you have a small trailer, and probably don't 'need' the ProPride. It is known as the best way to prevent side to side sway and improve handling.

Have fun with your new trailer!

Fred.

You will be fine. 10K Equalizer should work great. At the very worst, your trailer could have 1200lbs of TW, but I don't see it happening. Out of the factory, it is a tad over 10%, so I don't see it going over 1000 lbs.

Your 2500 with the 6.4 has lots of payload available. That is the nice thing about the gas engines. They are light.

Understood....thank you for the relpy. I'm wondering if I should play it safe and go for the 12,000? What would be the negatives in doing so besides price? I wont be hauling an atv or snything like that. 4 people in truck, camping gear, bikes, coolers etc.

Problem is I will be purchasing from dealer and I can't load up and run to the scale before purchase and set up of WDH.

The equalizer rated at 10,000 has a tongue rating of 1,000. So I'm assuming If I keep the supplies in the bed under 300lbs, I should be within the 1,000 tongue weight limit?

You certainly do not want to purchase a WDH that is underrated for your trailer. More for the tongue weight than the full trailer weight. You always end up with a hitch rated for more than the trailer weighs because of tongue weight.

In your case a 10,000lb hitch SHOULD work okay, but you won't know for sure until you load up and get a loaded tongue weight. For all we know the tongue weight will burgeon to 1200lbs when you're loaded up.

As far as "leeway" you won't have as much as you think. It will be far and away better than a 1/2 ton truck, but you can't stack the bed full of lead ingots and hit the road. Some 2500 trucks have LESS rated payload than 1/2 tons, the difference being they handle that weight much better and take to being overloaded much better.