Forum Discussion

bbells's avatar
bbells
Explorer
Mar 07, 2017

Trailer front wheels warmer, WDH the cause?

Question: Will having the WDH set too tight cause extra weight on the front axle of the TRAILER? I followed the directions for re-setting up my weight distribution hitch and now the tires on the front axle get much warmer than the rear axles and the tire pressure increases (of course). The tire pressure goes from 50 to 70+ pounds. I know that is still a safe place to be, but it would be nice to know what is going on so I can reduce the problem. Outdoor temps affect this a little, but do not seem to be the cause of the problem. This did not happen before I 'tightened' the WDH more. I setup the WDH so the differences between the front and rear height of my Toyota Tundra are about equal to what they were without the trailer. I went from my previous 3 links unused to 5 links unused. I have checked for dragging brakes, moved weight from the front to the back of the trailer, checked the wheel bearings and re-greased them. None of which made any difference at all. I am checking the pressure with both my Tire Minders and a hand psi tester. I am checking the temperature with both a laser and the Tire Minders. I have moved the Tire Minders to other tires and still have the same problem with the same axle. It appears something changed when I changed the WDH. Could the WDH be too tight? Thanks for any help!
TV: Toyota Tundra
Trailer: North Trail, 4600lb dry weight, dual axle.
  • bbells's avatar
    bbells
    Explorer
    Mar 09, 2017
    Sorry for the delay. My tries at posting have timed out. Oh well. Here is how I
    fixed it on my 2 year old trailer:
    I used the Equalizer hitch instructions instead of the Eaz-Lift ones for
    my wdh. They seemed more realistic. This meant I raised my ball a little
    over an inch and tilted it back several degrees more. This allowed me to
    be on the 6th chain link and met the Equalizer standards for the front
    and back of the truck. I took it for a 70-80
    mile ride today at 60mph and it appears the temps and pressures have
    normalized. In fact, the treads on the front axle were running 1 degree
    cooler than the rear. Not statistically significant. Also, 2 psi was the
    maximum increase I had in any tire (That is a very slight increase). I
    think the problem was a combo of 2 things: The dealer set the angle
    wrong on the hitch (and I didn't bother checking it) and I did not set
    the height properly when I re-did things.
  • humblerb's avatar
    humblerb
    Explorer
    Mar 10, 2017
    bbells wrote:
    I think the problem was a combo of 2 things: The dealer set the angle

    For Travel Trailers, the dealer doing anything with the set up will nearly always be an issue.

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