WDH effects on TV rear axle?
I was just getting done reading the 18 page thread on WDH and what they do. I was going to post there but realized that was from 2004. Anyway a question I have is my travel trailer has a tongue we...
Forum Discussion
Thanks for the reply Scott. There seems to be some difference of opinion as to whether or not any additional weight can be added to the front using the WDH. I tend to believe that you can. After I had a talk with the RV mechanic that set the hitch up on the truck he said that definitely the weight is being distributed to the front and rear axle of the tow vehicle and the axles of the trailer. He also stated that it is proportional to the amount of tension you put on the bars. I am probably going to be close to 1000# of tongue weight on the truck or a little less once we load our few things for camping, the 900# was measured after the propane tanks and battery was installed so I believe that will be the biggest contributor of tongue weight.
I am sure I am going to catch a ton of flack for this but the reason I am discussing this is because I am pulling this trailer with a 2013 Silverado 1500. We never go further than 200 miles from home and never travel with tanks full. I never questioned the tongue weight as I guess I really never thought about it. Just knew what the trailer weighed and they set me up with the hitch I needed. I ran the numbers and I will be right at or slightly over GVWR of the truck but definitely not over the GAWR of the rear axle. Dealer I bought the truck from didn't seem to concerned at all about it and stated that they have had guys pulling 34' trailers with the 1500. I don't think I would do that. The only thing they said I may need to do is replace the P rated tires on the truck if they seem to shimmy too much.
Now I don't want to start a fight over this and I am not condoning it, I agree we should have gotten a 3/4 ton truck but we already own the truck and trailer and while I think it will be close to the limits I am not replacing them. After talking to a couple of guys in the service department they stated while it would not be good to exceed the trucks maximum rated capacity, the truck isn't going to fall apart if you do by a little. They said the numbers are pretty conservative for two reasons, one legal reasons, and two probably the biggest is they give themselves plenty of cushion because of the 100,000 mile warranty on the powertrain. However they did state if you were doing this on a daily basis then no way but a handful of times a year camping is not going to kill that truck.
I am sure I am going to catch a ton of flack for this but the reason I am discussing this is because I am pulling this trailer with a 2013 Silverado 1500. We never go further than 200 miles from home and never travel with tanks full. I never questioned the tongue weight as I guess I really never thought about it. Just knew what the trailer weighed and they set me up with the hitch I needed. I ran the numbers and I will be right at or slightly over GVWR of the truck but definitely not over the GAWR of the rear axle. Dealer I bought the truck from didn't seem to concerned at all about it and stated that they have had guys pulling 34' trailers with the 1500. I don't think I would do that. The only thing they said I may need to do is replace the P rated tires on the truck if they seem to shimmy too much.
Now I don't want to start a fight over this and I am not condoning it, I agree we should have gotten a 3/4 ton truck but we already own the truck and trailer and while I think it will be close to the limits I am not replacing them. After talking to a couple of guys in the service department they stated while it would not be good to exceed the trucks maximum rated capacity, the truck isn't going to fall apart if you do by a little. They said the numbers are pretty conservative for two reasons, one legal reasons, and two probably the biggest is they give themselves plenty of cushion because of the 100,000 mile warranty on the powertrain. However they did state if you were doing this on a daily basis then no way but a handful of times a year camping is not going to kill that truck.
