Weight distribution or no?
Recently bought a new trailer (18ft Retro 177) and I don't know if I need a weight distribution hitch for it? I have a Blue Ox Sway Pro from my old 30ft trailer but the 1000# bars are way to much. The...
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Campfire Time wrote:mowermech wrote:
The WD hitch is also necessary if the weight of the trailer takes too much weight off of the tow vehicle steering.
This is the correct answer. There is a spec for this in your owners manual. You measure the front fender height before and after the trailer is set on the hitch. GM says to adjust the WDH so that the front fender is back to stock height. I believe Ford allows for half the distance.
I think it's possible that you won't need one. But I would hook it up and drive it down the freeway. If the steering feels "squirrelly", that is that you don't have the same level of control as not towing, then yes you need the WDH hitch. Keep in mind that where it becomes the biggest issue is when getting pelted with a 30 mph cross wind.
Sway control is insurance. You don't need it until you need it. People will say "I've towed 100 million miles without a problem". That may be. But there is that one in a million incident that causes uncontrolled sway.
Think I will just leave it for now. When I put the trailer on I am lucky if the truck squats an inch so no problem there. Was more about sway as 3-4 months a year were I live we regularly get 70-90km/h wind gusts here. I normally stay off the roads then but sometimes it sneaks up on ya.
Thanks for the help
