weight distribution question???

Campfire Time wrote:
With GM the spec is to bring it back to stock height. With at least some Fords it's allowable to have it adjusted to 1/2 the distance. Don't guess at this or take anyone's word for it. Your owner's manual has the final say.

Prior to 2012, GM said to restore the front height to the unhitched height.

Starting around 2012/13, GM now specifies that, when required to use a WDH, the WDH should be adjusted to remove about 50% of the front-end rise, for most truck/trailer combinations.

Ron

Each manufacture has a spec for using a WD and how much weight needs to be put back on the front axle. The spec uses a measurement of the front fender lip above the wheel before and after dropping the dead weight of the tongue onto the hitch.

With GM the spec is to bring it back to stock height. With at least some Fords it's allowable to have it adjusted to 1/2 the distance. Don't guess at this or take anyone's word for it. Your owner's manual has the final say.

AngryBert-63 wrote:
Weight distribution hitches are designed to distribute the tongue weight of your trailer evenly (as possible) between your front and rear axles - a minor google will explain this to you...

A WDH does not distribute the tongue weight as evenly as possible between front and rear axles.

For the OP's '07 F-150, a properly-adjusted WDH will transfer a load to the front axle which is approximately equal to the load which was removed by the tongue weight with no WD applied.
With proper WDH adjustment, the net load change on the TV's front axle will be approximately zero.

A load equal to approximately 75-80% of TW will be added to the TV's rear axle, and a load equal to approximately 20-25% of TW will be transferred to the trailer's axle(s).

Ron

I know on my 2004 F150, I had a similar sound. Upon further investigation, I found that the front coil spring had broke. Not too expensive of a fix. If this is the case, I would replace both with new "heavy duty" springs for a little bit more $.

IMO an F-150 should not be set up to drop the front and rear equal amounts. The WD bar should be set so the front bumper is 0 to ¼” higher hooked up than when not hooked up. This will put about the same amount of weight back on the front axle as it had when not towing which is what you want for proper steering. This will probably drop the back 2” or so. If the back does not look droopy then you have transferred enough weight to the front. Pickups sit high in the rear and are designed to drop under load (in the rear). I set up both my F-150 and F-350 this way to get normal weight on the steering axle for best handling (even though the F-350 hardly drops in the rear when hooked up.)

When you hang the tongue weight on back of the truck, it adds weight to rear axle and takes weight away from the front axle. The weight distribution hitch restore some, sometimes all of the weight lost from the front axle. That means, with the bars engaged and set up correctly, the front axle would be approximately the same weight as when the trailer is not hitched up.

If the front axle has too much weight removed (ie: no bars and a lot of tongue weight), it can make the truck / trailer combination unstable. Subconscious hand movement could cause the truck to wiggle, which in turn would cause the trailer to sway. Passing big rigs could also induce some tail wagging the dog.

Many trunion bar setups, are known for their creaking, groaning, and an occasional banging sound. It's possible, that is what you heard. If so, it's probably nothing to worry about.

It's also possible, something did come apart in your front end, doubtfull weight distribution would cause that. More likely bad roads.

Do a close inspection of the front end parts. If you find nothing, take a close look at the trunion bars. I had a trunion bar crack, and thought something on the truck had broken.

How old, and how many miles on the truck?

How old is the hitch?

How much tongue weight is on the trailer?

Don't know if there is even such a thing as a 1000kg (~2200 lb?? Really?)

What is the scaled tongue weight of your camper?

Weight distribution hitches are designed to distribute the tongue weight of your trailer evenly (as possible) between your front and rear axles - a minor google will explain this to you...

1 - it doesn't concentrate the weight to the front, it moves a portion to the front based on how YOU set it up.

2 - Very well could be - only you would know once you load and weigh

3 - Seeing as you're driving a light truck, I would almost bet that a WD hitch is necessary - you list no weights so it's impossible to tell.

You need to get smart on loading your vehicle Rudy. Do you have any idea what kind of weight you're pulling or how you have it loaded on your tow vehicle?