Barney, that definition looks good, however there is still one thing that bothers me.
Even though tongue weight remains unchanged, Ron has proved that the tension forces DO change the weight at the receiver. In Ron's drawing he notes that the WD removes 300#s from the receiver. As we all know this point really confused me because I thought that very same 300#s was removed(distributed off) the tongue as well. It seems this is not the case. Ron has shown that whether the tongue weight is 0#s or 1000#s, ONLY 300#s (in his particular example) is removed and is done so by bar tension. This is extremely important to know otherwise the hitch would be overloaded as many of you have pointed out.
I don't want to see the definition become too long - simple is always better, but I think this is a VERY important function/feature of the WD system.
Perhaps the note should read: When the WD bars are engaged the actual tongue weight does not change, however the hitch load changes because some of the downward force exerted by the tensioners on the TT's A-frame is transferred to the TT's axles. The hitch load is reduced by the same amount.
That would sum up Ron's thoughts rolled up into one sentence. How do you all feel about this?
