Travel Trailer Tow questions
My wife and I have been thinking about trading in our 2012 Palomino Yearling 4100 popup camper for a travel trailer. We know what floorplan we want in a travel trailer and have been researching variou...
Forum Discussion
One more thought here..... It took me awhile to understand how a weight distribution system works because it was quite confusing to my older feeble (at times) brain. I tried to find the article which best explained it, and I will keep looking and post it when I find it.
Basically, the tongue weight does not change after you hook up the weight distribution hitch. All it does is take some of the weight applied by the tongue to the rear axle of the tow vehicle and transfer it to the front wheels of the tow vehicle and back to the trailer axles. The tongue weight is constant, although there is a slight difference because the angle between the trailer frame and the truck frame changes when the weight distribution system levels the combination. If you understand a bit about basic physics and vectors, you will know what that is about.
I have to think of it this way...... If you put a 50 pound backpack on and kneel on the floor upright, then all of that 50 pounds will be supported by the contact points of your knees and your toes. Now bend forward until your hands touch the floor and you have a bit of weight on them. THE BACKPACK STILL WEIGHS 50 POUNDS, but you have effectively removed some of the weight from your knees/toes and transferred it to your hands. The more you lean forward to straighten your back, the more weight you will transfer to your hands, and remove from your knees/toes. Effectively the same thing that the WD system does--level the truck and transfer weight FROM THE AXLE, NOT FROM THE HITCH.
Imagine that you are lying face down and you are being supported only by a narrow bench which is a foot off the floor. Your back is straight, so your hands, head and feet are not touching the floor. Now imagine that someone to put a 100 lb bag of flour across the back of your ankles. Your feet go down and your head goes up. Now get someone to grab your ankles and lift up until you are level again. You still have 100 lbs pushing down on your ankles, but now the person (acting as the weight distribution hitch) has stabilized you and transferred some of the force to himself.
Substitute people parts to truck/trailer parts, and hopefully you will begin to understand what happens Same thing happens with the tow vehicle when you hook up your trailer.
Pretty unscientific analogies, and I am not the best explainer for sure, but it works for me.
Hope this helps.
Basically, the tongue weight does not change after you hook up the weight distribution hitch. All it does is take some of the weight applied by the tongue to the rear axle of the tow vehicle and transfer it to the front wheels of the tow vehicle and back to the trailer axles. The tongue weight is constant, although there is a slight difference because the angle between the trailer frame and the truck frame changes when the weight distribution system levels the combination. If you understand a bit about basic physics and vectors, you will know what that is about.
I have to think of it this way...... If you put a 50 pound backpack on and kneel on the floor upright, then all of that 50 pounds will be supported by the contact points of your knees and your toes. Now bend forward until your hands touch the floor and you have a bit of weight on them. THE BACKPACK STILL WEIGHS 50 POUNDS, but you have effectively removed some of the weight from your knees/toes and transferred it to your hands. The more you lean forward to straighten your back, the more weight you will transfer to your hands, and remove from your knees/toes. Effectively the same thing that the WD system does--level the truck and transfer weight FROM THE AXLE, NOT FROM THE HITCH.
Imagine that you are lying face down and you are being supported only by a narrow bench which is a foot off the floor. Your back is straight, so your hands, head and feet are not touching the floor. Now imagine that someone to put a 100 lb bag of flour across the back of your ankles. Your feet go down and your head goes up. Now get someone to grab your ankles and lift up until you are level again. You still have 100 lbs pushing down on your ankles, but now the person (acting as the weight distribution hitch) has stabilized you and transferred some of the force to himself.
Substitute people parts to truck/trailer parts, and hopefully you will begin to understand what happens Same thing happens with the tow vehicle when you hook up your trailer.
Pretty unscientific analogies, and I am not the best explainer for sure, but it works for me.
Hope this helps.
