WD Needed?

campigloo wrote:
If you decide you need a WD you can get a very basic EazLift for about 250.00. It will do just fine, not the latest and greatest but capable. You can add sway contro later for less that 100.00 if you want to. EazLift has come out with one with built in sway control for 460.00 if you want to go that way. Both prices are through Amazon.

Henri,

You sound like a practical guy. I agree with Mike (campigloo) above. There really isn't a compelling reason to buy some of the more expensive hitches. A simple 1000# WD will help keep the front axle from steering light. Offhand, I do also own an expensive Hensley hitch (for a past very undersized truck) but I still prefer to use a common Eaz-Lift with my larger trucks because it is quicker to hitch. The lower price Eaz-Lift (including a "free" detachable friction sway control) looks like this:


The more expensive Eaz-lift looks like this:


The advantages to the pricy one are mainly that the straight bars assemble into clean, dry holes. So when you store them, they aren't greasy like the lower-cost bent bar set. I have the bent bar, and I throw sandwich bags over the greasy hook ends when I store them. The minor inconvenience saves $200 up front. But there is one other advantage to the straight bars, and that is that the hitch bars clear driveway dips better.

Price-wise, I often like to buy from PPL and their service has been fine too. Here is a link to their Eaz-Lift page: http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/eaz-lift-rv-hitches-tow-bars-dollys.htm
Amazon may be cheaper with free shipping. At any rate, the bent-bar hitches are closer to $200 than $250.

Since the included "friction-sway-control" pak was cheaper "with" than the "without inclusion" pak, I bought the former version. It is the same thing except the inclusion pak includes the components to an adjustable sliding bar assembly that uses a brake pad to damp sway (turning) with pure friction. I don't bother to use the sway control. You may wonder about a miracle "upgrade" claim to the straight-bar automatic sway control, such as promoted here. The miracle physics are that this hitch assembly has very ordinary built-in friction in it's swivel joints and bar sliders, not so hi-tech afterall. At least this brand version is also adjustable... a similar popular brand isn't.

If you have a concern with Eaz-Lift, here is a short video that explains how WD was invented by this company. At one time, Eaz-Lift also used to supply all the tempered steel WD bars for all the competing more expensive brands. They all work, but pretty much to the same degree except for a few. Lotta hype out there, eyeballing our wallets.

Also noticed you mentioned using a K&N filter. One caveat: If you will ever be in dusty conditions, they tend to pass a lot of fine dirt until they finally start to plug. Highway isn't so bad, but we found we couldn't use them on off-road vehicles without excessive engine wear, and neither could most other folks. For reclean-ability and water resistance off-road, we usually used oiled foam or fur-foam. But the best free-breathing small particle filters were still OEM paper types, if they don't have to be replaced too often. I personally think K&N is another case of advertising hype, fine on a clean dragstrip, boat etc.

Wes
...

OP, if you bought a Ram, it came with a reducer sleeve for the class V. Mine was either under the driver side rear seat of the crew cab or in the floor storage compartment. I can't remember which atm.

A reducer reduces the effectiveness of WDH if you do get one. When I bought my camper worked in a WDH as part of the deal. It came with an EZ-Lift that has a 2" shank. I used it with the reducer. It works but I'm going to buy the proper sized shank.

My dad has a 3500 DRW and had sway with his Stryker that grosses 10k. A simple friction type sway control eliminated it for him. My EZ-lift came with one. His sway issues stem from not enough tongue weight.

As posted earlier, a reciever hitch has 2 ratings. 1 for weight carrying, 1 for weight distribution. You are well within the WC capacity of a class v. Just be sure to get a stinger and ball with the capacity to carry the weight of your trailer. I see some guys pulling 10k with reese hitches good for 500/5000 and 6k balls and cringe when I think about having to share the road with these yay-hoos.

A WDH is less about the weight you tow, but the weight you put wayyyyyy out back on your truck. Combined with axle placement it acts like a lever and takes weight off your steering axles. This can be very dangerous for control but also for stopping as much of your braking comes from the front brakes. A WDH leverages some of your tounge weight, as much as 30%, and puts it on the front axle and trailer axle.

They make 2.5" to 2.0" sleeves that are only a few bucks. Just make sure the sleeve allows for the weight of your trailer. I've read that a few sleeves have a limited weight usage.

So I was checking out my hitch receiver last night and it's a class V with 2.5'' opening. All my hitches and my buddy's WD hitch (I borrow) are all 2''. Looks like another expense :(

I hope you have better experiences than me. Report back and let us know how it goes, maybe there's a problem with my truck.

camp-n-family wrote:
I have the same truck but in crew cab form. My tt weighs 7600lbs loaded. I wouldn't even think of towing it without a wd hitch. You'll want it more for sway control than anything else. It makes for a more stable and comfortable ride. Cheap insurance.

As for the truck, not happy with the performance of mine. Tows fine on the flats but always in 4th gear, really struggled on some hills in northern NY this past summer. Stuck at redline in 2nd gear and couldn't accelerate. It would die in 3rd. The issue is the tranny and 3.73 gears. If you want a Ram and will be pulling any hills regularly I would highly recommend going with the 6.4l with the 4.10s. It even gets better fuel economy.

Great... as you posted this I was signing on the dotted line for a 2015 2500 w/5.7 and 3.73 gears. I was going to get the Blue Ox for my Silverado but as suggested I'll go with a less expensive model w/ sway control. If what you say about hills is true maybe I'll invest in a K&N Intake for some additional horses. I'll be doing a test run come spring.

You're going to do it without it even if we say you need it. Good luck

If you decide you need a WD you can get a very basic EazLift for about 250.00. It will do just fine, not the latest and greatest but capable. You can add sway contro later for less that 100.00 if you want to. EazLift has come out with one with built in sway control for 460.00 if you want to go that way. Both prices are through Amazon.

Check the receiver on the truck. There will be two ratings. One for weight carrying and one for weight distributing.

The receiver may not be rated to carry the tongue weight without using a W/D set-up.

I have the same truck but in crew cab form. My tt weighs 7600lbs loaded. I wouldn't even think of towing it without a wd hitch. You'll want it more for sway control than anything else. It makes for a more stable and comfortable ride. Cheap insurance.

As for the truck, not happy with the performance of mine. Tows fine on the flats but always in 4th gear, really struggled on some hills in northern NY this past summer. Stuck at redline in 1st gear and couldn't accelerate. It would die in 2nd. The issue is the tranny and 3.73 gears. If you want a Ram and will be pulling any hills regularly I would highly recommend going with the 6.4l with the 4.10s. It even gets better fuel economy.