WDH - how much does it reduce tongue weight?
We've been told that a good load distribution hitch will redistribute as much as 30% of the tongue weight. The vehicle we want can tow 7500# but is limited to a tongue weight of 600#. If what we...
Forum Discussion
BarneyS wrote:
The receiver is the square tubed hitch attached to the rear of the tow vehicle. It may be 2.5 inches, 2 inches, or 1.25 inches square.
The draw bar, or WD hitch shank, slides into the receiver and is held in there by a 1/2 inch or 5/8 in diameter pin.
The draw bar will have the ball attached and the shank usually has several holes in it, is L shaped, and has the hitch head attached to which the ball and the weight distribution bars are attached.
Ball Mount or Draw Bar
WD hitch head mounted on shank
All receivers have a weight limit attached to them and that means just what the receiver is capable of - not necessarily the whole vehicle. There are other limits imposed on the vehicle by the manufacturer that may be higher or lower than those of the receiver. In other words, your receiver may be capable of carrying 1000lbs but the manufacturer limits the tongue weight to 600lbs for some reason.
Barney
We were told that MB is extremely conservative in the weights they post in the doorframe, reducing them as much as 35% from what is really physically possible. So the posted payload limit is about 1200# but the tech website says it can handle between 1500 and 1600#. Same for GVWR - what's posted is 7500 but the website says closer to 10000. We are ignoring the higher numbers and going with the lower, of course, but it has occurred to us that the same may be true of the hitch weight limits in the manual. We intend to try to reduce the 780# we've got to as close to 600# as possible, but are wondering if there's any play in that number - would 630# cause a serious problem?
