WDH question ???

UPDATE ....
We drove through the night and reached our destination in one piece...only problem was a bad taillight on the trailer that I fixed on the road...I noticed it was out when I stopped to walk the dog. Luckily there was a truck stop nearby and was able to get a 1157 bulb and a spare.

The truck handled well with the wdh but I guess the trade off with these things is the ride...the truck rode like a tandem Mack. Other than that it was good !

Bob T

taycotrains wrote:
WHEW !!!

OK I think I got it...


First thing I did was level out the trailer...That meant of course breaking down the whole hitch assembly to invert the ball hitch so it could go lower and of course that meant flipping over the mud flap bracket too...

its still pitched up a little but not as extreme as it was before.
I also went from 5 washer/shims to 6...7 just seemed like to much ball tilt.

I then cranked up the trailer with the the jack and got 5 full links not counting the half link in the bar and flopped that over with the bar on the drivers side...the passenger side was a PITA for some reason I could not get five links and six was to loose...I was getting pretty mad by this time when a friend stop by and suggested maybe the trailer was slightly twisted because of the crown in the road...I dont think that was the case myself...I took a bottle jack off the 56 Ford and shoved the spring bar up just enough to flop it over so there was 5 links on both sides.

A little late to this party, but you finally figured out the secret; pre-load by using the jack. When we load up our Airtsream I use the jack to lift the rear of the truck right off the ground, put the bars in place, and then lower and secure the whole setup.

You may find the handling improved with the WDH and trailer as you can now dial in your axle loads. Don't be afraid to play with the chain heights going forward. You can measure the drop of front and rear bumper/wheel well to determine how much pre-load you need to get level. In your case you should measure truck with no load/truck with TC/truck with TC and trailer to get some idea of how the chain tension is affecting the axle loads.
It all sound worse than it is...shouldn't take but an hour or so. Be sure you are on a level surface...as you found out this WILL affect the load on the bars. Once you get it set, you shouldn't have to mess with it again...unless your load changes significantly.

One other comment; I never did like the WDH's that use chains either. We use an Equalizer brand...it is VERY easy to setup, and eliminates sway potential.

Safe travels, Bill

I reallly don't think you need a WDH for your setup. The TC is light leaving plenty of payload. W/o a WDH, I have hauled similar load with my TC on board and never had an issue, always proper controlled.

That said, for proper setup of the bars, measure the front and rear bumper of the truck. Now connect the trailer and WDH bars, re-measure the bumpers. If the bumpers sag within 1" of each other with the rear sagging more, your bars are properly set. If the front does not sag within 1" of rear, than you need more tension in the bars. If the front sags equal or more than the rear, than you have to much tension in the bars.

I have found that I needed at least 6 links in the chain to allow enough for/aft slop to prevent the bars from being overloaded during turns.

Never buy a WDH that uses a bolt head against the main bar. With proper tensioning, the bolt head will sink into the main bar and readjustment required. Know from experience as this has happened before. Always try to use the style with the teeth on the side of the head and interlocking washers. Harder to adjust, but handles the load long term, especially when loaded heavy.

Above is all based on experience from hauling my first camper, a 30' TT with 1,000# tongue weight, puling it with a 92 F350 Crew Cab w/460.

Glad you got it figured out....but man, one of those reese setups with the brake friction plates and spring arms....is sooooooooooo much easier to connect and setup.

WHEW !!!

OK I think I got it...

My wife had the line of the night when I was out there changing everything around and was MFing the whole idea of ever getting involved with the TC...She called down from the deck and said...

"seems like a lot of aggravation to save 65.00 bucks a night on a motel"

GEE YA THINK !!!

First thing I did was level out the trailer...That meant of course breaking down the whole hitch assembly to invert the ball hitch so it could go lower and of course that meant flipping over the mud flap bracket too...



its still pitched up a little but not as extreme as it was before.
I also went from 5 washer/shims to 6...7 just seemed like to much ball tilt.

I then cranked up the trailer with the the jack and got 5 full links not counting the half link in the bar and flopped that over with the bar on the drivers side...the passenger side was a PITA for some reason I could not get five links and six was to loose...I was getting pretty mad by this time when a friend stop by and suggested maybe the trailer was slightly twisted because of the crown in the road...I dont think that was the case myself...I took a bottle jack off the 56 Ford and shoved the spring bar up just enough to flop it over so there was 5 links on both sides.

Drivers side...



Passenger side...



After I put everything away I took it for a ride around the block...nothing broke off when I turned a few corners so Im hoping its on right.

Thanks for all your help ...all of the suggestions worked.

Bob T

It's a bit late since your leaving in the morning, but have to give my 2 cents worth.

Your ball mount is at the bottom of the adjustment with the trailer still at a rising angle. That's why you don't have a lot of tension on the spring bars.

When you get back, flip your ball mount arm so that you can lower the ball mount until the trailer (empty) sits level on the hitch.

Then, when you have the trailer loaded, you should be able to bring the trailer and truck back to level and have tension on the spring bars.

The combination WDH and sway is nice. I have a friction bar to prevent sway, but never mounted the ball to the enclosed trailer tongue - This trailer has not needed it. My setup was from my TH which I sold to get into the TC world. Although the TH was almost the same length, it was taller and had much more surface area to push around.

I've never had a WDH with chains, I went straight to the anti-sway/weight distributing setup from reese.

I do know this....

You want your trailer to be level
You want your truck to be as close to level as possible

Those two goals are achieved by adjusting the WDH setup appropriately.

Here's a pic of my latest setup:

my set up

You cannot tell by my photo, but I am cocked to right at about 45 degrees to demonstrate why you need sufficient chain length. If I was pointed straight, the hanger would be lined up with the chain and the bar would be level.