Would you tow this trailer home?

AirForceAngler wrote:

SilverEscape wrote:
Edit: and I've now read the thread posted earlier on WDH and I now get how the weight on the rear axle can make the rear lower, just as my manual states the rear of my vehicle will drop up to 1.5". Now, that being said, does EVERY vehicle have too much weight on the rear axle when towing? or are they designed differently maybe such that a vehicle can be designed to not have too much sag with a full tongue load? (ya know, like in the case of a vehicle where they designed it to be used without a WDH ;))

No, not every vehicle that squats in the back when loaded is overloaded. Many newer trucks will squat the first few inches with relatively light loads because of multi-stage springs. The first stage of springs is fairly soft so that the truck will ride better when unloaded. Add some weight and the truck squats to the next stage of springs that are stiffer in order to carry a load.

Correct, even when you use a WDH your vehicle will still be lower in the rear than stock, the hitch is transferring some of the weight back to the front end so that your steering axle is not unloaded. In order to steer properly your front axel requires weight to maintain a proper contact patch between the tires and road. Taking too much weight off of your steering axle makes less responsive to steering input.

I tow with a Ram 3500, much stiffer rear suspension than your MDX, when I hook up my trailer I am adding about 800# to the rear. When I move my rig around the yard, I do it without hooking up the spring bars and I can feel how light the steering has become.

When the spring bars are loaded, it transfers some of that 800# to the steering axle and the feel of the steering is back to normal. When you measure the bumper heights before and after the spring bars are loaded you will find that the front bumper comes back down some. The whole idea is to get the TV as close to level as you can so you have a well balanced and responsive vehicle.

Try this test, put 500# in the as far back as you can in your vehicle (keep in mind that your hitch is another foot or so behind the load) then go for a drive down the highway, if you can go in a straight line without a lot of steering input and being thrown around in the lane ruts then your may be good to go.

As a side note in BC the Commercial Vehicle Inspection guys can and do pull over RVs when they appear to be overloaded or incorrectly setup. I saw a poor guy in the Costco parking lot a few weeks back, the CVI guy was all over that rig like white on rice. When we came out of Costco about 45 mins later, the CVI guy have his book out writing the up a few nice blue papers.

Been towing for a few years now and I know over the years my hair has gotten grey, but my knuckles aren't white anymore when I tow. I'm thankful that I learned before I caused a serious accident.