I am pulling my 5400 lb 26 ft hyplite with 2003 2500 HD crew cab. I the Reese 9000 lb hitch with sway control and the tires aired up at 70 lb. Tomorrow I'm going to load my two 500 lb atv hoping the weight in the back will help before I start trying to adjust the sway bay to get more weigh on the front. This is my first toy hauler. Are toy hauler heaver in the front.Should I adjust the Reese hitch with it loaded?

Chances are that if it pulls really bad, the hitch is adjusted to tight. If you had a 1960's station wagon, then you must put weight on the front axle, and that is when the WD systems where developed, for CARS! A truck, especially a F-250 or F-350 that can handle the 1,000 pound hitch weight uses a WD system, it does not need to be very tight at all. The front axle starts out with well over 3,500 pounds on it, and is likely to not pop up in the air (like a CAR). The rear axle only has about 3,000 pounds on it, and the ride will benefit from the extra weight. Try this. Hitch up the ball only. Attach the bars by HAND, with no extension bar. (it will be to loose and very loose at this point and not distribute any weight). Check the links in the chain, and count them. Then tighten it only 1 link. Does that put a 'little' pressure on the bars? (little is not a exact science term, so you probably need to tighten it one more link.) But do not go wild and try to get the front bumper to curtsy, and drop by 1/2" or anything. That is something that a CAR would do.Try it out towing, without the ATV's. Lets estimate your hitch weight at say 800 pounds. The wheelbase will determine how much lighter the hitch weight will become ONCE the 800 pounds of ATV's are put into the trailer. If it tows fine with the WD loose, and no ATV's (we will get to that later) then try it with the ATV's. However the ATV's will drop the hitch weight, so it will need to loosen the WD system a little bit to make up for the lighter hitch.How much lighter? That really depends on the distance from the center of the ATV weight to the rear most axle, and how much distance it is from the center of the axles to the hitch ball. For an example, lets take a im-perfect trailer. Lets say that the trailer ball to center of axle is 10 feet, and it is 10 more feet to the rear door, and your ATV is hanging 1/2 way out the door, so it's 800 pounds of weight is at the door. If the hitch weight was 800 pounds, you have just counterbalanced 800 pounds off the bumper, and now there is 0 pounds on the hitch. See where I am going?For a more realistic measurement, your trailer might have 26' overall length, so 18 feet between ball and center of the axles, and 8' center of axles to the rear door, with the 800 pound ATV load about 4' forward of the rear doors (center of load weight). Or 18' from ball to center of axle, and 4' from axle to center of 800 pound load. 18/4= about 4.5:1 So for every 450 pounds of ATV load, you will take away 100 pounds of hitch weight (IF YOUR distances are the same as this example).You have no clue if your hitch weight right now is 500 or 900 pounds. It is probably somewhere in between. It MUST never be negative weight. So once the ATV is loaded, you should have something heavy in the front of the axles too, like clothing, food, ect. Perhaps the water tank is forward? Normally they are. So will the grey and black tanks, so you should have 'plenty' of hitch weight. Have a great time camping!Hopefully the trailer will behave with the WD bars much looser. Then try it with the ATV inside. With such a light trailer, towing without WD bars would be acceptable, (for a 2500 series truck) except that your hitch (and all brands of hitches) require the WD bars to be rated at 10,000 pounds GTW and 1,000 pounds (or more) hitch weight. Most hitches are only rated at around 5,000 pounds GTW and 500 pounds hitch weight when not using a WD bar system. Only a few are rated higher weights without the WD bars. Fred.

Your handling problems are definitely in your hitch setup. My F250 towed 11K+ lbs using a WDH without issues, but it took a couple trips to get my hitch set at the proper height, tilt and spring bar tension.Do you have any actual weights of your setup when you are unhitched verses hitched?

Chances are that if it pulls really bad, the hitch is adjusted to tight. If you had a 1960's station wagon, then you must put weight on the front axle, and that is when the WD systems where developed, for CARS! A truck, especially a F-250 or F-350 that can handle the 1,000 pound hitch weight uses a WD system, it does not need to be very tight at all. The front axle starts out with well over 3,500 pounds on it, and is likely to not pop up in the air (like a CAR). The rear axle only has about 3,000 pounds on it, and the ride will benefit from the extra weightX 2

jmtandem wrote:Chances are that if it pulls really bad, the hitch is adjusted to tight. If you had a 1960's station wagon, then you must put weight on the front axle, and that is when the WD systems where developed, for CARS! A truck, especially a F-250 or F-350 that can handle the 1,000 pound hitch weight uses a WD system, it does not need to be very tight at all. The front axle starts out with well over 3,500 pounds on it, and is likely to not pop up in the air (like a CAR). The rear axle only has about 3,000 pounds on it, and the ride will benefit from the extra weightX 2x3I have my WDH on the minimum setting of the bars - 4 links on my Easi-lift with 900lb bars. It is almost pointless on 250/3500 series truck to fight the front springs pushing weight forward from a very unloaded rear axle. I have 900lbs of tongue weight with my KZ and had very weird handling until I quit treating the F350 like my F150 which need a LOT of front compression to move some weight forward off the rear axle. Once I backed off trying to move weight forward everything fell together on handling and ride.Don't fight the truck.

I have my WDH on the minimum setting of the bars - 4 links on my Easi-lift with 900lb bars. It is almost pointless on 250/3500 series truck to fight the front springs pushing weight forward from a very unloaded rear axle. I have 900lbs of tongue weight with my KZ and had very weird handling until I quit treating the F350 like my F150 which need a LOT of front compression to move some weight forward off the rear axle. Once I backed off trying to move weight forward everything fell together on handling and ride. Don't fight the truck. I have been saying this for years especially with heavy front engine diesel pickups. Add to that the manufacturer's design the truck to carry loads (except people) in the rear. Some trucks (like mine) sit 'butt' high empty so that when properly loaded it rides level. For some reason, people try to unload the rear where the manufacturer provides for the load to be carried and put some of that back to the front axle where no more load (or very little more) should be carried. Some truck manufacturers now state that it is not recommended to try to load the front axle anymore than half the weight taken off. Yet, so many still think that 1000-1500 pounds tongue weight needs to be reduced on a one ton or even a three quarter ton truck that has a payload of 2800-4700 or more pounds. We sometimes don't understand what a weight distribution hitch does and often confuse sway mitigation/control with weight distribution. They are two separate issues. Even the fulcrum affect of adding 1000 pounds tongue weight behind the rear axle on a stout pickup comes nowhere near the teeter totter affect that would so affect passenger cars or station wagons. In fact, it probably mades the truck ride better having a little more weight back there.A major benefit of the premium hitches like Hensley, ProPride and PullRite is that the sway function is separate from weight distributon so the hitch can be adjusted to accommodate both as needed.

My 2007 toy hauler 26 ft still pulls bad | Good Sam Community

nvreloader
Explorer
Dec 06, 2014
Go to the TOWING section on this forum and read the WD Hitch set up by R Gratz, the best info you can read.

He helped me and gave me more good info than I could asked for.

Hth,

Tia,
Don
debraindi
Explorer
Dec 04, 2014
jmtandem wrote:
E raided tires 80 lb max,all the tire shops look up the 2500 HD they wont sell anything less then E rated tires for my Truck.

Some confusion but you are correct. I thought you were talking about the pressure of the tires on the toyhauler, not the truck. 70 psi sounds just fine for the truck.

Sorry about the confusion ,I replayed in your early post . 9000 lb GVW for a 5400 lb toy hauler is extreme .
jmtandem
Explorer II
Dec 04, 2014
E raided tires 80 lb max,all the tire shops look up the 2500 HD they wont sell anything less then E rated tires for my Truck.

Some confusion but you are correct. I thought you were talking about the pressure of the tires on the toyhauler, not the truck. 70 psi sounds just fine for the truck.
debraindi
Explorer
Dec 04, 2014
jmtandem wrote:
I am pulling my 5400 lb 26 ft hyplite with 2003 2500 HD crew cab. I the a Reese 1400 lb hitch with sway control and the tires aired up at 70 lb.

Are you sure that is the correct amount of air pressure. It seems high for that light of a trailer. 5400 pounds must be the dry weight. Never use dry weights for any calculations. What is the trailer's gross weight rating?

The GVW is 9000 Lb stamped inside and out side the tires are E rated. I wouldn't think of loading 4000 LBs in it. The frame 8 inch I beam other then the steel frame its all aluminum and foam.

Tomorrow I going to load my two 500 lb atv hoping the weight in the back will help before I start trying to adjust the sway bay to get more weigh on the front.

Might just be semantics but you want to adjust the weight distribution spring bars to effect weight distribution.

This is my first toy hauler. Are toy hauler heaver in the front.Should I adjust the Reese hitch with it loaded?

Yes on both. Ideally the tongue weight should be around 13 percent and not less than 10 percent to avoid sway. Toy haulers are tongue heavy empty to allow for the added weight of toys behind the toyhauler's axles. Adjust the spring bars with the toys included when carrying the toys. Then go to the scales and weigh the tongue's percentage of the total trailer's weight.
debraindi
Explorer
Dec 03, 2014
E raided tires 80 lb max,all the tire shops look up the 2500 HD they wont sell anything less then E rated tires for my Truck.The Reese hitch I bought off crags list is marked 1400 lb over kill. It was set up for a lot higher truck then my truck. I raised the hitch one hole up and slid the torsion bars back and pulled it down I 25. Before the re do I felt jittery. The test drive was relaxing. The next thing to do is load it with 1000 lbs of toys. Thanks for all the help with the hitch and toy hauler.
Bedlam
Moderator
Dec 03, 2014
Unless you have an aftermarket receiver on your truck that can handle all of the tongue weight, you need weight distribution engaged so you do not overload your hitching system. Look on your receiver to see your weight carrying verses distributed carrying capacities. Expect toy haulers to have 15-20% of their GVWR on the tongue even when empty - This is why it is important to get actual weights instead of guessing how much.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Dec 03, 2014
I am pulling my 5400 lb 26 ft hyplite with 2003 2500 HD crew cab. I the Reese 9000 lb hitch with sway control and the tires aired up at 70 lb.

Are you sure that is the correct amount of air pressure. It seems high for that light of a trailer. 5400 pounds must be the dry weight. Never use dry weights for any calculations. What is the trailer's gross weight rating?

Tomorrow I'm going to load my two 500 lb atv hoping the weight in the back will help before I start trying to adjust the sway bay to get more weigh on the front.

Might just be semantics but you want to adjust the weight distribution spring bars to effect weight distribution.

This is my first toy hauler. Are toy hauler heaver in the front.Should I adjust the Reese hitch with it loaded?

Yes on both. Ideally the tongue weight should be around 13 percent and not less than 10 percent to avoid sway. Toy haulers are tongue heavy empty to allow for the added weight of toys behind the toyhauler's axles. Adjust the spring bars with the toys included when carrying the toys. Then go to the scales and weigh the tongue's percentage of the total trailer's weight.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Dec 03, 2014
I parked the rig on leave ground and raised the trailer up and lifted the square bars with a hook into the friction pads on the trailer hitch and lowered the trailer. I will redo the steps and release some of the weigh. I didn't realize the WDH would raise the back of the truck to the point of like over loading the rear of the trailer. I pull my skid steer with no WDH around 9000 LB if its off a foot either way it will sway. thank you

One of the negatitves of a weight distribution hitch is that it loads the trailer axles with additonal weight. And the axles and tires rarely need more weight. Of the amount that is redistibuted from the tongue weight about 20-25 percent is distributed to the trailer axles. Something to think about when determining how much or little tension to put on the spring bars.
debraindi
Explorer
Dec 03, 2014
I parked the rig on leave ground and raised the trailer up and lifted the square bars with a hook into the friction pads on the trailer hitch and lowered the trailer. I will redo the steps and release some of the weigh. I didn't realize the WDH would raise the back of the truck to the point of like over loading the rear of the trailer. I pull my skid steer with no WDH around 9000 LB if its off a foot either way it will sway. thank you
jmtandem
Explorer II
Dec 03, 2014
I have my WDH on the minimum setting of the bars - 4 links on my Easi-lift with 900lb bars. It is almost pointless on 250/3500 series truck to fight the front springs pushing weight forward from a very unloaded rear axle. I have 900lbs of tongue weight with my KZ and had very weird handling until I quit treating the F350 like my F150 which need a LOT of front compression to move some weight forward off the rear axle. Once I backed off trying to move weight forward everything fell together on handling and ride.

Don't fight the truck.

I have been saying this for years especially with heavy front engine diesel pickups. Add to that the manufacturer's design the truck to carry loads (except people) in the rear. Some trucks (like mine) sit 'butt' high empty so that when properly loaded it rides level. For some reason, people try to unload the rear where the manufacturer provides for the load to be carried and put some of that back to the front axle where no more load (or very little more) should be carried. Some truck manufacturers now state that it is not recommended to try to load the front axle anymore than half the weight taken off. Yet, so many still think that 1000-1500 pounds tongue weight needs to be reduced on a one ton or even a three quarter ton truck that has a payload of 2800-4700 or more pounds. We sometimes don't understand what a weight distribution hitch does and often confuse sway mitigation/control with weight distribution. They are two separate issues. Even the fulcrum affect of adding 1000 pounds tongue weight behind the rear axle on a stout pickup comes nowhere near the teeter totter affect that would so affect passenger cars or station wagons. In fact, it probably mades the truck ride better having a little more weight back there.

A major benefit of the premium hitches like Hensley, ProPride and PullRite is that the sway function is separate from weight distributon so the hitch can be adjusted to accommodate both as needed.

Forum Discussion

My 2007 toy hauler 26 ft still pulls bad

About Fifth Wheel Group

Related Content

Getting truck to pull toy hauler

Recommendation for New or Used Bumper Pull Toy Hauler

Toy Hauler Pictures

Bumper pull toy hauler

Truck camper on bumper pull trailer for toy hauler