Neewbe questions hitch / weight

[Elev8rman]

Hi there i about as green as it gets with trailers. Belived i would be a truck and tent goer and gave people hard times for buying trailer until i slept in brother inlaws trailer on last hunt. Annnnd i went out and bought my own . I got a 2007 keystone raptor 3018 tt. With 1200lb hw .max 13000. I rebuilt gen . Figured out electrical , water heater ,gas and water sytems . In the process of touchn up rubber roof and figuring out how to clean and preserve it. But by far the biggest issue i have now is distribution hitch. I have talked to and emailed. Multiple sources from trailer shops ,rv places manufatures, google and alot of people and got more different answers or no answers at all and just idk or this should work. Basically this is it. I got 1200lb hw what size dist hitch do i need . And do i have to factor in propane bottles and batts. I understand the extra weights such as truck bed cargo water ect. But at this point i been told from 1200lb which i know is wrong. All the way up to 1700lb.and which brands to look into. Iwould prefer one of those with dist,sway in one.i know there prob some other factors i missing. Any help /advice would be greatly appreciated. I can tell already from browsing this group gonna help. Make it a great day .

[handye9]

Different hitch manufacturers, make their hitches with varying weight ratings. One may have them in 200 lb increments, where another may have 3 or 4 hundred lb increments, and some have 200 lb increments up to a certain point and then jump 3 or 400 lbs.

If your loaded (includes propane, batteries, and camping load) is 1200 lbs, you should look for a hitch that is rated higher than 1200. That may be 1400, 1500, or 1700 lbs, depending on the manufacturer.

Keep in mind, your hitch (AKA tongue weight) is not a constant number. It goes up and down during every trip. You may load different things in different places, you may have varying levels in your holding tanks, you may have varying levels of propane on board, etc, and you may have varying levels of beer and groceries.

Your holding tanks can actually affect your hitch weight quite a bit. Those in front of the trailer axles will add hitch weight, and those behind the axles will subtract hitch weight. There may be times when your hitch weight goes over 1200 lbs.

During any given trip, my hitch weight can be anywhere between 975 and 1200 lbs. I use the 1500 lb BlueOx Swaypro (built in sway control).

[Elev8rman]

So best bet is to get a hitch scale an check all weights empty/ full. And yes i kinda dove in head first. Lol

[Elev8rman]

So best bet is to get a hitch scale an check all weights empty/ full. And yes i kinda dove in head first. Lol

[Elev8rman]

2015 dodge 3500

[LarryJM]

Elev8rman wrote:
Hi there i about as green as it gets with trailers. Belived i would be a truck and tent goer and gave people hard times for buying trailer until i slept in brother inlaws trailer on last hunt. Annnnd i went out and bought my own . I got a 2007 keystone raptor 3018 tt. With 1200lb hw .max 13000. I rebuilt gen . Figured out electrical , water heater ,gas and water sytems . In the process of touchn up rubber roof and figuring out how to clean and preserve it. But by far the biggest issue i have now is distribution hitch. I have talked to and emailed. Multiple sources from trailer shops ,rv places manufatures, google and alot of people and got more different answers or no answers at all and just idk or this should work. Basically this is it. I got 1200lb hw what size dist hitch do i need . And do i have to factor in propane bottles and batts. I understand the extra weights such as truck bed cargo water ect. But at this point i been told from 1200lb which i know is wrong. All the way up to 1700lb.and which brands to look into. Iwould prefer one of those with dist,sway in one.i know there prob some other factors i missing. Any help /advice would be greatly appreciated. I can tell already from browsing this group gonna help. Make it a great day .

Well you certainly jumped in with both feet. That TT is one large, heavy trailer and a TH to boot with over a 2T carrying capacity and huge water capacity. IMO you are definitely in the 3/4T 170"+ WB TV territory at a minimum and am holding my breath to hear what you intend to haul this monster around with. Again IMO this is where a Sherline TW scale is a must and I recommend you determine the TW for various loading conditions from like no toys, no water to full load of toys and full water and all combos to see what your range of TWs might be. Only then will you have something more solid to determine what WDH system you need, but I think you are at least the 1400 to 1700 lb range and at the heavier end of that range.

Larry

[bailer6334]

You have not told us what tow vehicle you are planning on towing with. Only caution I would give is check your "Hitch Capacity" as well and for good towing stay between 10 & 15% weight on the tongue.

[Lynnmor]

You should be able to get the answers here: WDH

[Lwiddis]

Elve, let’s start with “cleaning the roof.” No need to clean your rubber roof. Seam/edge maintenance, yes. Forget guessing at your tongue weight. Weigh it loaded and wet.