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Don't overpay for a basic WD hitch

BurbMan
Explorer II
Explorer II
Well, it was only a matter of time, I see that Harbor Freight is now offering a 10k weight distributing hitch

Certainly nothing fancy about it but neither is the price....looks like it would do the job if you didn't need sway control. Anybody try one of these yet?
10 REPLIES 10

BenK
Explorer
Explorer
Back to Burbmanโ€™s original topicโ€ฆan old style WD Hitch system now being sold for many times lower than present day designed WD Hitches.

That bent, round bar WD Hitch system was my first and at that time a rule of thumb was โ€˜even dropโ€™ of the TV.

The dials & knobs and issues for them was :

#1โ€ฆto have the bars parallel with the tongue after setting up and of course the barโ€™s rating a big component

#2โ€ฆsome had head tilting capabilities and same as todayโ€™s tilting headsโ€ฆto point the bar ends lower before tensioning, which gave it more distance before getting to being parallel to the tongue.

#3โ€ฆBars falling off after the clip wears. I solved that with bungee cords wrapped around them during the trip and fix it when at home

#4โ€ฆfolks not greasing the zero on the bar end/head

They were simpler to setup
-Ben Picture of my rig
1996 GMC SLT Suburban 3/4 ton K3500/7.4L/4:1/+150Kmiles orig owner...
1980 Chevy Silverado C10/long bed/"BUILT" 5.7L/3:73/1 ton helper springs/+329Kmiles, bought it from dad...
1998 Mazda B2500 (1/2 ton) pickup, 2nd owner...
Praise Dyno Brake equiped and all have "nose bleed" braking!
Previous trucks/offroaders: 40's Jeep restored in mid 60's / 69 DuneBuggy (approx +1K lb: VW pan/200hpCorvair: eng, cam, dual carb'w velocity stacks'n 18" runners, 4spd transaxle) made myself from ground up / 1970 Toyota FJ40 / 1973 K5 Blazer (2dr Tahoe, 1 ton axles front/rear, +255K miles when sold it)...
Sold the boat (looking for another): Trophy with twin 150's...
51 cylinders in household, what's yours?...

noteven
Explorer III
Explorer III
I am using a DSP WD hitch that belonged to my father. He bought it used when our family go to Jasper and the BC Okanagan holiday campin' rig was a 1965 Pontiac Laurentian station wagon, 283 2spd powerglide, pulling a canned ham style trailer, probably 16 or 17ft.

Anyways it was made in Edmonton, AB sometime in the 60's. It's done about 24,000 miles of towing in the last 5 years.

They still make them today.

BenK
Explorer
Explorer
goducks10 wrote:
Geo*Boy wrote:
More junk from China!


Based on what? With the amount of China junk purchased in America you'd think there'd be a total breakdown of our way of life.


The world has shrunkโ€ฆand โ€˜weโ€™ are in it together generally speaking without politicsโ€ฆ

Have not found anyone locally that says โ€œChina/Japanese/etc junkโ€™ has 100% of their stuff NOt made โ€˜over thereโ€™โ€™

Especially clothing, watch, smart phone, electrons, vehicles, etc.

Especially sad to see one guy almost toss his Snap-On tools after pointing that out, but he decided where is pocketbook vs political opinion line wasโ€ฆ
-Ben Picture of my rig
1996 GMC SLT Suburban 3/4 ton K3500/7.4L/4:1/+150Kmiles orig owner...
1980 Chevy Silverado C10/long bed/"BUILT" 5.7L/3:73/1 ton helper springs/+329Kmiles, bought it from dad...
1998 Mazda B2500 (1/2 ton) pickup, 2nd owner...
Praise Dyno Brake equiped and all have "nose bleed" braking!
Previous trucks/offroaders: 40's Jeep restored in mid 60's / 69 DuneBuggy (approx +1K lb: VW pan/200hpCorvair: eng, cam, dual carb'w velocity stacks'n 18" runners, 4spd transaxle) made myself from ground up / 1970 Toyota FJ40 / 1973 K5 Blazer (2dr Tahoe, 1 ton axles front/rear, +255K miles when sold it)...
Sold the boat (looking for another): Trophy with twin 150's...
51 cylinders in household, what's yours?...

goducks10
Explorer
Explorer
Geo*Boy wrote:
More junk from China!


Based on what? With the amount of China junk purchased in America you'd think there'd be a total breakdown of our way of life.

NamMedevac_70
Explorer II
Explorer II
Geo*Boy wrote:
More junk from China!


It must be great to be a privileged person to say that and not be deleted by a


Sometimes us poor folks have to buy that

Geo_Boy
Explorer II
Explorer II
More junk from China!

larry_cad
Explorer II
Explorer II
I bought the Harbor Freight WDH when I got my 20' cargo trailer and have not had a problem yet. I hooks up easily and, well, it works. It's a big tandem axle trailer and I tow it with my 2001 Jeep GC with no problem.

I also bought the Curt ECHO brake controller and it works great.

I have not used the sway bars but have not needed them.
Today is my personal best for most consecutive days alive.

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NamMedevac_70
Explorer II
Explorer II
I think it best to get a WDH with sway control bars should you ever need them. Sometimes I did not use my Equalizer sway bars as I was towing a light TT with a HD ram 2500 V10 with great stability and no sway from passing semi trucks. Always used them when towing with my two Ram 1500s. Equalizer WDH was not expensive at all and a great hitch for me.

goducks10
Explorer
Explorer
You can find those basic WDH's on Craigslist quite often for dirt cheap.

Lynnmor
Explorer
Explorer
Actually they had those for years, they appear to be the same as a popular brand and have the same quality. A friction sway control also has been offered for years.