Ford - Unhitched vs Hitched Fender Height

[Bob_Landry]

Just got a new F250, so I have to redo my WD. I'm going to split the difference between the two heights because that's what Ford says to do, but I'm a little curious why you would not want to return the same amount of weight to the front axle.

[Ron_Gratz]

acadianbob wrote:
I think it is about balance. Too much weight on the front; oversteer. Too LITTLE weight on the front; oversteer. The balance has to be right.

Did you mean to type oversteer/oversteer?

Or, did you mean to type oversteer/understeer?

Ron

[acadianbob]

I think it is about balance. Too much weight on the front; oversteer. Too LITTLE weight on the front; oversteer. The balance has to be right.

[mkirsch]

How it drives is totally subjective too. Some people are so "nerve dead" that they can't tell if there's any "swervyness" in their rig. I've gotten into friends' cars that were shaken to pieces because something was out of balance. Did they notice? Nope. Drives like a sports car to them. Skipping, sputtering... Did they notice? Nope. Purrs like a kitten to them. What, you mean I need to put GAS in it???

[gijoecam]

Dave Mck wrote:

Bob Landry wrote:
I'm not arguing with them either. They are the engineers...

Do you think these guys actually tow trailers around. Do you think they have ever taken a 1000 mile journey with a trailer? I'm putting all my money on no. They put info into a computer and see what it tells them.

While I can't speak for the other manufacturers, I can tell you with certainty that Ford absolutely does.

[Coyotecprs]

Setting up the Lincoln Navigator with its auto-leveling suspension was far more complicated. You pretty had to apply the WDH to have close to the same amount of drop on both axle. Maybe leave the rear a half inch lower than the front after the WDH is applied. The air-leveling always adjusted the air-pressure to level the vehicle. The best way is to plan on spending some time at a truck stop making multiple weighs and adjustments. For spring suspension you do pretty good just using the measurement method. Most of the hitches that have 500 WC but 1000 or 1200lb WDH mode need at least 50% return. The trucks have a light rear and just take more weight on the rear.

[Dave_Mck]

Bob Landry wrote:
I'm not arguing with them either. They are the engineers...

Do you think these guys actually tow trailers around. Do you think they have ever taken a 1000 mile journey with a trailer? I'm putting all my money on no. They put info into a computer and see what it tells them.

[TomG2]

Bob Landry wrote:
All good points and they add to the question... Why don't more people go to the trouble to insure their hitch is set up corruptly?

How do we define a bad setup? Weights, measurements, swerviness?

Many people are not mechanically inclined. Most trust their dealer, maybe they shouldn't, but who is going to tell them differently?

Many people believe if it tows "OK" then the setup must be "OK".

Many people overcome a bad setup by simply buying a bigger truck.

Where would you have them start? Weights? I see where a lot of people even on this forum misinterpret scale readings. Measurements? There is often disagreement about that too.

I think I like "swerviness" as well as anything. If it tows straight and true while not being bothered by wind or other traffic, then it might not be too bad. The problem is that "Swerviness" can happen with a perfectly installed hitch, if the tow vehicle and the towed vehicle are not matched.

[Ron_Gratz]

I hope you meant, "correctly".

Ron

[Bob_Landry]

All good points and they add to the question... Why don't more people go to the trouble to insure their hitch is set up correctly?

[Bedlam]

Agreed - That is also the oversteer condition that was discussed earlier. It depends how much weight you already have on the rear vehicle axle whether a tighter WDH setting will cause problems.

[Keith099]

If your rear wheels spin easily, that means you are very prone to jackknifing in a turn from those wheels sliding sideways as the front of the trailer exerts thrust out of the turn's arc.

[Bob_Landry]

The scenario of the rear wheels lifting could only happen if the owner were to just start "tweaking" until he thought it was good. If WD adjustment is pursued with amy degree of common sense. a simple height measurement at the front wheel well would indicate a problem and it wouldn't even take a trip to the Cat Scales to tell. Unfortunately, we read far too many posts here from people who have done exactly that and they want us to tell them that they are OK with their setup. This runs a close second to the guys who want to know if their F150 will tow a 12,000 lb trailer with wife 2 kids and a dog in the truck and a load of firewood in the bed..

The scientists and researchers have it all wrong. Oxygen is not the most plentiful element, it's stupidity, and no one, to my knowledge has figured out how to fix that.

[Bedlam]

This does change when you are already heavily loaded in the rear. My rear axle weight is almost as much as the total trailer weight and the front is about 500 lbs shy of those measures. In my case, I can crank down on the weight distribution to prevent rear axle overload and it handles great. If I removed the the camper off the back of the truck and tried to use the same WDH settings, I would be a burnout king too.

I'm sure trailer to tow vehicle weight ratio also plays into this. My TV was only 65% of the weight of my TH verses being 90% heavier carrying the TC over the enclosed trailer weight.

[gijoecam]

TomG2 wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I have a F250. If I bring the front back to level the rear wheels will spin easily. Just follow the manual.

Agreed. I tried to explain this on another thread, but they did not seem to get it. I like the added traction that 50% restoration gives. Think of the burnouts you could do with enough weight distribution!

I recall seeing a video posted a while back of a front wheel drive car from the 70s I think... They wrenched the weight distribution so much it lifted the rear wheels of the car off the ground. The took off the tires, braced the hitch so it couldn't pivot, and drove off with the trailer!