Question On set up

[agillings]

Hello everyone,
I am new to camping and new to this site. I want to make sure I set up my TV and trailer for safety! With the below configuration I could never get the spring bars setup properly. What I mean is, I could never get the spring bars Parallel the frame. Truck wheel measurement was within 1 inch, tire to fender well. After hookup there would be a slight dip in the rear of the truck and spring bars where not parallel they were up in the back

Here is what I have for the original configuration.

2005 Ford F150
Super Crew Cab
4w drive
5.4L Triton V
Short bed
Star Craft Aruba 28RLS
Factory Trailer Hitch
Reese Load distribution Hitch.


New equipment and configuration:
2005 Ford F150
Super Crew Cab
4w drive
5.4L Triton V
Short bed
Starecraft Aruba 28RLS
Factory Trailer Hitch (will be removed)
Reese Load distribution Hitch (New)
Firestone Ride-Rite Air helper Springs (New)
Reese Dual Cam High-Performance Sway Control (not installed) (New)
Curt Trailer Hitch for the 2005 F-150 by Ford (not installed) (New)

How should I proceed with new install?
Thanks
Art

[agillings]

Great day, Just finished my install! Reese Dual Cam High-Performance Sway Control and new 800lb Spring bars. Install was super easy and TV and trailer are spot on level! thanks for every ones help!
Art

[agillings]

Thanks everyone. I just measured the Trailer tongue weight utilizing the bathroom scale method. I obtained a measurement of 720lbs tongue weight loaded

[myredracer]

I didn't actually find much info. via google. The 7,000 lbs I saw sounded in the right ballpark for the trailer length and for an older unit. I don't think it would be a lite-weight type construction for that age? Seems like it is from about 2003 - 2005? Appears to be 28' long as indicated on one site.

Of course, it would be good to find the sticker on the unit but even then the dry weight (UVW) and cargo carrying capacity numbers can be misleading. The GVWR would be very important info. to know tho.

This length is similar to our 29' trailer which has a GVWR of 6800 lbs, loaded weight of 6600 lbs and tongue wt. at almost 15% of the trailer wt. Ours is an aluminum framed lite-weight though.

[Ron_Gratz]

Ron Gratz wrote:
Art, I found online sources which indicate your trailer has an empty weight of 5300# and a GVWR of 7100#.

If these values are in the right ballpark, the TT's loaded weight might be in the range of 6000-7000# depending on how much stuff your carry.
The corresponding tongue weight might be 700-900#.

myredracer wrote:
I have to wonder if your TV may undersized for your trailer? The info. I found says that your trailer has a dry weight of about 7,000 lbs, but I could be wrong. Actual loaded weight including any factory options, *could* be in the range of 8,000 - 8,500 lbs. If the tongue weight is in the usual/recommended range of 10-15% of the trailer weight, you could be looking at up to 1200 lbs or more of actual tongue weight.---

Gil, just so we don't burden Art with conflicting information -- perhaps the 7000# value you found was for GVWR rather than dry weight?

I found four internet sources for model year 2004, 2005, and 2006 28RLS trailers having "Empty" weights of 5050, 5300, 5300, and 5500#.
I also found one source showing a GVWR of 7100#.

Art can easily obtain the GVWR for his trailer from the manufacturer's sticker on the lower front left side of the trailer.

Ron

[myredracer]

agillings, have you weighed your truck or trailer? I would start by finding out what the actual payload capacity of your truck is and what the actual tongue weight of the trailer is. I would not order new spring bars until you know what the actual tongue weight is. Going to a scale gives you a lot of useful info. and possibly some surprises.

I have to wonder if your TV may undersized for your trailer? The info. I found says that your trailer has a dry weight of about 7,000 lbs, but I could be wrong. Actual loaded weight including any factory options, *could* be in the range of 8,000 - 8,500 lbs. If the tongue weight is in the usual/recommended range of 10-15% of the trailer weight, you could be looking at up to 1200 lbs or more of actual tongue weight. Your trucks's actual payload capacity and the trailer's actual tongue weight is something I'd want to know. You might check the max. allowable tongue wt. on your hitch receiver. I believe it's typically 10% of the max. tow capacity. If your actual tongue wt. is as high as it could be as I outlined above, you *could* exceed the rating.

If your TV is indeed undersized, no amount of hitch adjustment will make it right. I also question why you would use air bags. If your TV sags too much because it can't handle the tongue weight, using air bags won't make it right or safe. If you want the air bags for other reasons, that's different. Just MHO....

I can tell you from first hand experience, having the correct spring bar rating sure makes a BIG difference. You'll never get the WDH set up right if they are too small.

[agillings]

Thanks , I assume you are referring to a new hitch install. I bought a new hitch also. I don't trust the factory one

[mojoroo]

Sorry to add my simple suggestion in here. The above poster are much more versed in weight and hitches.

But in my experiences I could never get a proper hitch setup on either my past Ford's or Chevys due to the hitch receiver flexing. Once I swapped it was a lot easier to transfer weight to the front of the tv.

[agillings]

Thanks Ron you have been a great help!

I will order new Spring Bars and follow the proceedure you sent leveling the TV first with the AIR bags and then adj the WDH. I will let you know how it works out

Thanks
Art

[Ron_Gratz]

agillings wrote:
Ron one additional question. I also have a bags in the rear. I need to know how these shoulds fit into the over all setup. Do I inflate these to make the truck level with the trailer attached? Or should I set up the WDH and then use the air bags to level it all out?

IMO, it's not necessary to use the air bags to make the truck level.

However, if you want to use air bags to improve the ride or just to make the truck look better, you should add air to the bags prior to adjusting the WDH.
You might need to use trial and error to find out how much air pressure is needed in the bags to make the rear of the truck sit at the desired height.

The important thing is to adjust the hitch to return the truck's front end to the desired height/load.
If you change the air bag pressure after adjusting the WDH, you will change the amount of load transfer.

Ron

[Ron_Gratz]

agillings wrote:
Thanks Ron
Before I do you reccomendations, do I have the right size spring bars?

The Tag on the bar reads:
550 weight Dist
10,000 Max Gross Trailer weight
550 Max Hitch Weight

Art, I found online sources which indicate your trailer has an empty weight of 5300# and a GVWR of 7100#.

If these values are in the right ballpark, the TT's loaded weight might be in the range of 6000-7000# depending on how much stuff your carry.
The corresponding tongue weight might be 700-900#.

Your 550# bars probably do not have enough capacity.
If you end up loading your trailer to around 6500#, Reese's 800# bars would be a good choice, IMO.

Depending on how much load is carried in the TV, it looks as though the TT's tongue weight might cause the TV's GVW to get close to the TV's GVWR, so it would be a good idea to load the TV and TT as they would be loaded for camping and measure all the axle loads.

Ron

[agillings]

Ron one additional question. I also have a bags in the rear. I need to know how these shoulds fit into the over all setup. Do I inflate these to make the truck level with the trailer attached? Or should I set up the WDH and then use the air bags to level it all out?

Thanks
Art

[agillings]

Thanks Ron
Before I do you reccomendations, do I have the right size spring bars?

The Tag on the bar reads:
550 weight Dist
10,000 Max Gross Trailer weight
550 Max Hitch Weight

Thanks
Art

[Ron_Gratz]

agillings wrote:
Thanks. Ok so maybe all I have to do is tilt the head of the WDH. Would it need to be Tilted toward the TV or Trailer?

That depends on how much load transfer you're getting with the current setting.

I recommend you do the following:

1) Load the TT as it would be loaded for camping.

2) With the TT not attached, measure the vertical distance from the pavement to a point on the front fender directly above the center of the tire. Measuring to a mark on a piece of masking tape improves the accuracy. Bounce the front of the TV up and down a few times to get it to settle to an average height.

3) With the loaded TT attached and with the WDH not activated, repeat the fender height measuring process.

4) With the loaded TT attached and with the WDH activated, repeat the fender height measuring process.

The height from 4) should be close to, but not less than, the height from 2). For your model year, Ford specifies the hitched height with WD applied should be within 1/2" of the unhitched height.

If the hitched height is less than the unhitched, you need less load transfer. You should try increasing the numbers of links under tension by one. Then repeat the measurements.

If the hitched height is greater than the unhitched height, you need more load transfer. If you already are at five links under tension, you will need to adjust the hitch head for more rearward tilt.

If you want to more accurately know how well your WDH is adjusted, you will need to measure the TV and TT axle loads.

Ron

[Ron3rd]

agillings wrote:
Thanks. Ok so maybe all I have to do is tilt the head of the WDH. Would it need to be Tilted toward the TV or Trailer?

Generally, you tilt the head away from the truck and towards the trailer. The idea is to tilt your WD bars down more to apply more tension on the bars thereby transferring more weight to the front axle.