Setting up WDH for new truck
I wanted to share my experience with following the sticky thread at the beginning of the "Towing" forum for setting up a WDH (http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/17730894.cfm).
The reason I needed to perform this procedure is that I traded in my 2004 Tundra (that already was set up for my Toy hauler) to a 2009 F250 extended cab, 4x4 shortbed. The Tundra sat considerably lower than the F250, so the ball started off being several inches above the toy hauler trailer tongue coupler. The Toy Hauler is a Work and Play 18EC. Following the steps in the sticky, here are my measurements:
Unhitched:
1. I leveled the toy hauler by measuring from the front and rear of the trailer to the ground. I obtained level at 19 3/8" front and rear.
2. Step 1 resulted in the inside of the trailer tongue coupler at 23 3/8".
3. I set the top of the receiver hitch ball at 23 1/4. I have a Curt Hitch and the adjustments are done by 2 bolts running through a vertical riser that holds the ball to the receiver hitch. The bolt holes are 1 1/4" apart. I don't know if other hitches allow a finer adjustment or not.
4. The front wheelwell of the truck to the ground measured 39 3/4". The rear wheelwell to the ground measured 40 3/4". Again, this is unhitched.
Then I hooked up the trailer to the ball without the weight distribution bars:
1. The front wheelwell of the truck moved up to 40 1/4". My rise is 1/2".
Now I hooked up the bars:
1. With 3 links hanging from the chain, the front wheelwell measurement came down to 40 1/8". I thought I could do a little better, so I put more tension on the bars by hanging one more link, for 4 links hanging from the hooks attached to the trailer. This brought the front wheelwell measurement down to 40". This removed exactly half the rise that the trailer tongue weight caused before application of the weight distribution bars.
The next step is to see if your trailer is level. The sticky procedure says this final adjustment is done by adjusting the receiver ball height.
Here are the measurements on my trailer after snapping up the WDH bars:
Toyhauler Front to ground: 18 3/16"; Rear to ground 20".
The body of the trailer is 20 foot. This is a 1 13/16" drop from rear to front over 20 foot of length. The procedure says if level can't be obtained, it is better to be slightly nose down.
Since my hitch ball can only adjust in 1 1/4" increments, I am thinking this is about as close as I can get. Again, if there is a hitch that gives a finer adjustment, I would have tried a little adjustment.
Here are a couple of pictures, first of the truck and trailer after this procedure, and the second is of the hitch I use to let you see the adjustment I have to work with. I took the picture after removing the propane and batteries. I did the procedure with them on to account for their weight. The trailer was also loaded with our normal stuff. We don't carry toys at the moment. The thought is I will carry bikes, kayaks, a motorcycle, or a quad, not all at the same time.
I am curious if any one can add some real life pointers to help me in this. My RV dealer is 20 miles away, and I didn't want to load it up and drive 20 miles hooked up wrong to let them adjust it for me.
The reason I needed to perform this procedure is that I traded in my 2004 Tundra (that already was set up for my Toy hauler) to a 2009 F250 extended cab, 4x4 shortbed. The Tundra sat considerably lower than the F250, so the ball started off being several inches above the toy hauler trailer tongue coupler. The Toy Hauler is a Work and Play 18EC. Following the steps in the sticky, here are my measurements:
Unhitched:
1. I leveled the toy hauler by measuring from the front and rear of the trailer to the ground. I obtained level at 19 3/8" front and rear.
2. Step 1 resulted in the inside of the trailer tongue coupler at 23 3/8".
3. I set the top of the receiver hitch ball at 23 1/4. I have a Curt Hitch and the adjustments are done by 2 bolts running through a vertical riser that holds the ball to the receiver hitch. The bolt holes are 1 1/4" apart. I don't know if other hitches allow a finer adjustment or not.
4. The front wheelwell of the truck to the ground measured 39 3/4". The rear wheelwell to the ground measured 40 3/4". Again, this is unhitched.
Then I hooked up the trailer to the ball without the weight distribution bars:
1. The front wheelwell of the truck moved up to 40 1/4". My rise is 1/2".
Now I hooked up the bars:
1. With 3 links hanging from the chain, the front wheelwell measurement came down to 40 1/8". I thought I could do a little better, so I put more tension on the bars by hanging one more link, for 4 links hanging from the hooks attached to the trailer. This brought the front wheelwell measurement down to 40". This removed exactly half the rise that the trailer tongue weight caused before application of the weight distribution bars.
The next step is to see if your trailer is level. The sticky procedure says this final adjustment is done by adjusting the receiver ball height.
Here are the measurements on my trailer after snapping up the WDH bars:
Toyhauler Front to ground: 18 3/16"; Rear to ground 20".
The body of the trailer is 20 foot. This is a 1 13/16" drop from rear to front over 20 foot of length. The procedure says if level can't be obtained, it is better to be slightly nose down.
Since my hitch ball can only adjust in 1 1/4" increments, I am thinking this is about as close as I can get. Again, if there is a hitch that gives a finer adjustment, I would have tried a little adjustment.
Here are a couple of pictures, first of the truck and trailer after this procedure, and the second is of the hitch I use to let you see the adjustment I have to work with. I took the picture after removing the propane and batteries. I did the procedure with them on to account for their weight. The trailer was also loaded with our normal stuff. We don't carry toys at the moment. The thought is I will carry bikes, kayaks, a motorcycle, or a quad, not all at the same time.
I am curious if any one can add some real life pointers to help me in this. My RV dealer is 20 miles away, and I didn't want to load it up and drive 20 miles hooked up wrong to let them adjust it for me.
