Staying within limits by shifting weight & adjusting the WDH

[atwowheelguy]

Case 1 was the first weigh-in. In the truck were two hefty occupants, two riding gear bags, heavy tool boxes, spare parts, fuel cans, lots of stuff, 707 lbs. In the camper were two 250 lb. dirt bikes, full propane, no water. The camper weighed 6720 with 780 tongue weight

The weight distributing hitch was as received from the previous owner with three spacer washers in the head tilt adjustment.





The rear axle was at 99% of its rating and only 27% of the weight lifted from the front was returned to the front by the WDH. Only 5% of the tongue weight was transferred to the trailer axles.

Case 2 was the next weigh-in with one hefty occupant, a couple of EZ-Up canopies and a few tools and parts in the truck, 587 lbs. loaded in the truck. In the camper were two street bikes (about 1000 lbs.), full propane, the heavy tool box and 36 gallons of water (300 lbs.). The trailer weighed 7180 with 820 tongue weight. The hitch adjustment was not changed, still three washers.

The rear truck axle was at 102% of its rating with 30% of the weight lifted from the front returned by the WDH. Only 2% of the tongue weight was transferred to the trailer axles.

Case 3 was the most recent weigh-in with one hefty occupant, a full fuel tank, 5 gallons of extra fuel in fuel cans and no tools or parts in the truck, only 367 lbs. above the factory weight. All the truck weights included the aftermarket spray in bed liner and a vinyl tonneau cover. The camper held one 250 lb. dirt bike, a couple of Honda EU2000 generators, riding gear and tools and spare parts for one rider, full propane and a full load of water. The trailer weighed 6640 with 900 tongue weight.

In Case 3, I added two more washers to the hitch head tilt adjustment. They each were slightly thicker than the original three. With the heaviest tongue weight yet, the rear truck axle was down to 94% of its rating with 72% of the weight lifted from the front returned by the WDH. 16% of the tongue weight was transferred to the trailer axles.

Every time I load up, the weight and its distribution are different. I think I'll stick with this set-up for now. Suggestions welcomed.

[JBarca]

atwowheelguy wrote:


Mine has the 1000 lb. bars. I had two adjustments going on here. One was moving the cargo from the truck to the camper. Passenger and cargo weight went from 707 (two people) to 587 (one person) to 367 (one person). The other was getting the WDH adjusted for the tongue weight. I made a reasoned guess to add two washers. I don't know if the relationship is linear, but I returned 72% of the weight lifted from the front with 5 washers. So maybe 14% per washer. In the past, some guides said to return all the weight lifted from the front. My F150 owner's manual says 50%. Mine is now about half way between those two. My rear axle load is down from 102% of rating to 94%. I think I will just leave it there for now.

Good, your 1,000# bars are just right. Was wanting to make sure you where not on 750's or 800 lb bars.

Something to have in your bag of adjustment tricks and rules of thumb. Many times, (not all) when the WD bars are sized correct and the truck receiver does not have excess flexing issues, 2 washers of head tilt "often" times can align with the same WD effect close to 1 chain link length. It is not exact and each setup is a little different, but it can get you close. Meaning if you want to experiment, use extra chains links to get the WD close even if the WD bars are up hill too much. If this looks good on the WD numbers, then take the head apart and add 2 washers and go back 1 chain link.

Yes, your setup now looks good. Try it for a while and see where it ends up after a few trips.

Thanks

John

[atwowheelguy]

JBarca wrote:
Hi atwowheelguy,

I like your spreadsheet. Good for you sorting this out and good way to see the differences.

What size WD bars does your hitch have?

...

John

Mine has the 1000 lb. bars. I had two adjustments going on here. One was moving the cargo from the truck to the camper. Passenger and cargo weight went from 707 (two people) to 587 (one person) to 367 (one person). The other was getting the WDH adjusted for the tongue weight. I made a reasoned guess to add two washers. I don't know if the relationship is linear, but I returned 72% of the weight lifted from the front with 5 washers. So maybe 14% per washer. In the past, some guides said to return all the weight lifted from the front. My F150 owner's manual says 50%. Mine is now about half way between those two. My rear axle load is down from 102% of rating to 94%. I think I will just leave it there for now.

[JBarca]

Hi atwowheelguy,

I like your spreadsheet. Good for you sorting this out and good way to see the differences.

What size WD bars does your hitch have?

The toy hauler varying loads and varying truck bed weights for sure play into the WD settings. The toy hauler with varying toys even complicates this more.

I have found on a normal TT, which is then fully loaded, and the truck fully loaded, if I dial in the WD to be dead on, and the trailer height is level or slight nose down, that I can varying bed weights and or trailer tongue weights by at least 100 to 150# and not need a WD adjustment. BUT, there is always a but... This is when the nominal tongue weight is near 1,200# and I'm using 1,200# WD bars. This is on a 3/4 ton truck suspension.

On my current camper, I have a 1,600# loaded TW with 1,700# WD bars. I can vary the tongue weight or bed weight but a little more then the 100 to 150# like I could on the 1,200# settings. This is on a 1 ton truck suspension.

I would expect if I dropped down to a 900# tongue with 1,000# bars, the swing of weight would be less then the 100# to 150# on a 1/2 ton truck.

Point being, there is a relationship between the loaded tongue weight, the loaded bed weight, the size of the WD bars and then throw in the actual truck receiver and the truck suspension, 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton and 1 ton.

You can find that sweet spot to dial in the WD dead on for nominal loading with what you have. But the spread of weights until you need to readjust may not to your liking. You may need to try different chain links on your existing setup or find a 1/2 chain link/clevis that you can add/subtract to your chains when you need a little more or a little less WD from the varying loads and not deal with the head tilt. This is easier then doing a whole hitch head reset, but will take time to create the combinations.

And a thought, they do make fully adjustable chain tensioners. The Pro-Pride hitch and the Hensley hitch have them. The Pro-pride chain tensioner may work better in your case as the Hensley has more strut things associated with it. They may be a little expensive for 2 of these, but it is fully adjustble https://www.propridehitch.com/propride-3p-weight-distribution-jack/

After checking the Hensley, it is cheaper bya little. It just has strut attachments you would not use https://hensleymfg.com/product/arrow-cub-jack-assembly/


Hope this helps

John

[atwowheelguy]

camp-n-family wrote:
Just curious how many chain links you are using? Since your weights vary with what you carry you can adjust the number of links used accordingly instead of having to tilt the hitch head each time. The bars when tensioned up should be close to parallel with the frame but one link more or less won't change position much but can affect the weight transfer. I would adjust the head for the heaviest tongue load carried and adjust the number of links for the others.

The bars are parallel with the 7th of 9 links hooked up. This was the first time I adjusted the tilt since I bought it. The three washers that came in it from the prior owner were not giving enough lift, as the first two cases showed. The Case 3 is the highest tongue weight so far at 900 lbs. It had a load of water but only one dirt bike in the back to counterbalance it. The hitch instructions said each OEM washer lowers the bar end by 1.5". The prior owner didn't give me the remaining OEM washers. The washers I bought are a little thicker than OEM. I think those two washers probably lowered the bar end by 4". I haven't measured the chain link length. It would have required shortening it up by two or three links to get the adjustment gained by two washers. The prior owner towed it with a diesel F250, so he probably didn't even need the WDH, and certainly didn't need as much tension as mine does. I don't plan to weigh it every time I take it out.

[camp-n-family]

Just curious how many chain links you are using? Since your weights vary with what you carry you can adjust the number of links used accordingly instead of having to tilt the hitch head each time. The bars when tensioned up should be close to parallel with the frame but one link more or less won't change position much but can affect the weight transfer. I would adjust the head for the heaviest tongue load carried and adjust the number of links for the others.