Thoughts on WD hitch need

Thanks all. I have all the info I need.

mkirsch wrote:

Mike134 wrote:
If you properly load the trailer you won't need sway control because a "PROPERLY" loaded trailer won't sway.

What's "proper?" Do you have a formula, or a method? Every trailer is different. Some will not even wiggle with 5% tongue weight. Some will whip all over the road with 20%.

"Move stuff around until the trailer stops swaying" doesn't seem like a very practical way to go about it.

I might just be dumb and lucky.........never ever seen a trailer sway at 20% tongue weight but then again how would I have any way of knowing? How did you find out?

I just load the tongue heavy and go. I was curious with my latest trailer and bought a sherline scale it comes in at 17% no sway so "if it anin't broke don't mess with it"

Mike134 wrote:
If you properly load the trailer you won't need sway control because a "PROPERLY" loaded trailer won't sway.

What's "proper?" Do you have a formula, or a method? Every trailer is different. Some will not even wiggle with 5% tongue weight. Some will whip all over the road with 20%.

"Move stuff around until the trailer stops swaying" doesn't seem like a very practical way to go about it.

Mike134 wrote:

loydt wrote:
Just bought a new Jayco White Hawk 32BH. It has a GVWR of 9995 Lbs and a dry hitch weight of 1,100 Lbs. My truck is a 2018 Ram CC 4x4 dually with the Cummins/Aisin combo and a factory class V hitch. Do I need to mess with a WD hitch for this massive truck?

I don't think folks read word questions very well here based on the responses.

You have a 1-ton dually that has a payload in the neighborhood of 5500lbs. Was factory equipped with a class on V hitch. Those can have a 18,000- 20,000 rating. You have the extra heavy duty transmission for that diesel. I'd bet if you dropped 1800 lbs of tongue weight on that beast of a truck your front wheel well height might go up 1/4". If you properly load the trailer you won't need sway control because a "PROPERLY" loaded trailer won't sway.

Just my 2 cents based on the information you provided.

Looking forward to your (5) scale tickets where you’ve shown us tire and axle loads isolated. As well, your COG calculations

All trailers sway once to the right speed on a given road under given conditions of wind. There are no constants, is the problem. It’s USUALLY in the transitions from one state to another that things go haywire.

Know when I’d like to see you blow a rod thru the block? As I’m just under the posted construction zone speed limit yanking a 53’ and we have DOUBLE camber changes at each end of a bridge diversion . But there you go passing me (again) blind to vehicle dynamics in every sense of the word when we both have combination vehicles.

Think of it this way: Trailers DONT move side-to-side. They ROTATE in an arc that increases over the travel length. Longer the trailer, greater motion at the farthest end.

That ROTATION means a trailed 1,800-lb construction-site compressor can whip a DRW right off the road. Empty bed, low tire load, shiny concrete. Seen it more than once.

“Properly-loaded trailer” is pretty much meaningless for TTs except toy haulers where bad mis -judgment can come into play.

Camber changes, tripping hazards, curbs, etc are the invisible subjects on RV boards.

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The question is not about the stationary (static) “weight” value of the trailer tongue. That’s a moment frozen in time. The dynamic of being in motion means the two vehicles are rotating on separate axes most of the time AND that the FORCE on the hitch ball is constantly changing. It may increase to several thousand pounds in one moment to pulling upward by a few hundred or more in the very next. Trailer leaning left and TV leaning right.

The game is at the contact patches of the rear tires.

A WDH distributed the VARYING TW loads across BOTH vehicles. Preserves solo steering & braking “feel”.

The prime risk isn’t weight when towing. It’s crosswinds. Sudden gusts where the driver doesn’t understand how to correct. Over in about 1.5-seconds.

A DRW isn’t any guarantee of safety. They suck, unless — like all other tow vehicles — they have sufficient load in the bed to SHOW tire loads are maximizing the tire contact patch. The more stiffly sprung is a TV, generally the worse it is unless being used to design. An SRW nearer GAWR beats it every time where the DRW is underloaded.

A DRW is what you might want for a GN/5er. It’s the wrong direction for a conventional hitch where the bed isn’t sufficiently loaded.

A WDH makes the combined vehicle react more as a single vehicle. Keeping the TT Under control means increasing the weight on its axles, and reducing front-end rise on the TV. “Weight” is the dumb new-guy thing. Steering & braking ARE improved by use of a WDH.

Mike134 wrote:

loydt wrote:
Just bought a new Jayco White Hawk 32BH. It has a GVWR of 9995 Lbs and a dry hitch weight of 1,100 Lbs. My truck is a 2018 Ram CC 4x4 dually with the Cummins/Aisin combo and a factory class V hitch. Do I need to mess with a WD hitch for this massive truck?

I don't think folks read word questions very well here based on the responses.

You have a 1-ton dually that has a payload in the neighborhood of 5500lbs. Was factory equipped with a class V hitch. Those can have a 18,000- 20,000 rating. You have the extra heavy duty transmission for that diesel. I'd bet if you dropped 1800 lbs of tongue weight on that beast of a truck your front wheel well height might go up 1/4". If you properly load the trailer you won't need sway control because a "PROPERLY" loaded trailer won't sway.

Just my 2 cents based on the information you provided.

I thought about that after I posted the question. Sometimes you get more than you ask for.

I have towed trailers all over the place, even across the county thru Yellowstone, Big Horns, you name it. Be it they were all heavy 5th wheels similar to the new massive Seismic unit I have ordered.

I asked the question due to this being a "bumper hitch style" only.

You are right on my trucks capacity. The manual states that any trailer over 20k pounds should utilize a 5th wheel or gooseneck hitch. Which means anything less than that can be towed by the class V hitch.

However I do believe that the WD hitch will more than likely improve the ride with the trailer back there. So thats worth the $600 or so over the long run.

loydt wrote:
Just bought a new Jayco White Hawk 32BH. It has a GVWR of 9995 Lbs and a dry hitch weight of 1,100 Lbs. My truck is a 2018 Ram CC 4x4 dually with the Cummins/Aisin combo and a factory class V hitch. Do I need to mess with a WD hitch for this massive truck?

I don't think folks read word questions very well here based on the responses.

You have a 1-ton dually that has a payload in the neighborhood of 5500lbs. Was factory equipped with a class V hitch. Those can have a 18,000- 20,000 rating. You have the extra heavy duty transmission for that diesel. I'd bet if you dropped 1800 lbs of tongue weight on that beast of a truck your front wheel well height might go up 1/4". If you properly load the trailer you won't need sway control because a "PROPERLY" loaded trailer won't sway.

Just my 2 cents based on the information you provided.

Something not mentioned yet is the load leveling system does NOT address the same issues as a WD hitch.

Load leveling only affects the ride height of the rear of the truck. It does nothing to help prevent sway events with the trailer, and it does nothing to return weight to the front wheels of the truck.

Hitch up your trailer and watch the front of your truck as you lower the tongue on to the ball. The nose of your truck will go UP. That's weight coming off your front wheels. Maybe it's enough to affect steering and braking, maybe not. 3500 duallys can usually stand to lose some weight off the front without affecting handling, especially if they are diesels.

What the WD hitch will MOSTLY do in this situation, is provide sway control. These WD hitches with integrated sway control are much more effective than the cheesy old friction bars, plus they are ready-to-use. You would need to have friction sway control attachment points welded on to a heavy hitch shank. By the time you are done paying the fabricator, and buying the parts, you're well into a modern WD hitch with integrated sway control.

Plus while you may not "need" to have weight transferred back to the front end of the truck, the truck will definitely handle better with a properly adjusted WD hitch in play.

It may not be necessary, but it is still a good idea nonetheless. I applaud your decision to order a WD hitch.

loydt wrote:
... So far I have only found one hitch system, made by Curt, that has a tongue weight rating of 1500 lbs.

?? A lot of hitches have two "tongue weights", one without weight distributing bars attached and one with the bars.

You should find plenty of hitches with tongue weight rating of 1500lbs or more with WD bars attached.

The Reese hitch I have is 1500lbs (or more, I forget) with the WD bars attached.

The receiver attached to your truck probably also has two weight ratings.

I did go ahead and order a Curt brand WD hitch with sway that will handle the weights of the trailer. Mainly because 90% of the time I will have the golf cart loaded in the bed of the truck while pulling the trailer as well.