WD If Delivering Trailers

[cekkk]

I once considered delivering trailers but decided against it. But a question came to me that I never got an answer to. What do you do about WD? The factories don't ship them with hitches that the dealers remove, do they? :@

[Mkos1980]

The first year I towed my trailer I used a WDH, but now that I adjusted more tongue weight I havent used my WDH at all. Trailer comes in total about 7300 and a hitch weight of 700. Truck drops the same now as it did with a WDH. About 3/4 of an inch. Only time i use it now is if i go to my yearly 800 mile trip to Myrtle Beach.

[blt2ski]

cekkk wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:
WD, WDH, RA, FA, FEA, TT, wt, FA<, AS, SOL, :@:E

I'm still pretty much a newbie, but my guesses are WD weight distribution, WDH weight distribution hitch, RA rear axle, FA front axle, FEA ?front end axle?, TT travel trailer, wt weight, FA< ??, AS anti-sway, SOL sh...:E

We have a dually and have only had two TTs, both with 1400# on the hitch. Before I had the WDH properly set up, my front end was clearly elevated and steering severely affected. OTOH, the first TT was a TH with the front deck. TW was only around 500 stock, and the F350 pulled it without WD from Chicago to Colorado just fine. I would guess that truck wouldn't need WD until the tongue was seeing over 700, 750#.

But I'm no pro hauler, and the suspension is stock. The early replies made it understandable why few delivery drivers need WD even for the thousand and 1200# TTs.

Close, FEA was front end alignment being out of too much wt on the rear. FA>, probably should have been an FA., but phat phinners got in the way! SOL......yep, you got it!

While some on here say the amount taken off the front will always be a ratio of the over hang vs wheel base. Personally I have found it also varies with the rear suspension amount, along with how much engine one has in the front. IE a HEAVY gas BB or equal will allow less wt off the FA vs a SB or V6 in the same truck. Along with a diesel will have some more counter to the equation too. My dumptruck with a 15.5K rear spring capacity, hardly notices my 1500 lbs of HW with my equipment trailer hooked to it. Typically when wieghed at the local DOT scales, 60-80 lbs is taken off the FA, Meanwhile my 05 dually with an 8500 lb RA has 200-240 taken off. A SW CC with the same WB as the dually with 6400 lb springs had 300-340 taken off of it. WHen I replaced the 6400 lb springs with 8400 lb ones, the front wt removed is on par with the dually.

If one can keep the HW to as close to the RA as one can, less wt will be pulled off the FA, so one has a better handling rig! Longer WB also helps in the how much is take off the FA too.

I'll stick with my for 30 some odd years of towing different types of trailers, that if I can not pull without bars, and get fishtail sway, I will correct the cause so the effect is nothing! THEN hook up appropriate bars for additional safety reasons. Otherwise if you use an AS system to stop uncontrolled fishtail sway, you are using a bandaid when you need a tourniquet!

Marty

[goducks10]

TomG2 wrote:
After delivery, the dealers must do something to them to make them sway and bounce, or else why do we see so many people on here asking about fancy hitches, suspension upgrades, etc.?

You think it might be that they buy too big of a trailer for their tow rig? Me thinks so.

[TomG2]

chevor wrote:
....snip...........
Well said.
I haul commercially and dont carry a WDH. Rear suspension and hitch on truck has been upgrade to handle the tongue weights of the trailers I pull. Have proper tires for towing makes a huge difference when pulling. A stiff sidewall and solid rubber on the ground a key. I think most confuse sidewall flex on the rear axel on the truck, with a light steering axel and sway.

Bingo! I have towed with an overloaded soft rear suspension and with an extremely lightened front axle and the feeling is almost identical.

[cekkk]

TucsonJim wrote:
WD, WDH, RA, FA, FEA, TT, wt, FA<, AS, SOL, :@:E

I'm still pretty much a newbie, but my guesses are WD weight distribution, WDH weight distribution hitch, RA rear axle, FA front axle, FEA ?front end axle?, TT travel trailer, wt weight, FA< ??, AS anti-sway, SOL sh...:E

We have a dually and have only had two TTs, both with 1400# on the hitch. Before I had the WDH properly set up, my front end was clearly elevated and steering severely affected. OTOH, the first TT was a TH with the front deck. TW was only around 500 stock, and the F350 pulled it without WD from Chicago to Colorado just fine. I would guess that truck wouldn't need WD until the tongue was seeing over 700, 750#.

But I'm no pro hauler, and the suspension is stock. The early replies made it understandable why few delivery drivers need WD even for the thousand and 1200# TTs.

[Peg_Leg]

New trailer don't have all the extra weight that we haul around.

[popupcamping]

19 nights so far for us and going back out Monday for 5-6 more.

longest NH, Shortest Mactaquac Provincial park

but we are lucky. Wife is off all summer and I do not work.

[dodge_guy]

Ok here we go since were going to see how often we camp. We camp approx. every 3 weeks give or take a week. And 2 of those trips in mid summer are between 500-3500 miles. The rest are long weekends that are up to 300 miles round trip each. So i guess i'm in the minority in that we "travel" with our Travel Trailer. And i have to say i feel i am a professional at this point (10 years wiyh a TT).

[harmanrk]

mkirsch wrote:
I think the vast majority of RV owners buy them with grandiose plans of camping the summer away, but for whatever reason they just don't.

Its called 'Life', it tends to get in the way of the things we would like to do.

We will be taking the trailer out for the fourth time this weekend. Would have loved to have been out more, but every now and then you just have to spend the weekend at home, and mow the yard

[mkirsch]

goducks10 wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:
Most of the TTs I've seen enroute at gas stations on the hwy don't use WD. However they are commercial drivers with much more experience than the average RVer towing 2 or 3 times a year. They usually have 1 ton PUs, some with duallies. You don't see them towing a 10'000 pound TT with a 3, 000 pound compact vehicle

How do you come up with the average RV'er only tows 2-3 times a year? Maybe we need a poll on how often people tow their RV's.

It's probably closer to the truth than "every weekend from May to September."

I've been on exactly ONE camping trip this summer myself.
My sister and her husband have been out TWICE so far with their brand new travel trailer.
A friend of mine bought a brand new travel trailer this spring. He has camped with it ZERO times. The plastic is still on the mattress.
Another friend just upgraded his Class C. He's been out TWO times this summer.
My parents' neighbors across the road have not loaded their truck camper in at least 4 years.

Given that Labor Day and the official end to the main camping season is only a couple weeks away, there isn't a lot of opportunity left to "beat the average."

Just as a casual observation, I see a *LOT* of late model, even new, RVs of all types sitting in yards around here. They don't move. I go down the same roads 7 days a week. The RVs are always there.

I think the vast majority of RV owners buy them with grandiose plans of camping the summer away, but for whatever reason they just don't.

[mustangglp]

They would also be dry so they would wt less ?

[chevor]

blt2ski wrote:
Reality is, if you get the correct hitch, you do not "NEED" WD to tow a trailer. Nor "SHOULD" you need to have anti sway bars. Now with that said.......it might be nice to have the above bars on a trailer that you tow, but not mandatory from a state law/code reason. RV.NET weight police not with standing.

One should use or may need a WD "IF" you sink the rear end enough that you overload the RA by taking too much off the FA, and/or you remove so much wt off the FA, that steering, FEA is not working correctly. THEN, having a WD is a good thing to put the wt back on to the FA< such that you have proper steering/braking etc on the FA. Many of the pro towers, use heavier suspension trucks, such that a 600-1000 lbs hitch wt will not remove enough wt off the FA to warrant the use of a WD system.

Antisway bars should be used as an absolute last resort. Reality is, you should be able to tow any given trailer with out fishtail sway in ANY condition! One should add an AS system as a safety issue. If you add an AS to stop uncontrolled fishtail sway, if a bar breaks, comes lose in route, or someone steals them, you're SOL on the spot! So best to make sure the trailer you tow is balanced such that it will not sway in an uncontrolled side to side motion. Many ways to do this if load balance does not work. If a trailer sways from the factory, most pro's will return the trailer and tell the factory to fix the alignment or equal so it will not sway.

Marty

Well said.
I haul commercially and dont carry a WDH. Rear suspension and hitch on truck has been upgrade to handle the tongue weights of the trailers I pull. Have proper tires for towing makes a huge difference when pulling. A stiff sidewall and solid rubber on the ground a key. I think most confuse sidewall flex on the rear axel on the truck, with a light steering axel and sway.

[TomG2]

After delivery, the dealers must do something to them to make them sway and bounce, or else why do we see so many people on here asking about fancy hitches, suspension upgrades, etc.?

[mkirsch]

My annual trip to Toledo OH coincides with the great spring migration of RV trailers from Elkhart IN to RV dealers in the Northeast USA.

I pass literally hundreds of RV transporters on I80 and I90 going East as I head West. They are obvious because they have little magnetic signs on the doors declaring their professional hauling status.

Virtually none are using WD hitches. Only the larger >10,000lb models seem to be towed with WD hitches.

Generally they are towed by dually pickups. The trailers are towed with a nose-down stance, much more than you would normally tow at.