WHD...HELP!!

[patperry2766]

Please pardon my lack of knowledge on this type of hitch, but I come humbly hat in hand seeking sage advise so I don't make the wrong decision.

I have a series of questions, and I have to ask them one at a time to avoid clouding my head with massive amounts of information and have a brain shut down.

The facts:
2013 Ford F-150 s/crew 5.0 1050 lbs max wt distribution per sticker on hitch.

I have not purchased the trailer yet, just trying to get all my ducks in a row...but what we have looked at has a tongue weight roughly 800-1000 lbs.

QUESTION #1

Is there a significant difference between a round bar and a trunnion bar hitch, and is there a advantage to either design?

[tomkaren13]

patperry2766 wrote:
Ideally, I'm trying to stay in the 5500-6300 weight on trailer

Very smart with a 1/2 ton truck!

[jmtandem]

Is there an reason that I shouldn't get heavier weight carrying bars (max for my truck) even if it is overkill for the trailer I get, or should I stay as close to the actual tongue weight as possible?

Heavier bars are stiffer and don't add to anything related to what the stock truck receiver can accommodate. They can be very hard (damaging) to trailer tongues. My suggestion would be to go to the Ford on line towing guide and all this information is well presented. Then you can make an informed decision. Some manufacturers recommend only returning half the weight taken off the front axle via a trailer tongue while others recommend replacing all the weight. You need to accommodate and consider what Ford recommends. Whatever you do I would strongly recommend not listening to any RV salesperson on what you can tow or how to set up a hitch. Go to the Ford site and get the correct information. Never use dry weights nor brochure weights in your calculations. Use the trailer's gross weight and remember water adds a lot of weight at 8.3 pounds per gallon. And typically batteries and propane are located on the tongue adding to that weight as well. You are looking for 13 percent of the total trailer weight on the tongue for stability. A properly set up weight distributio hitch redistrubutes approximately 20-25 percent of that weight back to the trailer axles. The remaining redistributed weight is moved to the front axle.

[patperry2766]

QUESTION #2

Is there an reason that I shouldn't get heavier weight carrying bars (max for my truck) even if it is overkill for the trailer I get, or should I stay as close to the actual tongue weight as possible?

[patperry2766]

jmtandem wrote:

The facts:
2013 Ford F-150 s/crew 5.0 1050 lbs max wt distribution per sticker on hitch.

I have not purchased the trailer yet, just trying to get all my ducks in a row...but what we have looked at has a tongue weight roughly 800-1000 lbs.

Generally speaking most folks find the trailer they like first and then the truck or tow vehicle to tow it. That eliminates the need to try to find a trailer that fits what the truck can handle. Good luck in your search for a trailer and hope you find one that works just right. The problem with most half ton trucks is not so much the tow capacity but the payload. Adding 1000 pounds tongue weight to the payload, people, fuel, etc. often compromises the ability to carry much else in the truck. At 13 percent tongue weight you are looking at a trailer in the maximum gross weight range of around 7500 pounds plus another 75-100 pounds for the WDH.

I bought a truck last year to accommodate the current trailer we have now. After a couple of long trips, we have come to the conclusion that we didn't put enough forethought into what we should have gotten in the first place. I have seen several models that should work without overloading my truck. I'm not ready to buy another truck at this point in time.

[APT]

800 dry pounds would be the max I recommend for your receiver. That will go up. If you have already adjusted for dry to loaded by adding 200-ish pounds, great! Also keep in mind the payload of your truck. Some F150s do not even have 1000 pounds of payload! Make sure yours has enough for family in the cab, 200 pounds of cargo in the bed, and trailer tongue weight.

I thought round bars offered more clearance? I wouldn't worry about one style over the other as much as getting integrated sway control vs. friction bars. Reese Straight Line, Equal-i-zer, and Blueox Swaypro are all good near the same price point. 1000-pound bars seems appropriate for 600-1000 pounds of loaded TW.

[patperry2766]

Ideally, I'm trying to stay in the 5500-6300 weight on trailer

[jmtandem]

The facts:
2013 Ford F-150 s/crew 5.0 1050 lbs max wt distribution per sticker on hitch.

I have not purchased the trailer yet, just trying to get all my ducks in a row...but what we have looked at has a tongue weight roughly 800-1000 lbs.

Generally speaking most folks find the trailer they like first and then the truck or tow vehicle to tow it. That eliminates the need to try to find a trailer that fits what the truck can handle. Good luck in your search for a trailer and hope you find one that works just right. The problem with most half ton trucks is not so much the tow capacity but the payload. Adding 1000 pounds tongue weight to the payload, people, fuel, etc. often compromises the ability to carry much else in the truck. At 13 percent tongue weight you are looking at a trailer in the maximum gross weight range of around 7500 pounds plus another 75-100 pounds for the WDH.

[Hondavalk]

Lots of good info here
http://www.etrailer.com/info.aspx?productgroup=Weight%20Distribution

[downtheroad]

One advantage of the trunnion bar style over the round bars is that trunnions give you a little more ground clearance...

Also, seems to me that most manufacturers are going to trunnions on their newer hitches...especially those with sway control incorporated into the system.

Question: the tongue weights you posted (800-1000 lbs). Is that the dry weight? If so that is really meaningless. That number could increase significantly when you are trip ready and fully loaded.

[donn0128]

That 1050 munber is what the hitch platform is rated for, not what your truck is rated to handle. What you need to do is, fill the fuel tank, load everything you will normally take with you, wife, kids, bikes, ice chest full of drinks, etc and go to the scales. Once you have an accurate weight of the truck ready to travel, some online research you should be able to find your trucks GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating). Subtract your scaled weight from the GCWR number. Now, you have the maximum weight your truck will be able to handle without exceeding the max manufacturers numbers. Be careful, lots of RV manufacturers only list dry or shipping weights. I believe they do this to sell more RVs to unsuspecting buyers. I think it is wisest to make your calculations on worst case, choosing to be safe rather than sorry.