How much of rise on front of truck acceptable when hitched?

Yes

The rule of thumb that I always heard was 1/2 inch. My Ford manual says to put back 1/2 of the rise you get, but 1/4 inch is too small to work with. Either way, you are good to go.

Concur with Gooma and Bobbo.
Sounds like I’m talking baby-speak ;)

depends on several factors. That a lot of weight unloaded from the front of a small block/v6 1/2 ton truck. A 1/2 inch weight loss on my Dodge/Cummins/NV5600 means nothing.
If you notice the front brakes sliding the tires on gravel roads or wet pavement then its time to add lost weight back to your trucks front axle.
Axle weights before and after will tell you a better story.

^What he said.
All depends on how it handles.

Ford wants you to return 50% of the hitched distance and no more.
If it rises 1" without WDH hooked up then yes you're fine. If it rises 1.5" then you're reducing it too much.

seems like every mfg had different advice on how much to bring the front down and they seem to vary year to year.

I've always tried to bring mine back to 1/2" or less but NEVER NEVER EVER below the original ride height. Especially important on GM since you can easily run into the rubber bump stops if you go below unloaded height.

My opinion is if your at 1/2" see how it handles your likely in the ballpark acceptable range.

Equalizer WD hitches list on their setup instructions for a 50% to 100% return. But they also recommend following the TV ratings

Mike

ktmrfs wrote:
seems like every mfg had different advice on how much to bring the front down and they seem to vary year to year.

I've always tried to bring mine back to 1/2" or less but NEVER NEVER EVER below the original ride height. Especially important on GM since you can easily run into the rubber bump stops if you go below unloaded height.

My opinion is if your at 1/2" see how it handles your likely in the ballpark acceptable range.

First, if you can transfer more weight to the front than it originally had, time to re think your need for a wdh or you’re doing it wrong.
Second, there’s a reason mfgs recommendations (note, not “requirements”) change frequently. 1. It’s only a blanket general recommendation. 2. You can lose significant weight off the FA of some vehicles and not affect steering and braking from a real world standpoint.
3. A good portion of the recommendation is just liability, corporate cya, like the volumes of other hazard warnings that have been developed to save people from un-knowingly doing really stupid things and claiming ignorance and willful carelessness by those with deep pockets, in front of the judge.

RVing is not totally unique but it’s sort of unique in that most people consider it a right to go RVing when there are no requirements or training necessary to operate something that would otherwise require training or certification in the commercial world. Thus there is an abnormally large % of consumers who are blissfully ignorant about some or many aspects of operating or controlling a heavy vehicle or combo.
When one observes the relatively large % of people who are challenged by simply operating the smallest of passenger vehicles combined with the fact that all it takes is a credit card, cash or a line of credit to instantly be the operator of a heavy vehicle. And not the typical commercial application where there is a greater chance of skill, training or experience or knowledge being gained or passed down then you get information published like this to help people save themselves from themselves. (Good info for sure, but evidenced by how many weekend warriors and “pro” RVers alike have very little to no knowledge formal or otherwise and are not even able to correctly interpret these recommendations and their relative value, these recommendations become a very conservative, necessary approach to limiting corporate liability.)

Steering should feel the same with or without the trailer.