Too much WD bar?
It's been a while since I've had anything but a 5er so help me refresh my memory. Obviously having not enough spring to your WD bars is bad but can having too much be bad as well? If I'm shooting for...
Forum Discussion
In theory, a WDH can be used to cause some of the weight of TV cargo plus TT tongue weight to carried equally on the TV's front and rear axles with the remainder of the weight transferred to the TT's axles.
For example, 30% of the combined cargo plus tongue weight could be carried on the TV's front axle, 30% on the rear axle, and 40% on the rear axle.
This approach to WD was commonplace 50-60 years ago when the typical tow vehicle was the family sedan.
WDH manufacturers recommended that WD bars be rated for combined TV cargo (usually cargo carried in the TV's "trunk") plus the TT's tongue weight.
It was assumed the bars would be adjusted so that equal load would be added to the TV's front and rear axles.
Now, most TV and WDH manufacturers do not recommend the "equal squat" approach.
Instead, they usually recommend that between 0% and 100% of the load which was removed from the TV's front axle should be restored via WD.
IOW, there should never be any net addition of load on the front axle, and there could be a front axle load reduction equal to as much as 40-50% of tongue weight.
Obviously, if you load the WD bars so the TV's front axle is subjected to zero net load, the bar load will be much less than if you adjust them to transfer a load equal to 30% of cargo plus tongue weight to the front axle.
If you follow the modern approach of restoring not more than 100% or removed load to the front axle, there is no need to size the bars based on cargo plus tongue weight -- using tongue weight alone is more than adequate.
If you follow the recommendation for a 50-60 year old family sedan, you might want to base the bar size on cargo plus tongue weight.
Ron
For example, 30% of the combined cargo plus tongue weight could be carried on the TV's front axle, 30% on the rear axle, and 40% on the rear axle.
This approach to WD was commonplace 50-60 years ago when the typical tow vehicle was the family sedan.
WDH manufacturers recommended that WD bars be rated for combined TV cargo (usually cargo carried in the TV's "trunk") plus the TT's tongue weight.
It was assumed the bars would be adjusted so that equal load would be added to the TV's front and rear axles.
Now, most TV and WDH manufacturers do not recommend the "equal squat" approach.
Instead, they usually recommend that between 0% and 100% of the load which was removed from the TV's front axle should be restored via WD.
IOW, there should never be any net addition of load on the front axle, and there could be a front axle load reduction equal to as much as 40-50% of tongue weight.
Obviously, if you load the WD bars so the TV's front axle is subjected to zero net load, the bar load will be much less than if you adjust them to transfer a load equal to 30% of cargo plus tongue weight to the front axle.
If you follow the modern approach of restoring not more than 100% or removed load to the front axle, there is no need to size the bars based on cargo plus tongue weight -- using tongue weight alone is more than adequate.
If you follow the recommendation for a 50-60 year old family sedan, you might want to base the bar size on cargo plus tongue weight.
Ron
