Towing without a equalizer hitch

[mabel]

I happened to notice that my neighbor is towing his 28ft travel trailer without a equalizer hitch or sway control. He is towing it with a 1/2ton truck.
His trailer is similar to mine, which weighs 7200 pounds. I know this isn't a smart thing to do, but I was wondering if it is legal.
We are in Michigan and he is towing within the state.

[deltabravo]

DutchmenSport wrote:
break away breaks.

A broken break away device is useless.

[rbpru]

All a WD hitch does is level out the rig, provide better braking and steering on the front of the TV, reduce sway and relieve the weight and wear and tear on the rear suspension.

If you do not care about these improvements or are satisfied with how your rig drives, there is little incentive to invest in a WD hitch.

Personally I prefer the WD hitch for all the above reasons.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

No OP, it's not illegal.

This is the only forum I'm on where if you don't have a WD or sway or both people think your going to end up in a flaming mess at the bottom of a canyon somewhere.

Towed for almost 40 years and sometimes I had a WD, sometimes not. About 20% of the time with a half ton and 80% with a 3/4 ton. Both my TT and race car trailer weighed around 6K. Never a problem with either. The TT had both and the race car trailer had neither.

In fact, my race car trailer without WD or SC towed a bit better than my TT with WD and SC. The reason was I could get the weight just where I wanted it so the set up was perfect.

In reality OP, the trailer you saw "could" tow better than your trailer with WD just by setup happenstance just like my race car trailer tows better than my TT with all the bells and whistles.

I do know this. "I" would much rather tow a trailer without a WD and SC with 14 to 15% tongue weight than a trailer with that stuff and 10% TW. And I would be a whole bunch safer too. YMMV.

[westend]

I tow a 5000-6000 lb trailer with a tongue weight around 550-650 lbs. I use the F250 in my signature. I've towed without a WDH and it is certainly within limits and my trailer tows exceptionally well. However, I can feel the weight unloaded from my front axles so I use a WDH.

[Terryallan]

2edgesword wrote:
I'm not sure if there are any laws against it but I'm pretty sure it voids any warranty on the vehicle AND if he should get into an accident he could have some very serious liability issues when it's discovered he was negligent in towing outside of the manufacturer's recommended limits.

You said it right "Recommended" limits. NOT lawful limits. Since he is not breaking a law. Gross negligence will be hard to prove. As for the warranty. Who is going to tell them.

Remember. The manufacturer weight limits are only there to tell you what the manufacturer will warranty the vehicle to carry / tow with out breaking down.. Nothing legal about them.

[GrandpaKip]

He may just be ignorant. How many of us knew about WD systems before getting into towing a camper?
Why don’t you go over and start a discussion? Most everybody loves talking about their campers.

[SoundGuy]

mabel wrote:
I happened to notice that my neighbor is towing his 28ft travel trailer without a equalizer hitch or sway control. He is towing it with a 1/2ton truck.
His trailer is similar to mine, which weighs 7200 pounds. I know this isn't a smart thing to do ...

You're absolutely correct but some reading this, especially newbies, may not know why. 😉

Twofold answer - every truck hitch receiver will have TWO sets of ratings, maximum trailer weight and maximum trailer tongue weight. One set is for Weight Carrying (WC), meaning no weight distribution being used, and a much higher Weight Distribution (WD) rating where weight distribution is being used. Tow more than than the WC rating without the benefit of weight distribution and 1) you're towing beyond the rated limits of the hitch receiver and 2) you're severely unloading the truck's front steer axle and have no means to restore much of that weight back to where it belongs, on the front steer axle. Both are an invitation to disaster, using a properly sized & adjusted weight distribution system avoids this entirely.

[mooky_stinks]

mabel wrote:
I happened to notice that my neighbor is towing his 28ft travel trailer without a equalizer hitch or sway control. He is towing it with a 1/2ton truck.
His trailer is similar to mine, which weighs 7200 pounds. I know this isn't a smart thing to do, but I was wondering if it is legal.
We are in Michigan and he is towing within the state.

Well that seals it right there!:R

[2edgesword]

I'm not sure if there are any laws against it but I'm pretty sure it voids any warranty on the vehicle AND if he should get into an accident he could have some very serious liability issues when it's discovered he was negligent in towing outside of the manufacturer's recommended limits.

[sgip2000]

My F250 has a tow rating of over 12,000 lbs with a 1200 lb tongue weight rating. Technically, weight distribution and anti-sway are not "required".

Most F150s require weight distribution over 500 lbs tongue weight.

[DutchmenSport]

There's no law stating WD hitches are required on anything. Laws do state there must be safety chains and break away breaks. Other than that, stupidity is king.

[Huntindog]

It will never end.
Some just don't have very high expectations as to how good their setup can be.... They are quite happy just to be rolling down the road.... They think they are doing GREAT.

Same goes for many other things

[SoundGuy]

WNYBob wrote:
I have a 1500 Silverado LS "work truck" and tow a little smaller TT - 6000# loaded) without a WDH! Big change was when I upgraded my tires to 'E' rated ones from 'P'
I also up graded the TT to brass bushings & wet bolts and Dexter EZ-FLEX equilizer. The original bussing were worn out plastic!

Feel is good and safe! IMO

The question is - what is your Silvy's WC hitch rating? My '12 Silvy is WC rated at just 5000 / 600 lbs so with my Coachmen averaging ~ 4800 lbs loaded & ready to camp I barely within the first rating but because the average gross tongue weight runs ~ 625 lbs I'm clearly over on the second. That aside, the truck's rear end drops significantly when the trailer coupler lowered on to the ball and doesn't restore until I engage the WD spring bars. No way I could tow this trailer without weight distribution.

[WNYBob]

I have a 1500 Silverado LS "work truck" and tow a little smaller TT - 6000# loaded) without a WDH! Big change was when I upgraded my tires to 'E' rated ones from 'P'
I also up graded the TT to brass bushings & wet bolts and Dexter EZ-FLEX equilizer. The original bussing were worn out plastic!

Feel is good and safe! IMO

[ScottG]

No laws, just good sense.
Some people don't notice how bad a trailer tows and that they have to constantly saw the steering wheel back and forth.