well leaving tommorow with the new trailer and it has one of those weight distrobution systems i was wondering if anyone has towed with one of these and can give me some pointers i dont know if it changes how the trailer reacts during turns seems like it would but i dont know. and also does this system make for a smoother ride. its a 4500# when unloaded and a 99 ram 1500 5.2 4x4 that will be pulling it. thanks everyone i know ive been a bother lately but just want to make sure our trip goes well

 

Cant help with the weight deal, but turn off overdrive while towing.

 

Hey Beast, We are currently on a 20,000 mile road trip. We are towing a 4300# Jayco Jayflight. We have an equalizer weight distribution and anti-sway hitch. The weight distro is great I wouldn't tow without it. The anti-sway changes the turning a little bit and makes a crap load of noise when turning at first. The weight distro helps with braking and shouldn't get in the way of turning. I know a couple time on this trip we were turned about 90 degrees, if anything it increases your turning ability because there is more space between your receiver hitch and trailer tongue. Ask me some questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

I am totally with Mav.. I won't tow over 3k# w/o a distribution system..

word of caution:

don't choke up too hard on the levers.. If your system uses chains, only choke up enough link to make it moderately difficult with one hand using the lever.. If you put too much weight on the front of your truck (which means your distributing too much weight off the back, you can see it by how it sits) you will put a hell of a lot of stress on your front brakes, and will wear the hell out of your front tire tread too...

a good rule of thumb is like I said- you want it to be moderately difficult, using the lever with one hand.. You don't want to 'rise' the back of the truck...

edited to add: the front of the truck isn't designed to handle weight like a distribution system puts on it when it's misused. The brakes aren't geometrically designed to perform w/ weight such as that on top of them, and the steering and suspension will be under stupid stress if you set it up wrong.. The tires will be under stress too, but they can handle it no problem- the tread will suffer though because of these reasons..

If you look at your truck before loading the tongue weight, and notice it's stance- level, **** high, whatever.. and then load the tongue and look- it's going to be **** down, right? You don't want to distribute that weight to the point the truck looks unloaded.. You DO want to relieve some of the weight though, so 'halving' the difference is the perfect spot.. You want your front brakes and suspension to share the load- that's the whole point, but you don't want to put undo stress on a part of your truck that isn't designed for it.. You still want the lions share of the weight on the **** which is designed for it..

If you're set up right, it's a tremendous benefit to use a w/d hitch.. If you're not, you're going to pay for it.

It's not near as difficult to set it up as I've made it sound.. Just half the suspension travel on the back leaves to the front and you're good.

does that make sense?

 

If towing anything over 5k lbs wt distribution is the way to go.
Tow my Indy to the track on 18' hauler.
5600lbs to 6000lbs depending on how Ive got the Indy configured.
Ive pulled her about 20k miles, 15k of it with wt distriubtion, 5k without
Without it was white knuckle driving especially on the 6% 2mile grade on the way to/from the track (5.2/4x4/1500).
Trailer would push the truck around in corners.
On downhill corners braking was just plain scary.
I dont have the sway bar setup for the hitch but my V10 does have factory rear swaybar so its pretty stable on its own.

I grease the ball well before hitching up.
Then I grease the arms & plug them into the reciever.
Move the locking latches to the full downward position.
I pull the chains up & on mine I go to the 4th link from the end. (may vary depending on manufacturer)
Must have same # of links on each bar.
Should be a firm when pulling up the locking latches with the bar (if setup same as mine).
If you have to struggle to lock it, you have it too tight, go one link higher on chains.
Best to try it with different # of links to see how much it raises the back of the truck.
Should raise it a bit but you dont want to take too much off the back wheels of the truck or you will loose traction.

 

When I put the trailer on it dosnt seem to squat much even without the weight distribution on put I'm still using it for this trip ill be sure not to over tighten and I would have thought for sure it be a different turning radius or something I really appreciate it my dad doubts my truck can do it so since I'm the only one with a truck I wanna show him if anyone thinks of anything else Lerner's know oh yeah my hitch makes the front of the trailer higher than the back but its already at its lowest make is that ok?

 

if that's the case, then set the chains up so that it's about as stressful as how you would pull on a lawn mower to start it..

you're going to notice the benefit of that thing let there be no doubt- especially during braking and steering.. The thing should absolutely stop the sensation of under-steering.

I've not tried it, and I don't recommend it, but I've heard the old timers say that a w/d hitch will easily add another 1/4 tow capacity on your limit.. I don't think the DMV will buy that either, but it certainly makes a huge difference in the handling of that load.. Your engine working a heckuva lot harder is all your going to notice as far as driving it- so don't forget it's back there.. :-)

 

When I put the trailer on it dosnt seem to squat much even without the weight distribution on put I'm still using it for this trip ill be sure not to over tighten and I would have thought for sure it be a different turning radius or something I really appreciate it my dad doubts my truck can do it so since I'm the only one with a truck I wanna show him if anyone thinks of anything else Lerner's know oh yeah my hitch makes the front of the trailer higher than the back but its already at its lowest make is that ok?

 

Sorry about the duplicate post my phone tricked me