Weight Distributing hitch

[Crewdog]

I thank everyone for the words of wisdom, and I certainly will be cautious and aware as we trailer our new Tug.

Hoping we don't have any deadlines to beat on the road, and can just pull off if needed.

 

[GulfSailor]

Just a word of caution on using a weight distribution hitch on a Ford F250.

First we've just returned from a 5000 mi trip towing Journey On, a C-Dory, weighing ~9000 #, including trailer, hitch weight of 750 #, with about 500 # in the truck bed. So the weights are in the ball park of a Tug. And with no equalizer hitch and no problems. Though with electric/hydraulic brakes, thank God

I have read that tag on the hitch and installed an equalizer hitch. Going up a wet hill I lost traction because the trailer weight was the same, but the hitch had transferred weight from the rear driving wheels to the front. and that's what an equalizer hitch is supposed to do. Removed the equalizer bars and went on my way with no problems.

So what was the problem? First, lets look at what an equalizer hitch does. Those bars are a big spring which puts a torque into the hitch around the ball. This torque transfers weight from the rear wheels to the front wheels. This reduced the hitch weight on the rear axle just as advertised, which also reduces the driving force the rear wheels can put out, due to reduced friction force. At some point the rear wheels will just spin and I've proved that on a steep uphill that's wet. If you have a 4X4, it's all even, but I don't.

The Ford F250 has the stiffest spring on any truck I've ever owned, and a tongue weight of 750 # is well within its capacity and gives good traction. You can upgrade to a heavier hitch, but adding equalizer bars will always reduce traction on the rear wheels. In addition, those bars are springs, not dampers. Springs store/return energy, dampers remove energy. So I'm not sure how those bars add to stability. In fact on a F250, by reducing the rear wheel weight and thus the traction, they may reduce stability. For the house trailer, I've added a friction damper, which works well. I don't need it on the boat trailer.

Just a few thoughts of which to be aware.

Boris

Losing traction at the rear can happen, but it's caused but having the hitch incorrectly set for the tongue weight of the trailer.
In your case it sounds as though the hitch was over-adjusted to transfer too much of the load forward and was lifting the rear excessively.
The initial setup is important and requires careful measurements to be taken. Also, the settings for a boat trailer will likely be different to those needed for a house trailer.

As you say, the bars act as springs, which is why it's important to have a hitch that's correctly rated for the load. Too heavy duty and the bars won't flex, too light and they'll just bend without transferring any load.

The hitch provides little in the way of sway control by itself, but if necessary, friction or hydraulic dampers can easily be installed using the two small holes on either side of the ball hitch.

The stability it does provide is longditudinally, by stiffening the connection betwen trailer and truck.
It's not unusual to watch a vehicle using a regular ball hitch hit a dip or rough section of road and to see the truck go through several cycles of the nose rising and the tail falling as the trailer tongue pushes the hitch up and down, with the consequent loss of effectivness of the steering and brakes while this occurs.

 

[SUWANNEE]

Bill,
I have no idea how your R-27 will tow behind your F**D, as I have a Chevy but I can tell you this:

Two weeks ago I came back from Apalachicola with my boat behind me in a lovely thunderstorm in the dark with high winds and slashing rains and I never felt a sway of any kind. The same was true when we towed to the Keys and back in December.
I have experience with Two travel trailers and several WD hitches and I can not see any reason with my boat and trailer to need the WD. Other folks have had different trucks and trailers so who am I to say. But I presume that you will be getting the same brand of trailer that I have.

See you soon

 

[ragman]

We are the new owners of a R-27. We also tow a 31' Airstream with our 2011 F-250. The Airstream weighs about 9,000 lbs, just a little less than the R-27. However, the Airstream has a Hensley weight distributing hitch which transfers almost half of the tongue weight from the rear wheels to the front wheels of the tow vehicle. However, the design of the trailer for our R-27 does not appear to be able to mount a WD hitch, as it appears is the case with most boat trailers.

Checking the owner's manual for our truck implied that we could tow the R-27 as it was delivered with its tow package. The manual said the capacity was 17,000 lbs for the trailer and 1,700 lb for the tongue. The hitch delivered with the truck has a 2.5" receiver that can be reduced to 2" with an insert. The label on the hitch says that the limit with a WD hitch is 16,000 lb trailer weight and 1,600 lb tongue weight. and 12,500 and 600 lb tongue weight Without a WD. With the reducer those are reduced to 8,000 trailer and 800 lb tongue with WD and 6,000 lb trailer and 600 lb tongue without WD. This is our third Airstream, the two previous came in just about 8,000 lbs so we were within the specs with those trailers for the 40,000+ miles we towed them. But, our new trailer is just over that. Fortunately, we have only put a few thousand on her with that hitch. But, the boat is another story altogether. The boat with trailer, fuel, water and personal items would come close to 10,000 lbs. Without WD that would far exceed the limits of our hitch.

Both a call to Ford Motor Company and a call to the dealer from whom I purchased the truck said we were good to go with the hitch as delivered. But, a call to hitch company told me that the label on the hitch was the controlling factor.

Therefore, we purchased a Curt hitch ($270 from etrailers.com) rated at 17,000 lb trailer and 1,700 lb tongue weight (with or without WD). It has a 2" receiver and was fairly easy to install. The entire project took less than four hours, including a trip to the local auto parts store to buy some Locktite. Essential tools: 3/4" drive 15/16th and 7/8" sockets, 6" extensions, heavy duty breaker bar and 6' piece of steel pipe for added leverage (the bolts on the original hitch were seized with Locktite and could not be budged with a strong impact wrench), a 3/4" drive torque wrench. Helpful were two small jack stands to hold the old hitch as it was being removed and the new one as it was being installed. Finally, a drill and tap to remount the electrical connector were needed.

I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable towing our new boat. I hope people read this and look at the hitch they are using and make adjustments as needed.