This is a multiple part mumble:

Part 1: I'm a new "toy hauler" and bought a 7X14 to transport my toy's (my woodworking shop power tools) to a new home in Colorado. The trailer is a dual axel unit rated at 7000# which is well under what my 04 PSD can pull running up hill. But, on my tow hitch it says I should not put more that 500# of tongue weight on the hitch.

Now, the weight distribution diagram in my trailer book shows a 70/30 weight distribution split over the double axel's, so 70% of the weight is forward. Here's where the math gets me bogged down. 70% of 7000# is 4900# (assuming I was able to load the full 7K correctly). How much of that is going to be bearing down on the hitch?

Part2: All the label's on the hitch speak to the limits of the tow system, ie 500# max hitch load and 5000# max trailer gross weight. Can anyone tell me how this squares with the 15,000# trailer hitch I supposedly paid for and is listed on my invoice as installed?

Thanks to any one who can makse sense out of this for me.

making a living is not the same as making a life

 

Your hitch should be a "Class 4".
This is some info from U-HAUL:
http://www.u-haul.com/hitches/selectahitch.pdf
Scroll down to the bottom of the page where they list the different hitches.
It looks to me that what you have is a "Class 3". Did I miss something?

 

As to the weight limits your seeing on the label. I believe you have a 5000# reciever. The part that slides into your hitch. They make a solid steel one that's rated to 10000#.

 

the reciever itself should be rated at 12,000 lbs and since the trailer your towing handles up to 7000 lbs you need to get a 10,000 lbs hitch. has far has weight distribution 10% should be on the tounge that's it. the rest on the trailers axles. if your using a weight distrubating hitch (which you don't need with that weight) the hitch itself redistrbutes the load however the weight on the hicth itself is the same

 

Yes, you missed something. He has a class IV hitch. You can get class IV hitches with 5K# weight carrying capacities. Check HERE. The reason Ford usus this hitch is because they want you to use a weight distributing hitch over 5K#.

The reason Ford uses that receiver is that they recommend you use a weight distributing hitch for anything over 5K#. Your receiver is up to the task if you use the proper setup. You have 2 options:

1. Get a new receiver that has a higher load carrying capacity ($280 minimum)

2. Buy a weight distributing hitch (a little more than $300)

This isn't true. Some of the load (tongue weight) is redistributed to both the front axle of the truck and back onto the trailer. The tongue weight is not the same. You still need at least 10% of the tongue weight on the hitch before the weight distributing system is set up though.

I would recommend buying the weight distributing hitch. Even though your trailer isn't that long, it is fairly heavy at 7K#. You will also have it in case you want to buy a travel trailer or something else later. Reese is a good, economical way to go.