The Reason WD Hitches have the ball tilted back...

[Greywolf]

The farther back the hitch is tilted (up to 12 degrees on some, less on others) the more it lowers the ends of the spring bars for the hitch. If a heavy trailer is to be pulled by a truck with a light spring pack, more tilt is added to the hitch. What happens is that to hitch it - once the ball is locked in, the hitch point is jacked above level and the chains locked in. The greater the rearward angle, the more upward force is applied... What you want to see is the bars running nearly parallel to the frame of the trailer, the trailer frame level with the ground (use a tape measure at the frame of the trailer to the ground front and in back), and the truck ride height the same as it was before the trailer was hitched on. The entire issue has to do with weight on the front wheels. Four critical measurements come into play: Front of the trailer frame is at the same height as the back of the trailer frame. (2) PLUS The truck frame height at the front (or bumper) and at the back (rear bumper) is the same as it was before the trailer was hitched on. The reasoning is this: A Load Distribution Hitch is made to act as an extension of both the trailer and the tow vehicles suspension system. it is a pair of spring bars that equalise the weight placed on the truck by the trailer so as to (ideally) neutralise it. If done well, the rear end has the original ride height, and thus the same traction potential. The front end also has the same ride height (load) and therefore the same ability to apply traction for steering. An F350 or F450 has a spring pack that can handle a lot more load than an F150. Regardless - an F150 can still pull a thirty foot trailer if it is set up right. Hitch angle is the key. The hitch is tilted further in order to apply more upward force to the pivot point, thereby leveling out the combination. When these hitches are cinched, the jack at the front of the trailer is cranked up with the ball seated and held until the trailer weight is lifted off and some of the truck weight also. Once the chain keepers are locked and the jack let off - both units should be at their original levels. The truck will sit a tad lower - but the idea here is that it is LEVEL front to back. It is MEASURABLE! Go from the ground, to the bottom of the frame on each, at the back, and at the front. Load Distribution Hitches can be played like a fine piano... Between the holes available in the hitch "TEE" that goes into the reciever, and how much angle you set them for - you can fine tune an LDH until it's perfect. (Plus or minus a cooler full of beer in the bed of the truck, and how much fishing tackle you bring....) It is an observable phenominon that between the first time a trailer goes on the road, and the second time it makes a trip - the load changes. How it was set up at the dealer is not the same anymore because you now have your "STUFF" in it... Johnny brought the X-Box and all his games, Sissy brought the Barbie collection, Mama wanted her prized cast iron skillets, you brung your tools... So you might as well know how to set it up! There you go.... Tape measures don't lie.

[RagdollRacer]

I have no idea what you are talking about. I currently only have a flatbed single axle trailer but I am purchasing a Toy Hauler soon and in doing my homework I read your article. Thanks for the info but could you put a few photos of a "tilted hitch".
BTW I have a 2003 F250 V10 SB auto. with tow package.
I am sorry but I am having a hard time comprehending how a hitch is anything but a tongue weight supporter. In technical terms that I understand, as the truck is balanced without anything hooked to it you would be adding torque on the "arm" of the hitch and all this does is unbalance the "CG" of the truck.

Please excuse my ignorance as I probably don't know what the heck I am talking about but I would appreciate more info so that I meght see the light.

Thanks,
FM

[avator]

Greywolf,
thanks for the info. I just got a used EAZ LIFT WD to use with my 15ft travel trailer and F150 long wheelbase. the hitch has a lot of tilt in it. (guess because it had been used to tow heavy TT). anyway, I've got more of an idea how to use mine correctly.

thanks again.

[04superduty]

greywolf thanks for the info, i always wondered why the ball was tilted back on WD hitches.

[jim henderson]

My Eazlift instructions and The Ford Truck Owners Bible, or some other book(might be some RV guide) I read back around 98 said the WD hitches distribute weight equally(we hope) to the trailer and truck axles. This means the truck has to drop some.

It has been so long and my memory is fuzzy but from what I recall... The truck when properly loaded will settle a bit but the front and rear should settle the same. You should measure the front and rear truck bumper heights before and after loading. The bumpers should drop roughly the same amount, on my truck(94 F250) just a couple inches at most. This prevents the tail low(common) or high phenomena we see too often with improperly loaded trucks and improperly adjusted transfer bars.

Otherwise good info,

Jim Henderson

[Greywolf]

There will be some additional load on the truck - that's a given.

But what we don't want is for the truck to be either dragging it's rear bumper (not to mention the hitch!) and lifting the front end up - NOR do you want to lift the hitch point so high that it "JACKRABBITS" the truck, and puts too much of the load on the front end.

RR? When you get your trailer, a(n) LDH will most likely be shown to you, demonstrated (how well is anyone's guess), and you will leave the lot with it for one very simple reason: Any trailer that weighs over 1,000 pounds in some states - 1,200 pounds in others - must have an LDH to legally operate on the road.

Without it, you'll probably have to sign a waiver of liability so the dealer is not up to their eyebrows in Lawyers if anything happens...

The images on Reese's "How it works" page should give you a better idea of what's going on with this kind of hitch.

http://www.reese-hitches.com/WD/about_wd_hitches.htm

[LxMan1]

I know mine works just like mentioned in the first post. The truck drops about 1" in the rear and sits level. My bars ride level with the tounge and ground. It drives much better since adding the WDH. I got mine from Summit Racing. It was the best price I could find. It has 1000# tounge wt and 10,000# trailer wt.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

[avator]

I got my 14,000# EAZ LIFT off craigslist.org for $40. the guy just wanted it out of his garage.... well, actually, his wife did.

[benshere]

Greywolf-----Right Arm! Dont think I've seen that explanation is quite a while. Using a WD hitch and bars does require some setup which means measuring. I used to go through that procedure myself. Also must be redone for each different vehicle or different trailer, cant do one setup fits all. I used to use a different link in the bar chain to make minor road adjustments for conditions. Very windy flat roads-----tighten up bars 1 link, transfer slightly more load to front to tighten up for wind sway. Lots of short winding roads (hills etc), loosen up bars 1 link to xfer slightly more to rear end to loosen up steering.

I dont use bars for my bronco with 850# boat tongue weight. Would go to WD for any long distance.
Good description of measureing setup--

[5_labsownus]

Graywolf, That is a better explanation than the instruction sheet. I have been through it several times now (the last this week) and driving feels great when the WDH is set up correctly.

Just set up my SD Crew to pull my NEW 07 Brookside 301RBS.

A question for ya. I picked the trailer up yesterday and wondered it the ceiling vent over the bed is pre-wired for a power vent. Any idea?

[Greywolf]

MORE INFO:

The chains need to always be vertical from the bars up to the cinch point. The reason is to allow for any sway or cornering. If they are at an angle, they will tighten and loosen through a turn.

ALSO:
SWAY CONTROL BALL MOUNTS - the ball (on every unit I have seen) must be 24 inches from the center of the hitch ball socket. The PLATE the ball is on needs to have the ball to the rear (at least on Reese hitches). What happens is that the back end of the sway control mount plate will exactly touch the edge of the chain tensioner mount plate due to the length of the LDH bars when it is ideally located.

- If you have front mounted propane bottles with a cover, you may have to lift the cover to mount all of these.


~Woofie

[skilife17]

[quote=LxMan1]I know mine works just like mentioned in the first post. The truck drops about 1" in the rear and sits level. My bars ride level with the tounge and ground. It drives much better since adding the WDH. I got mine from Summit Racing. It was the best price I could find. It has 1000# tounge wt and 10,000# trailer wt.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CHT%2D17002&N=700+115&autoview=sku[/QUOTE]

Mine does too. Actually I don't own it, it belongs to the band boosters at my old high school. Last weekend I went with the band to Eua Claire, Wisc and the band rented a van to pull the 34 ft trailer they have. We used a WDH and it improved the ride of the E350 that we rented.

[Greywolf]

Originally Posted by 5_labsownus

Graywolf, That is a better explanation than the instruction sheet. I have been through it several times now (the last this week) and driving feels great when the WDH is set up correctly.

Just set up my SD Crew to pull my NEW 07 Brookside 301RBS.

A question for ya. I picked the trailer up yesterday and wondered it the ceiling vent over the bed is pre-wired for a power vent. Any idea?

The only way to find out if you have twelve volt wires around it is to pull the four screws at the corners of the vent trim (inner trim piece) and explore around the vent. Likely there will be a lot of fiberglass insulation up there, so be warned. Fiberglass insulation makes me start to itch just thinking about it...

If you find three-wire ROMEX it's probably going to an A/C unit and will be 115 ac voltage, vice twelve DC. Have a meter handy.

[5_labsownus]

Thanks Graywolf, I will call the MFG next week to see if they can help. Then I will do it the hard way, LOL!

Rod

[mitchntx]

I played with mine for a while yesterday.

I had my Reese dual cam set-up for a 2K1 2500HD and was very pleased. I ran the same setup on my 2K7 F250 and was less than impressed.

I moved the hitch point up to a higher notch (raised the ball about an inch) and flattened out the tilt.

I found a point to measure from and the truck sat at:
25 1/2" rear - 24 3/4" front - Free height
23 3/4" rear - 25" front - W/O the torsion bars
24 1/2" rear - 24 1/2" front - W/ torsion bars @ 2nd link
25 1/2" read - 24 1/4" front - W/ torsion bars @ 3rd link

Using the 3rd link in the chain was dificult to ratchet into place. I deformed the end of the supplied cheater bar doing it! So, I thin that's a bit much.

At the 2nd link, the front of the trailer was about 2" higher than the rear. But this is over a 28' span. Also I noticed that the helper spring was just making contact with the upper limit stop while the front was several inches away.

So, I raised the hitch point about an inch and decreased the amount of tilt in the ball and saw a 1" drop in the rear and a 1/4" drop in the front of the truck with the trailer about 1/4 bubble off level, high in the nose.

Thoughts?