Quick question. I am going to use my buddies camper (32ft w/3 slides) will I need to use his weight distrubution hitch? He said the trailer is around 8,000lbs. At what weight would I have to worry about it? I do have FireStones AirRite Air Bags on the rear axle, so I am not worry about the sag.

Thanks

 

You need to look for the certification label on the hitch. It will have maximum trailer weight, and maximum tongue weight, and it will have two values for both weight carrying and weight distribution. I know you'll be fine on the maximum trailer weight, but check the tongue weight. Most duallies have the higher rated hitch, but not all. The trailer probably has a 10-15% tongue weight, so if the trailer is 8,000# the tongue should be 800-1,200#. Just make sure the hitch can handle it. And make sure your draw bar can handle it too.

You won't have any problem with the truck suspension or power.

 

Most definitely!!! It will help stop the sway that happens when a big rig passes you and also redistribute the hitch weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle. Airbags will not do this. See the post before yours: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...tion-bars.html

 

seems awfully light for 32' with three slides...

how sure are you that it is 8,000#?

My 28' with 2 slides is 9,200# GVWR advertized as 7,700# dry/empty

 

The issue of air bags in combination with weight distribution hitches is not as straight forward as one might think and is one I have discussed directly with Reese technical support. In part it depends on the weight of the trailer. The general thought, however, is to air the bags down to minimum pressure and allow the distribution bars to do the leveling.

And, as Rebel suggested, 8,000 pounds sounds pretty light for a triple-slide 32-footer. Higher weight would argue more strongly for using the distribution bars.

Steve

 

Depending on how far you are towing the camper, you may get away without them, but I have towed a 30' TT only about 7000 lbs without weight distributing, or sway bars and I had a F350 (not dually) and it was windy that day. Worst 250 miles with that TT. I bought a sway control bar set as soon as I could. The trailer may be 8000 lbs, but with three slides, it is probably more.

 

thanks to all. I will check the weight of the trailer before i hook up and by the looks of it i am better off using the weight distribution hitch.

thanks again.