how does weight distributing hitch work

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Old 09-15-2013, 12:30 AM
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how does weight distributing hitch work

I just bought a new f150. I wanted one with the ecoboost engine, max tow, and max payload. It's a crew cab with 4x4.

I want to pull a big car hauler to use for my moving business. I'm looking at 16-18 foot cargo trailers with a GVWR or 10,000 pounds.

I need to get a weight distributing hitch but I don't know which one. Part of my problem is I won't be towing the same load. I'll be using the same trailer. But some loads will be heavier than others. And the tongue weight is going to change depending on how I have to load it.
 
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Old 09-15-2013, 06:01 AM
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That ecoboost is weigh cool - have one in the wife's Explorer Sport rocketship!
****************
MOST wdh are adjustable or else they would have to sell about 8 gazillion different ones to match each users needs...

At a high level, the way they work is to lever the tongue weight such that it moves some of the rear axle weight up to the front.

We have a propride 3P hitch that we bought (still in the garage) when we had the TT and you could use about 20 formuli and 10 calculations to get at it...

BUT, the simplest way to do it,
is measure your wheel well heights when unloaded,
hook up and load up the trailer,
then adjust the wdh until the wheel well height is the same or close to the same...
that way you are distributing the load across both axles as well as can be expected !

(Obviously, you have to take into account that you are not over your GCWR or GAWR.... but other than that - that's all there is to it)
 
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Old 09-15-2013, 01:30 PM
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Originally Posted by jdadamsjr
That ecoboost is weigh cool - have one in the wife's Explorer Sport rocketship!
****************
MOST wdh are adjustable or else they would have to sell about 8 gazillion different ones to match each users needs...

At a high level, the way they work is to lever the tongue weight such that it moves some of the rear axle weight up to the front.

We have a propride 3P hitch that we bought (still in the garage) when we had the TT and you could use about 20 formuli and 10 calculations to get at it...

BUT, the simplest way to do it,
is measure your wheel well heights when unloaded,
hook up and load up the trailer,
then adjust the wdh until the wheel well height is the same or close to the same...
that way you are distributing the load across both axles as well as can be expected !

(Obviously, you have to take into account that you are not over your GCWR or GAWR.... but other than that - that's all there is to it)
I think this pretty well sums it up. some folks try to make rocket science out of it, but keeping things simple usually works very well, IMO.

Steve
 
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Old 09-15-2013, 04:19 PM
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Wow - musta been a good day for me if Steve says I got it right
 
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Old 09-15-2013, 04:26 PM
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Originally Posted by jdadamsjr
Wow - musta been a good day for me if Steve says I got it right
Just makes sense. If the basics are in place, you can tweak things all over the place and not see much improvement. Get the basics right and most often things will be fine.

Steve
 
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Old 09-16-2013, 09:48 AM
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Originally Posted by jdadamsjr
Wow - musta been a good day for me if Steve says I got it right
Just a little hitch hiking here but wondering why you went from a 2012 F 250 to a 2013 F 350?
Any noticeable difference or specific reason?
DRW for pulling that 5th wheel?
 
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