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Hello new to the forum and heavy bumper towing. I started a food truck business and decided to start with a new trailer set up vs an old food truck. My question to you all is what kind of WDH should I look into before investing in airbags. I'm looking at the new Anderson WDH, based from the guy Mr. Truck.
As of now, the truck is stock and pulls/handles great but squats! At least 6". Due to the squatting I bought a 5" drop receiver flipped it upside down, my attempt to level out the trailer. But, I can see this being a liability factor down the road. We setup around the Houston area and travel as far as 5 hours from Houston to festivals. Currently very bumping/noisy.
Anyway we have a 2012 f150 ecoboost towing a 20' concession trailer, two 3500 lbs axels. The trailer has an extended tounge with an enclosed generator box, our generator weighs approx 250 lbs. Up front inside the trailer is our 3 compartment sink with a 35 gal. Fresh water tank then the 55 gal waste tank is just in front of the axles. We have one fridge just in front of the axels (D side) then SS tables and storage on the pass. side. In the back, behind the axels is our smoker approx 400/500 lbs. that's just to give you an idea of the layout on the trailer, definitely tounge heavy.
Basically I would appreciate any insight for the best way to transfer weight to the front of the truck from the back. And if the way I'm towing right now is in anyway dangerous or illegal for not having proper towing equipment to tow a heavier class trailer.
Just a visual. Due to the city of Houston we had to enclose the entire porch area on the trailer where the smoke is.
A couple of thoughts. Air bags level, but they do not take weight off the rear axle, WD bars do that and if you are squatting 6" you clearly need some. Ideally the squat at the rear wheel wells of your truck is 1/2"-1" when the bars are tensioned.
As to the best WD hitch, everyone has their favorite. I tend to be conventional about most things having to do with towing and use a Reese double cam, but there are other good ones.
Normally my thought would be your rig is potentially dangerous as the amount of squat would suggest you are light on the front end of your truck which can lead to problems in handling and control. That would turn out to be a legal issue in the event you caused an accident and it was determined your set-up was the cause, but it is hard to predict how things would actually play out legally.
I would change it and get it weighed so you know how much you are putting on the hitch. Something in the area of 15% of the gross weight of the trailer when loaded would be in range. It sounds to me like you are running heavy on the front and should rebalance your load, but that would be best determined by a scale. I am not sure how to best rebalance as that would be up to you in terms of what you can shift to the rear, but running a trailer "tail-high" can get squirrelly.
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