slight bit of background.

I've got a friend at work who just bought a new camper and a new-to-him truck to pull it.

he's got a 2011 F150 CCSB, with the 5.0 and he's pulling a 27' "light weight" using an Equalizer brand hitch.

the problem he is having is stability. when he bought the camper the dealer "set it all up" for him. when he was taking it home he showed me around and the first thing i noticed was how "tail heavy" his truck looked. after i asked him how it pulled his comment was that it felt light in the front and that he might have to raise the bars another notch.

so he did and this weekend pulling home in a quartering wind he described it as "white knuckle" and made the comment to his wife that they "either have too much trailer, or not enough truck" he's happy with the power, but not the stability.

so i've offered to help him set the hitch up. we work right next to a flyin' J with a CAT scale so we can scale it to get it "perfect" ... so i'm wondering what one should look for when using a scale to get it "perfect".

i'm comfortable with the process. weigh empty, hook up and compare scale numbers... easy peasy ... but what should we be looking for as far as weight distribution?

i've always though that "zero" weight loss on the front axle was a solid goal, but should i be looking for a weight spread? 50/50? 25/75?

that is to say, how much of the tongue weight should go to the front axle for the best stability? obviously you have to stay under the FGAWR, but i think it would be tough to get the bars *that* tight.

he's towing within his capacities, so there's no reason (in my mind) that he "needs more truck" but if we can get it set up right, then at least he can feel comfortable with deciding whether his current truck is up for the job. I just think he isn't set up right ...

any thoughts?

 

I am not sure there is one correct answer, at least I have never heard one. I know that the manufacturers say to get back to the original front fender height or slightly lower suggesting more than the original weight at the front axle and also advise against going too tight with the bars and directly state it is possible to create a situation in which the rear end is too light. I suspect that may be why the hitch manufacturers do not offer direction in terms of proportion and stick to a recommendation regarding fender height, though I don't know that.

For me, the acid test is "how it tows" as I doubt there is a single formula that fits every combination, although that is often what it sounds like we end up suggesting. I have always been skeptical of formula approaches to almost anything.

Suppose for example, in what would might be an extreme example, we were hitching to a diesel versus a gas, would that not make a difference in terms of a percentage? Or if we started out with a variance in bed loads, would that also not change things? It seems to me that it would.

Secondly, your friend changed two things, his tow vehicle and his trailer. There is nothing like putting a trailer on the back of a truck to bring any problem with the tow vehicle, shocks, steering components, you name its to the forefront. You can have a vehicle that is smooth as silk until you hang something off the rear bumper, then all the other possibilities come into play. More simply put, are you trying to fix a problem in the truck with the WD?

Just my thoughts as I have no direct answer to your question and suspect the answer might prove evasive.

Steve

 

Thanks Steve!

You actually have me the answer I expected. And I realize there are a lot of variables at play. My goal here is to just help him eliminate the weight distribution as an unknown. That is to say, if we get it set up as good as humanly possible, then at least he can decide what to do from there with a degree of confidence.

I think what we will do is get it set up so that he can have zero weight loss/gain on the front (or as close as possible) and hopefully give him the option to go one notch tighter if he wants. This way he can haul it a couple times with a couple different setups and see what he thinks.

Thanks for the input

 

I agree. That is also where I would start.

Steve

 

On my rig, with a trailer that is just under 7000lbs when loaded, I find it tows best when I'm moving about 450 lbs back onto the front axle. The truck is more level if I grab one more link of that chain, but then I find I have too much "porpoising" behavior over bumps on the highway.

That still has the front axle unweighted by around 100 lbs as compared to the "no trailer" situation, but it seems to work best for me.

I wouldn't know how to make any hard and fast rules for this setting up process.

 

Good example. I don't think there are any. In fact, if one goes back in time it is easy to recall when recommendations for tongue weight and fiver hitch weight were less than they are today and folks were hardly careening off the highway.

In my opinion, when one is working with anything where multiple factors come into play it is important not to lose sight of the goals and get caught up in nuances. "if it works, don't try to fix it" or come up with way to complicate the process can be more important than numbers.

Steve

 

if I wasn't tied up annoying my children most weekends, I'd mess around with it a little more to try to find a halfway point between those two points. Would have to angle the hitch back a little more and then grab that same link. I know some of the high end hitches have a screw that tensions the bars instead of a chain. That would be easier to dial in "just right".

I have a buddy who is into racing, and he has suggested I borrow his set of scales so I can find the weight on each tire and adjust my load left to right as well. He claims it helped on his race trailer. Maybe if I have too much time one day.

Still, it actually tows really nice how I have it. The truck and Integrated brake controller stop it really well, the engine pulls it up hills faster than I'm used to, even at half throttle. The AC blows cold on a hot day, and I can usually back it into my campsites without hitting the trees too hard. After that, I usually sit back, burn some meat and try to empty a few beers. I do have a rule that I use hand tools only after I've been drinking. Means I usually get tired before I break much.

 

Man, have another beer and forget it!!

Steve

 

Recently re-did my WDH setup for my new-to-me truck.

Here are the scale tickets from my recent weighs.

Truck weighs 7140 lbs with no gear or passengers.
That's S/D (steering and drive axle weights) of 4060/3080 lbs.
This first "empty" weight is technically unnecessary, but I like to know, mostly for curiosity, but partly for a target minimum front axle weight.


Loaded, I'm at 4300/3500 = 7800 lbs without a trailer. Actually, this was missing two people and a bag, so maybe should be 250 lbs more, but close enough.


This is with trailer attached and WITHOUT WD system engaged.
S/D/T is 3920/4740/5340 = 14,000 lbs combined weight. You can see how much weight has been removed from the front axle, 380 lbs gone, and that's even significantly lower than my unloaded front axle weight. It's my opinion that low front axle weights are a leading cause of sway and poor handling when towing. So let's hook up the WDH.



Now we are looking at S/D/T of 4060/4560/5420 = 14,040 lbs. I guess that 40 lbs extra is just the margin of error in the scale. You can see I've moved 140 lbs back onto the front axle. Ideally I think one more link in the chain would be a good idea, and if this was a half ton truck, I would have been more picky, but at this point I was satisfied, so we took off.

Towed like a dream. Zero sway passing or being passed, and we went through some really windy conditions as well as a thunderstorm. Heavy truck helps, but axle weights are a big deal too.

Going by the Tape Measure method, truck is an inch or so nose high, and trailer is about two inches nose high. I could fix that by adjusting the hitch lower, and tightening the WD bars a bit. It's coincidence that the front axle weight is exactly back to what it was empty, but it helps me feel good about my current setup.

 

I think you can make yourself crazy sweating a few pounds, but the proof is in how it tows. I agree with your comment about front axle weight being a major determinant in sway.

Steve

 

Most scales weigh in 20 pound increments. When weighing the same thing over and over you'll get a variance up to about 100 pounds without adjusting anything.

 

level out your rig.. mostly for wind issues...


I would adjust a small amount more on the front axle.. by using the WDH ( One link )


my opinion... try it.. you can return if you do not like how it feels


if nothing else.. it might tow even better... but if you do not try.. you never know.

 

You know, if folks stopped changed trucks and RVs, they would not have to keep doing this!

Steve

 

I do swap trucks far too often.

 

so true, in 2013 had a Dodge 1500 and a 21 foot travel trailer.

wife wanted a larger trailer. I kept bumping into her when she was cooking.... NO room to pass.

what was I to do... My Dodge could not do larger.

and so I had to CHANGE, needed a trailer with a slide out. and a FRONT Kitchen. trailer is one year older, but truck is 8 years newer.