So just how much tension can I put on the WD arms? My receiver is as low as it will go but I need to get the nose on my TT down some more. (SEE PIC) I had it on the second link there. When I had it on the third link the arms looked like they were ready to snap.

 

It looks like the truck is nose high also. You may have to go with a shank with more of a drop.

 

Increasing tension on the weight distribution bars is not going to bring the TT nose down any. Too much tension will cause the rig to be too rigid and make things break. The trailer and truck still have to articulate up and down at the ball.
Decreasing tension on the bars will shift weight from the front axel to the rear of the truck, allowing it to settle a bit more.
It may be that your camper simply sits too low to be level when properly connected to the truck. The solution there is to flip the trailer axels, that is, mount the axels below the springs instead of over them (assuming you have leaf springs). This will gain you a few inches of trailer height.

Different bars are rated for different weights. That being said, on average, chain type WDHs usually end up at the sixth link counting from the bottom (kinda like most vehicles get 300 miles to a tank, even though tanks come in different sizes).
In this photo, your bars have a pretty good curve to them already, I certainly would not increase tension, but would consider backing off a link.

A hitch with more drop is the easy solution, but you do run the risk of plowing furrows at every dip in the road and gas station entrance/exit if you get too low.

 

Eric,


Your set up doesn't look that bad, and you might have already done the best you can do with the equipment that you have.


However, if you want to nit pick it visually (although examination by way of multi-platform weight scale is by far preferred), then it appears that your set up is both nose high on the truck, as well as nose high on the trailer.


Tighter spring bars can potentially bring down the nose of the truck a tad bit, but will have the opposite effect on what you first wanted to do, which is bring down the nose of the trailer.


To fix that, if you really like this particular trailer, you might have to have the coupler cut off, and a new coupler welded on that puts the coupler a little higher. I had to cut off a coupler of one of my trailers, because the locking dog broke into pieces inside of it. I went with an all cast "BullDog" coupler used in livestock trailers, that wrapped over the top of the tongue tubes, rather than under the bottom.


If I were to do it again today, I'd have welded on an adjustable coupler. Basically, it is a vertically oriented brake bent formed C channel cross drilled with a bunch of parallel holes in a row on either leg of the C, into which you can bolt any kind of coupler you want... Cast iron Bulldog, Pintle, or more fussy internal locking mechanism Atwood crap.


Anyway, the benefit would be that you wouldn't be plowing furrows into the asphalt on steep inclination changes. It doesn't take much raising of the coupler to make a huge difference in towing attitude. And when using a WD system, one cannot raise it too much anyway, because you need swing clearance for the spring bars during turning articulations.


That was all for bringing the trailer nose down.


As for bringing the truck nose down, rather than tightening your current spring bars more, I would suggest upsizing your spring bars, that way you won't have to worry about over stressing the bars. Regardless of what the manufacturer claims the tongue weight is or should be, I would always MEASURE the ACTUAL tongue weight with a tongue weight scale (worth every penny for convenience).


I have consistently found that loaded wet and ready to tow tongue weights are always higher than manufacturer claims... mostly because they have no way of knowing what I will load, and equally important, what I will NOT end up loading into the trailer. For example, if I don't add any weight aft of axle in a toy hauler (ie, no toys), then my tongue weight may actually be heavier when empty, because of the lack of counter ballast aft of the trailer's axles that will relieve the trailer weight ahead of the axle that ends up on the coupler.


Since I have three trailers, and don't load them the same way twice, I have three different sizes of spring bars. They are not designated by trailer, they are solely designated by weight. I might use two different pairs of spring bars on the same trailer, one pair when fully loaded, the other pair when partially loaded, depending on the resultant tongue weight.


My bars are the trunion style, as opposed to the round bar style, which I am including a photo or two of to show you something else... trunion bars by design do not extend as low below the ball head coupler as the round bar style. Trunion spring bars fit into the ball head coupler, rather than enter from below the coupler. It saves about an inch and a half. But that inch and a half is CRITICAL when the hitch head is hovering only 7 inches above the ground.

 

I have 1500 lb bars on mine and wasn't happy. Got air springs in the rear and what a world of difference. I have actually towed without the bars, but since they have sway control built in I use them for long distance. Crazy difference.

 

Have tried adjusting ball height to tow without wd?
Bet you could level with just you hitch. Then use the sway control