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I have a 2017 f250 6.2 with 4.30 gears. My travel trailer fully loaded is just shy of 13000 lbs. My tongue weight varies between 1400 and 1900 lbs depending how the trailers loaded. The factory hitch is rated at 1500 lb tongue weight and ive already started to see some wear at the pin hole. I have pulled my trailer with a weigh safe hitch and a WDH. The damage to the pin hole occurred with the WDH.
I'm considering installing a new curt hitch with an 18000 lb rating, 1800 lb tongue weight. I'm also considering simply pulling with the weigh safe hitch and getting a set of airlift air bags to get rid of the sag. I haven't noticed a difference in sage with or without the WDH hitch.
I'm open to thoughts/suggestions on what set ups are going to pull this trailer most effectively and not damage the truck.
Is that pin hole deformed on both sides or just the one shown? If just the one side it looks like the wear that can be caused by the bend in a typical hitch pin. I was starting to see a little bit of that wear on my old hitch and solved the issue by simply adding a small hose clamp to the bend side of the hitch pin on the straight part just against the beginning of the bend. It keeps the bend from getting into the edge of the hole and hogging it out like shown.
Have you taken that rig across the CAT scales before and after setting up your WD equipment?
If you aren't seeing the sag getting better with the WD bars, then I'd say you aren't set up right. It's impossible to say much from here. Knowing the axle weights would help a lot.
Is that pin hole deformed on both sides or just the one shown? If just the one side it looks like the wear that can be caused by the bend in a typical hitch pin. I was starting to see a little bit of that wear on my old hitch and solved the issue by simply adding a small hose clamp to the bend side of the hitch pin on the straight part just against the beginning of the bend. It keeps the bend from getting into the edge of the hole and hogging it out like shown.
I haven't ran it across the scales yet. The trailers in the shop at the moment but when I get it back I was planning on weighing it. The pin deformation is unfortunately on both sides and I'm using the pin that came from ford. It's a longer pin and rated at 21000 lbs.
This is the other side. Not as bad but not good either for a month old truck.
I am basing my 2 cents on the picture of your full rig.
To me, it looks like your WDH is not set up correctly. The spring bars should be parallel (or close to it) to the ground when cinched up. The head assembly should have some means of adjustment so you can achieve this. My thinking is that when you are turning there is not enough chain to accommodate the movement and is actually binding and adding additional stress on the whole hitch assembly.
Do you know the rating of the spring bars?
I am basing my 2 cents on the picture of your full rig.
To me, it looks like your WDH is not set up correctly. The spring bars should be parallel (or close to it) to the ground when cinched up. The head assembly should have some means of adjustment so you can achieve this. My thinking is that when you are turning there is not enough chain to accommodate the movement and is actually binding and adding additional stress on the whole hitch assembly.
Do you know the rating of the spring bars?
Those bars are rated at 10k. The trailer in the attached picture weight in at a little over 12k. I know they were overloaded but the guy I bought the trailer from used that hitch in his 2011 f250 and they worked flawlessly. I purchased the weigh safe hitch to get a better tongue weight and thought about just using that and airbags to level out the truck. I'm a bit unsure how needed a new WDH Th ats rated appropriately is needed. The truck should be capable to pull that trailer without the WDH but that's were my TV knowledge gets a little shakey.
Best way to educate yourself about the entire WDH and how it works is to spend a few hours at your local CAT scale. Take a minimum of three weights.
1) Truck without trailer attached
2) truck with trailer attached but WD bars unhooked
3) Truck, trailer with WD bars hooked up
3b, 3c etc) adjust WD bars and load until you are happy.
the thing I look for with a WDH is how much weight is being added BACK to the trucks steering axle. I've driven combinations with inadequate weight on the steering axle and it's spooky as hell. Since you aren't happy with the sag, you'll obviously be looking at drive axle weights too, but the way to fix both is the same.
Those integrated tongue weight scales are neat, but I wouldn't consider them a replacement for the "full picture" you get from the CAT scale. Best of luck.
As noted, the torsion bars (are those round bars?) look to be pulled up too tight. Your hitch head needs to be tilted back so the properly loaded (though under rated) bars end up parallel to the trailer tongue (if you're going to use the WDH).
I have the higher rated Curt receiver and drawbar as well as air bags, which work very well for pulling my boat, 5er, and two TT's without a WDH. However, my heaviest TT is about 500 pounds lighter than yours. So I'd be a little leery of running that rig without a WDH. My recommendations:
1. Weigh the truck so you know how much weight is on each axle.
2. Hook the trailer up and see how the weight moves between the axles. You want to ensure you don't exceed the rating of the drive axle or lose too much weight on the steer axle.
If you feel the weight shift is too much to safely drive, ditch that WDH for a better, higher rated unit.
If you are seeing only a couple hundred pounds coming off the steer axle, then you can be confident with the upgraded receiver and air bag route.
I think you'll be surprised at how little weight actually gets shifted off the steer axle.
If you decide to go to the scales, please be sure to post your findings!
As noted, the torsion bars (are those round bars?) look to be pulled up too tight. Your hitch head needs to be tilted back so the properly loaded (though under rated) bars end up parallel to the trailer tongue (if you're going to use the WDH).
I have the higher rated Curt receiver and drawbar as well as air bags, which work very well for pulling my boat, 5er, and two TT's without a WDH. However, my heaviest TT is about 500 pounds lighter than yours. So I'd be a little leery of running that rig without a WDH. My recommendations:
1. Weigh the truck so you know how much weight is on each axle.
2. Hook the trailer up and see how the weight moves between the axles. You want to ensure you don't exceed the rating of the drive axle or lose too much weight on the steer axle.
If you feel the weight shift is too much to safely drive, ditch that WDH for a better, higher rated unit.
If you are seeing only a couple hundred pounds coming off the steer axle, then you can be confident with the upgraded receiver and air bag route.
I think you'll be surprised at how little weight actually gets shifted off the steer axle.
If you decide to go to the scales, please be sure to post your findings!
As soon as I get to the scales I'll get some pictures posted. Thanks for all the advice.
That is an interesting video for sure. Glad somebody took the time to actually measure some stuff.
That being said, I'm not a big fan of how they link their conclusions to the observable facts.
More than once they state their concern over reduced steering and braking ability, though that is only a conclusion based on reduced weight on the steer axle. Even with the WDH the weight on the steer axle was reduced, so the question should be, at what point does steering become an issue? How much weight can be removed from the steer axle and still maintain enough traction to steer effectively?
They manage to shift a large percentage of weight from the tow vehicle (and hitch) to the trailer axles. In this case, I would be concerned that they shifted so much weight behind the hitch that sway could become a very real problem. No mention of that risk by them though.
Bottom line: at no point were the weight limits of any component of the rig exceeded, with or without the WDH. If you are looking for a way to level the tow vehicle, air bags and WDH are equally effective. If you don't use a WDH, you should be concerned about a loss of weight on the steer axle. If you do us a WDH, you should be concerned about putting too much weight over the trailer axles.
In either configuration, it is wise to go through a CAT scale and ensure that no part of your rig is overloaded.
That's a pretty good video, and it well explains why airbags and WDH are not interchangeable solutions.
Adding weight back to the steering axle is in my mind the most important reason to use a WDH. Having a level truck is a result of a well distributed load in cases where no air bags are used, but to me, is not the primary concern when towing.
That's a pretty good video, and it well explains why airbags and WDH are not interchangeable solutions.
Adding weight back to the steering axle is in my mind the most important reason to use a WDH. Having a level truck is a result of a well distributed load in cases where no air bags are used, but to me, is not the primary concern when towing.
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