I have never used a weight distributing hitch. Pickup trucks usually run about 50% more weight on the front axle than the rear when empty. When the front end starts getting light, there is usually so much weight on the rear axle that the truck is over GVWR when adding up the axle weights. It would be too small to pull that trailer no matter how the weight is distributed. Sway is generally controlled by making sure there is enough tongue weight. I've never pulled a camper but an enclosed trailer that gets squirrely if a semi passes or if it comes out from an underpass and gets a blast of wind behaves fine after the load gets moved so there's more tongue weight. The one situation where a weight distributing hitch may be helpful is if you want to occasionally tow with a half-ton pickup with a very low capacity coil-sprung rear axle like a Raptor or a half-ton Ram pickup, you may very well end up over rear GAWR before you end up over GVWR and shifting some of the load to the front axle would be helpful.

Some lighter hitches have a pretty low capacity for weight carrying, the solution to that is to get a stouter hitch with a better attachment to the frame.

Regarding safety, the biggest safety improvement most camper pullers can make is to not go 80+ MPH on their 65 MPH rated underinflated China bomb trailer tires that just barely have enough load capacity for an empty camper.

 

I met an engineer that works for one of the RV companies recently at a trade show in town and aside from all the other enlightening insider things he said, the first thing he recommended to anyone buying a trailer is to replace those crappy tires with good tires.

It's frightening seeing people without any idea what they are doing towing....Not sure the tires will fail them before something else does. Those who do want to do it right should heed his advice and get new tires immediately.

 

People blame the tires when in many cases it's their lack of having the correct air pressure, overloading the tire and driving at speeds they aren't rated for. Same deal with hitches, few take the time to measure and set the ball height and measure to see the actual movement of the tow vehicle when the trailer is placed on the ball.

 

When I bought my TT I stopped at the tire shop on the way home and mounted a set of Goodyear endurance tires.