Is there a specified trailer weight before you are required to have a weight distributing (WD) hitch? Is a WD hitch setup just a "nice" to have?

A bud of mine just bought a used smaller travel trailer (21' I believe) and it was not set up with a WD hitch.

My 28' trailer has a WD hitch, so I assumed all would have a similar setup.

Edmo

 

Edmo,

I am not aware of any Federal or State regulations that require a weight distribution hitch to be installed on a specific size trailer. However their are 50 states to deal with. Here is a link to the list of State Dot websites, that will allow further research on your state laws regarding this. www.fhwa.dot.gov/webstate.htm

Weight distribution hitches are installed on larger trailers to spread the load out evenly along the entire tow vehicle and trailer instead of a high point load at the hitch. By distributing the weight evenly the front wheels of the tow vehicle are in better contact with the road thereby increasing brake efficiency and steering control. Also weight distribution hitches can help lesson trailer sway.

The decision to install weight distribution hitches, is left to the individual. There are some reputable trailer manufactures/sellers out there who routinely recommend weight distribution hitches on there larger trailers for safer towing.

I personally use weight distribution hitches on trailers above 4000 gvw, because i like the increased ease of towing with this set up. Another factor to take into account is the size of the tow vehicle. The higher the GVW of the vehicle the larger the trailer you can tow comfortably without a WD hitch.

Also air bags or helper springs can be used to level the vehicle without using a WD hitch. These solutions do not help with trailer sway however.

Hope this helps

 

I have a 94 F250. I have towed a 4,000# travel trailer without WD hitch and a 8,000# travel traile both with and without the WD hitch. The 8,000# with WD is by far the smoothest, relaxed ride.

The 4,000# trailer had trouble with sway, wind, you name it. Above about 65mph it would sway and the ride would get interesting.

The 8,000# rides fair without the WD hitch, I just did this for a short distance. It sways more and the tail of the truck is definitely lower. With WD hitch the trailer is smooth upto about 85mph and then I chicken out.

I can drive all day with the 8,000# and WD hitch and arrive no more fatigued than I would just driving the truck with wife and kids.

Driving the 4,000# without WD was more fatiging and felt less stable than the larger trailer.

Adding a trailer sway bar takes care of almost all sway issues.

Just my opinion,

Jim Henderson

 

Thanks for the replies...

My WD hitch works really nice with my 7,600 lb travel trailer. I've also towed my trailer without the WD spring bars when empty (~ 5,600 lbs) and it was OK, but not as smooth as with the bars.

My bud's camper is one of the 21' Light-weight models, targeted towards a SUV tow vehicle. His F-250 is more than he needs for this trailer, but a SUV might actually need a WD hitch to smooth out the ride. I just thought it was interesting that his trailer was setup without the WD hitch.

Edmo

 

I'm sorry but this is not quite correct.

Most Class IV hitches will top out at 5,000 lbs when used as a straight hitch. Although I've seen a few that would pull 6,500.

Most Class IV hitches require the use of trunion (spring) bars to reach their full capacity of around 10,000 lbs (some will go to 12,000).

Before someone jumps in with a rare exception to this rule, I'll state an example. The folks who tow house trailers with big trucks don't use weight distributing hitches. They use a special hitch that is capable of handling the weight by itself. But this is not typical of regular hitches.

Check your hitch information carefully; most Class IV hitches will only pull about half their maximum weight if you don't use the trunion bars.

This even varies among Class V hitches. Some class V's can pull 8,000 lbs without trunion bars; some can pull over 10,000 lbs. Check your hitch information.