Who actually uses a weight distributing hitch?

[spectre446]

Where I live I've seen thousands of people tow 8,000-10,000+ pound boats on a standard hitch. According to the Ford towing guide, anything above 5,000lbs requires a weight distributing hitch. Who actually uses one for 5,000+ pound loads? Who doesn't?

My towing experience is limited to my father in law's 31ft boat which is about 10,000lbs with the trailer. He tows it on a standard hitch on a 2008 Ram 2500, never had any problems and he's had it for over 10 years

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[bobstar]

Where I live I've seen thousands of people tow 8,000-10,000+ pound boats on a standard hitch. According to the Ford towing guide, anything above 5,000lbs requires a weight distributing hitch. Who actually uses one for 5,000+ pound loads? Who doesn't?

My towing experience is limited to my father in law's 31ft boat which is about 10,000lbs with the trailer. He tows it on a standard hitch on a 2008 Ram 2500, never had any problems and he's had it for over 10 years

I use WDH, would not tow with out it at hiway speeds, also if you have ever had a trailer go into sway, you would not tow again without WDH/ sway control

 

[TNKIRK]

Here at Lazydays Rv, Colorado..........We always use a w/d for anything over 4500lb............It is all about safety...............

 

[daemonic3]

From what I have learned on these forums, boat trailers intentionally have light tongue weights and are not designed for WDH attach. Plus, I don't think WDHs are designed for submerging that you may need to do for launch.

On a TT the tongue needs to have enough weight to avoid sway, and even if you get it to look level while parked, the transient forces when you hit a dip at 55mph may ruin your leaf springs on the rear axle. I would not recommend going without a WDH for sure! Plus if your steer axle is too light, the steering will feel very "watery" like that feeling on a bike when your tires are too low.

 

[Arcteryx]

I use a WDH at 5k lbs loaded. Its not about just weight. The length, size, wind, and road surface all play into it. The two selling points on WDH is it evens the load on both axles and helps with sway. Just got back from a new TT shakedown today and felt the trailer still moving around due to wind gusts. I wouldnt tow a TT without one. This isn't a landscaping trailer.

 

[Niterider]

About the only time I don’t use WDH is if I’m just moving an empty trailer around.

Now, I don’t have a WDH for my 14k tilt flatbed that I use to move around my Bobcat skid steer. But I don’t get really up to highway speeds and the most I may go is 5-10 miles at most on secondary roads. For longer hauls, we hook up the farm’s F-350.

 

[UGADawg96]

generally........

Travel trailer - yes
Boat - no

 

[Pedaldude]

I didn’t even know about WD hitches until very recently and I have probably driven well over 10,000 highway miles towing some kind of trailer since I first got my driver’s license. The sad thing is that there is really very little information for new drivers concerning towing and there’s really no additional endorsements required. That being said, I never knew that anyone could pull into commercial scales to get your axles weighed or that there was even a thing called GAWR. Though I am pretty confident that I haven’t ever towed more than 5,000lbs and if I did, it wouldn’t have been by much.

The only times that I have been pulled over while towing was to hassle me to look into my trailer and make sure that I wasn’t smuggling anything. I have been fortunate to not experience any poor handling when towing but then I tend to drive slower than traffic when I have a trailer, especially when going down hill. I have seen though, too many times to count, super sketchy trailer setups where it was quite obvious that good practice was not being followed.

So many car magazines have tons of tests and performance numbers but I can’t recall a single one mentioning towing. I would really like to see some empirical evidence on different setups and braking, slalom and skidpad numbers while towing to dispel any myths and hopefully improve safety for everyone on the road.

 

[sonofzell]

My TT is around 5k lbs, and until just a few weeks ago, I had always used a standard hitch. After speaking with people that are much more experienced at towing than I am, both on this forum and elsewhere, I was convinced it was worth the peace of mind considering its relatively small expense. Like you, I never really felt I had any issues towing, but if you do any bit of research into what CAN go wrong in some situations, it's honestly a bit terrifying!

I've only made one round-trip with the WDH installed, and my initial feedback is really minimal. I'd be lying if I said there was much palpable difference with it than what I felt without it. Other than the obvious friction of the sway control arm, the only thing I can really say I've noticed is a slight reduction in bounce or "porpoising" with the trailer in tow. In all fairness, I'm not really pushing the limits of my towing specs with this camper; perhaps if I was at the higher end of my truck's towing capabilities the difference(s) would be more noticeable.

Regardless of this, I do feel better knowing that I'm better equipped for if/when I do encounter an "oh crap" situation while towing, which is a benefit I can't overlook, considering it was less than a $300 purchase. One unexpected benefit that I hadn't considered is the additional distance between the ball and the bumper that the WDH provides - it allows a tighter turn radius, which was super helpful when getting the trailer back in my driveway (which is always a nightmare on my narrow, crowded street)!

 

[Arcteryx]

To be fair I only bought the WDH because I had a tacoma to pull my camper and the WDH is mandatory as Tacomas suck at towing. Just bought the F150 and figured better safe than sorry. By no means am I an expert at what is required. Like someone said, $300 for piece of mind.

 

[ricko24]

I've been towing a 16 ft Airstream Bambi (3500lb GVWR) for the last 8 months with my X5 and now my F150 PowerBoost. Most folks say a WDH is overkill given the weight/length of our trailer. Haven't experienced any sway at 65mph with big rigs passing by or windy conditions. About to take a cross country trip with it and wondering if I should get a WDH for peace of mind. I've heard some say you can't back up without disengaging the friction bars. Any experienced thoughts/comments?

.

 

[daemonic3]

@ricko24 from what I know it depends on the hitch. Some (like mine) that are integrated sway+WD are completely fine backing even on sharp turns. But depending on the type of sway control it could prevent tight turns or will bend/break the sway control. You would have to look at the specific details of your hitch before buying one.

Yours is super light but there are some I would never want to put the full weight on my ball. One bump backing up into a campsight and there goes my rear axle! I don't think I've ever put the full non-distributed weight on my own without also having the tongue jack touching the ground.

 

[Arcteryx]

For a smaller trailer look at the Anderson WDH. Takes a little getting used to but is easy once you have it figured out. Only about 60 lbs instead of 100 lbs like the friction bar style. Its adjustable based off load and you can dial it in really well. A little expensive but you don't have to deal with the bars. I use the anderson for my WDH and like it alot. You can back up without disconnecting and has sway control.

Just remember if you are buying a WDH with friction bars you need to know your tongue weight

 

[John_C]

I tow 9,000-12,000 pounds occasionally, moving around small machines on steel flatbeds. I don't use a WDH, mainly because the trailers are all setup with pintle hitches and there is no WDH for pintle setups. If it were an issue, I suppose we could send the trailers off to be refitted, but I don't see the need. At the speeds we go, sway hasn't been an issue.

 

[Jack in Prescott]

Another vote for the Anderson WDH. We’re pretty new to towing (5700# trailer, 5500 miles so far using an old Tahoe) but we tow in/around the Rockies where high passes can provide lots of gusty wind shear, and MT WY AZ all can present seriously high and gusty winds. I found a number of excellent YouTube videos on towing and my trailer‘s members forum offers much experienced advice (try https://community.lanceowners.org/topic/towing-payload-video-for-newbies-and-veterans-alike if it’s open to public viewing). The earlier comments about ignorance being bliss are spot on since so few of us would normally receive any coaching on towing. Certainly not from RV sales people. I’ve been amazed at how few RV owners I’ve spoken with have even been to a commercial scale once. This can indeed be serious stuff.

Jack

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