Is a weight distribution hitch needed in this scenario?
- Thread starter Irun
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Good info in here. Its been a few years since Ive towed anything. Now that Ive got a truck again I feel like I need to relearn some of the basics
3 weeks ago I had a 12' U-Haul drive-on trailer that weighed in at +/- 2,700 lbs and a tractor that was about 3500 lbs loaded behind my short bed F150 (with factory tow pkg) and she handled like a champ over mountain roads despite my concerns.
Have you looked in your owners manual? Most trucks will flat out say what weight is 'allowed' before you use a WDH... most mid size trucks for example advertise around 7000lbs towing, but you are supposed to start using a weight distributing hitch around 5-5.5k to get there.
Not sure on current half tons, my HD 3500 for example though is like 14,500lb standard towing, but only 11k before they recommend the WDH.
Not sure on current half tons, my HD 3500 for example though is like 14,500lb standard towing, but only 11k before they recommend the WDH.
A well loaded trailer and proper hitch height has always served me well whether I'm pulling my Jeep, skid steer or dump trailer. WDH's belong in the camper world to me because the flexibility to managed the tongue load is considerably more difficult.
A good visual inspection & understanding of the truck/trailer will generally serve you well. Getting down the to nuclear level of trying to determine tongue weights to me typically means your probably trying to haul something you shouldn't.
A good visual inspection & understanding of the truck/trailer will generally serve you well. Getting down the to nuclear level of trying to determine tongue weights to me typically means your probably trying to haul something you shouldn't.
How do you gain an understanding of what too little or too much tongue weight looks like on your setup if you've never measured it?
I'd venture to guess a lot of trailering accidents out there are people that are just 'eyeballing' things.
By all means, do things as you see fit. It's just not a general practice even in commercial hauling to go through that exercise. Visual inspections, or 'eyeballing', is common in a lot of industries
We just got through 'eyeballing' the rigging to set a 90,000# piece of plate work. No one died, so it was a good day...
I was considering one just to be on the safe side.
Glad I don't work there then. (most modern cranes have in cab indicators to help warn of over lifting/extending... but we STILL see many crane accidents now don't we... )
I have experience as a heavy equipment operator, and as a truck driver hauling a variety of things. One constant in hauling is knowing how much weight is on each axle (or set of axles). Not knowing is a good way to cause an accident or at the very least getting hefty fines when crossing a DOT weigh station.
yeah sure if hauling something that will be 30k under max weight we wouldn't always scale it, but anything even remotely close you'd still scale it. Depending on where your load's center of gravity is you can still be 30k under weight on a 80 or 100k rig and be way over the per axle safe limit at the same time.
Don't even get me started on the fools who use their tractor's drop axle even on a light load, talk about a way to induce massively unsafe understeer.
You're also mixing people who do these things regularly as a profession with weekend warriors who typically don't know jack shit about hauling... just reference all the crossed vs straight straps posts for example
You raise a good point. Make sure your hitch is rated for the weight without WDH or you definitely better have one no matter how well it pulls. I wouldn’t want to risk any legal issues if something goes wrong.
last year I had to make a risky maneuver on I80 when a lawn chair blew out of a truck ahead and the ensuing clusterfuck of stupid drivers had me running half off the shoulder in the gravel and grass at close to interstate speeds while pulling my jeep with my F150. I was thankful I had WDH and set it up properly or I don’t think I’d have made Moab on that trip.
Now I have significantly more truck and capability so I’m not concerned.
Since I designed cranes and spec’d and influenced programming of load monitors I would agree that any day without a death should be a normal day and not a good one.Glad I don't work there then. (most modern cranes have in cab indicators to help warn of over lifting/extending... but we STILL see many crane accidents now don't we... )
I have experience as a heavy equipment operator, and as a truck driver hauling a variety of things. One constant in hauling is knowing how much weight is on each axle (or set of axles). Not knowing is a good way to cause an accident or at the very least getting hefty fines when crossing a DOT weigh station.
yeah sure if hauling something that will be 30k under max weight we wouldn't always scale it, but anything even remotely close you'd still scale it. Depending on where your load's center of gravity is you can still be 30k under weight on a 80 or 100k rig and be way over the per axle safe limit at the same time.
Don't even get me started on the fools who use their tractor's drop axle even on a light load, talk about a way to induce massively unsafe understeer.
You're also mixing people who do these things regularly as a profession with weekend warriors who typically don't know jack shit about hauling... just reference all the crossed vs straight straps posts for example
My sarcasm was thick given the circumstance so the point was missed.
That's a Manitowoc 777 if you ever had any dealings with those. If not, name your brew because I bet we have one sitting onsite right now
Worked for what used to be AmClyde. They originally designed all the American crawler cranes.
Then they went to the super marine market and that’s the stuff I dealt with along with the cranes for offshore oil rigs.
Biggest crane I had a hand in was 5000 metric ton capacity.
Reese, Fastway, Equil-i-zer, Camco, etc. all work on the same principle. Round bar and chain WDHs worked well for me up and down the Alaska highway many times without any issues. Buy whichever WDH that works best for your vehicle-trailer combination and is rated for your tow.