Towing and Weight-Distributing Hitch Checklist

The following checklist was derived from comments & suggestions contained on this site (and others). It focuses on preparing to tow & setting up the hitch. In particular it covers:

1. Preparing to tow.
2. Hooking up TM & TV.
3. Adjusting the W/D hitch to equalize the load.
4. Daily hitch maintenance while on the road.
5. Hitch lubrication.

Ed

[G-V_Driver]

A former owner told me the dealer in Colorado Springs says the TM's don't require WD hitches or even swaybars if they are loaded properly (more weight on the tongue than you would probably guess). He had a 3124 for 5 years and many miles without any fancy hitches. Anybody have any feelings on this subject?

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=G-V_Driver link=board=22;threadid=1385;start=msg10475#msg1047 5 date=1067395883]
A former owner told me the dealer in Colorado Springs says the TM's don't require WD hitches or even swaybars if they are loaded properly (more weight on the tongue than you would probably guess). He had a 3124 for 5 years and many miles without any fancy hitches. Anybody have any feelings on this subject?
[/quote]

That's not what that dealer (Dave Unruh, The Car Show) told me when I bought my TM from him in 2002. It's possible that the difference in advice was due to a difference in tow vehicles...when I bought my TM, my TV was a Jeep Cherokee. Perhaps if I'd showed up with an F350 Ford the advice would have been different. To be precise about this, when I asked Dave if I needed a WD hitch for the Cherokee he didn't come right out and say I had to have one but he did say something along the lines of "it would probably be a good idea". As it turned out that, that Cherokee absolutely needed to have a WD hitch.

As for a sway bar, proper tongue loading (and not hanging stuff off the back) of a TM does indeed virtually negate any need for anti-sway devices. Despite the Cherokee's very short wheelbase (only 100 inches) , I never experienced any sway from my 2720SL...even when meeting semis on a 2-lane highway with 50 mph crosswinds.

Basically, if you've got a real monster of a tow vehicle (like a long wheelbase 1 ton truck(or larger)), then you probably can get away without a WD hitch. OTOH, if you've got a minivan or small to midsize SUV or pickup, then a WD hitch is virtually a necessity to prevent front-end float/rear end sag...especially with the tongue weights that will minimize sway.

I have a 3124KS and tow with a 3/4 Ton Chevy P/U. The tongue weight is too much (over 400 lbs) for my factory tow package unless I use a weight distributing hitch. There is no doubt in my mind that I need a weight distributing hitch. Before I hook up the bars, the front of my truck is in the air. The sway bar is another matter. I believe that one can get along without it very well. Just my 2 cents.

Jim

You can see what I pull with and with what, I never used a WD hitch even when pulling with a Dakota 4x4 four door PU. But then we went to the larger truck for two reasons, one, wife wanted it and two I did not feel good being so close to the GVWR with the Dakota. The Chevy 1/2 ton is great and you know that living in Texas I've had all kinds of wind and mostly two lane roads. The only time I've had any problems is in crossing bridges where a harmonic is set up between the wheel base of the truck and the TM wheels. Then you find out how fast you can safely slow down.

My suggestions is try before you buy. If you are getting good vibs with your rigs most likely your ok. If it just doesn't feel right, most likely it's not. I always error on the safe side and yes we now tow with just about the longest wheel base on the road but we just like the ride better. Even wife's car is a full size (not scaled down GM product) car that is a true highway cruser in the old style. Why we like the ride.

[mjlaupp]

Just brought my 2720SL home after warrenty work. I decided to try towing it without the WD bars hooked up. This was the first time towing with my new F250 Crew Cab Short Bed + towing package = long wheelbase and heavy front end. The truck settled about three inches with the weight of the TM. The front end did not feel light but every dip/bump in the road caused the truck to bound like a boat over the waves. I will be using the WD hitch bars when I tow the TM in the future even with a TV of this size!
MJL.

[G-V_Driver]

Now I'm really confused because Dave at the car show was the guy who told my guy not to bother with the sway bar. As to the WD hitch, we have a half-ton suburban with the tow package. It was fine for the big Coleman pop-up re. tongue wt, but needed the sway bar to keep it from wagging.

I keep thinking that I shoud get somebody else my size to stand on the back bumper with me while DW measures the amount of deflection that ~500# will create. That should tell me something.

Any of you fat boys in Dallas available this week for a bumper test?

I did without one on my Chevy 1500 for the first year. I hated trucks passing me and the wind was always a problem. After buying the WDH all that changed. I'll never tow without it. Call it peace of mind if nothing else. It really makes for a pleasurable ride. Enjoy.

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=G-V_Driver link=board=22;threadid=1385;start=msg10506#msg1050 6 date=1067478520]
Now I'm really confused because Dave at the car show was the guy who told my guy not to bother with the sway bar. As to the WD hitch, we have a half-ton suburban with the tow package. It was fine for the big Coleman pop-up re. tongue wt, but needed the sway bar to keep it from wagging.

I keep thinking that I shoud get somebody else my size to stand on the back bumper with me while DW measures the amount of deflection that ~500# will create. That should tell me something.

Any of you fat boys in Dallas available this week for a bumper test?
[/quote]

Ah...now I better understand. Yes, Dave Unruh (The Car Show) correctly told me the exact same thing: don't bother with a sway control hitch. But sway control and weight distribution are not at all the same aspects of hitch design.

And I'm not at all surprised you needed sway control for a big Coleman popup...the wheels on a Coleman are relatively closer to the center (more forward) than are the wheels on a TrailManor. When a trailer's wheels are more centered (Coleman, most other brands of travel trailers), the tongue weight is lessened (less need for a WDH) but the trailer has much less inherent stability because it has a greater tendancy to swivel around its wheels while being towed. (If this were carried to an extreme with the trailer's wheels located at the very tail end of the trailer, it would be almost totally resistant to sway while being towed....but the tongue weight would be enormous and it would be so stable that it would be very resistant to being pulled through curves and corners. )

Because TMs have their wheels substantially more to the rear than all other brands, their tongue weights are noticeably higher relative to total weight so a WDH is almost a necessity. OTOH, that same rearward position of the trailer wheels greatly enhances stability so a sway control device really isn't needed. I have read reports quoting TM factory reps saying that you really shouldn't use a sway control with a TM because it will mask a stability problem that shouldn't be there in the first place.

One other consideration: If you aren't using a WDH (or if it's not properly adjusted) when pulling a TM, the front wheels of nearly all tow vehicles will have much less weight on them than when the TM is not hitched up. This "unweighting" of the TV's front wheels alone can make control of sway, etc. much more difficult.

Bottom line: To prevent sway when towing a TM, the solution is not to use anti sway devices but rather to insure the tongue weight is about 15% (or more of the TM's total weight) and absolutely use a WDH that transfers a substantial amount of the TM's tongue weight to the TV's front wheels. Or putting it in other words...the front end of your TV should drop just as much as it's rear end when you hook up your TM.

[G-V_Driver]

While writing the last post, I wondered if I might be mixing the functionality of the stuff that hangs off the back of the truck and helps drag the trailer around.

Everything you say makes sense, and knowing how the back of the 'Burb seems to settle when I sit on the back bumper changing shoes, I just couldn't convince myself that I wouldn't need something to keep the tail up and the nose down.

Is there any reason to consider the airbags for the springs rather than a WD hitch?