[Padgett]

Is the old issue of "if you have to ask, then do this." My feeling is that until recently TM shall we say "skated a bit on margins". It is not just the axle but also the tires particularly since I found the second sticker on mine to inflate the tires 5 psi over the maximum.

So one question I have never seen asked is "Whether people with stock tires and WDHs experience more tire failures than others ?"

Will admit I tend to overdesign everything I do and follow the Harley principle of "if it breaks, make it stronger." Comes partly from a career designing engine and flight controls.

Now what you have when you drop the tongue on a hitch is a see-saw. Many people say it is the wheelbase that is important and that is one arm of the see-saw but the other which is mostly ignored is the distance from the rear axle to the hitch ball (why motor home tractors are short-tailed). Just a quick SWAG give a minimum ratio of 3:1 (WB/HA) HA-hitch arm. With 3:1 then a 600LB TW will lift the front with a force of 200 lb. 2:1 (long tail) would raise the front with 400 lbs.

OK descriptions of exactly how a WDH works are hard to come by but what it looks like is if you drop a link below the tongue and attach the other end to the hitch and tighten a turnbuckle. The force is inline with the hitch so has little effect on the TV but tries to force the trailer down. This translates the 600 lbs downward force to a 400 lb down on the receiver and the remainder to a horizontal vector. The 600 lbs is still there and the total force on the hit has increased a bit, just transformed into two vectors that reduce the downward force on the receiver and is why the receiver part of a WDH is so strong (and why you should disconnect if turning tightly, the force on the outside assembly would increase dramatically.).

This has the counter benefit that with two bars at an angle, if the trailer starts to sway the force on the inner bar decreases and the outer bar increases dampening the sway.