I've never understood these numbers.
My factory installed receiver is rated at 500/5000# (tongue/trailer) weight carrying and 1150/11500# weight distributing.
Why would the receiver be able to handle an extra 6500# of trailer with a WDH? I understand why the TRUCK can handle more, but the receiver itself?
And if you put on 1150# of tongue weight and ~level the truck with a WDH as per Ford's instructions, the amount of upward force on the receiver should be about the same, say ~1000#.
Why can the receiver's bolts/welds support 2x the upward force as the downward? I've looked at the receiver, and it sure doesn't look asymmetric in design (although I'm no Mechanical Engineer).
Again, I think it has more to do with what the truck as a whole can handle.
In my case, I've switched to a very short tow bar and ditched the WDH, even though my tongue weight is ~580#. If anything, the handling is better because I've reduced the distance from the ball to the truck's rear axle by about 7.5". I'm also putting less weight on the trailer's axle.
Other vehicles have higher receiver ratings. My old Tacoma's factory receiver was 650/6500# without a WDH. When I was looking at the VW Touareg, the specs were 770/7700#, and they said never to use a WDH.
I'm also suspicious because all these non-wdh receiver ratings are max trailer weight divided by ten.
|