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Originally Posted by Ken Stach
I have a 2002 F150 Super Crew pickup with 5.4 liter engine (four wheel drive). Do I need a load leveler hitch for the TrailManor manor 2619 or can I get by with the existing hitch on the vehicle? Thanks for any input. Ken Stach
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As has been explained here many times, the effects of a 500 lb tongue weight (approximate actual tongue weight of a 2619) are threefold: (1) the tongue weight is put on the rear suspension; (2) a portion of the tongue weight is taken
off the front suspension through a teeter-totter action with the truck's rear axle acting as the fulcrum, and (3) the weight that comes off the front suspension is added to the rear suspension.
In and of itself, a 500 lb tongue weight on an F150's rear suspension is not a particularly large load.
The key issue is how much comes off the front suspension due to leverage and whether or not that amount is enough to cause braking/handling problems. This is determined by the ratio of wheelbase to rear overhang...being a supercrew style, your truck has a relatively long wheelbase of about 139 inches; typical rear overhang from axle to hitch ball is about 4 feet or 48 inches. Therefore the leverage of the tongue weight on the front is 48 divided by 139 times 500 or about 170 lbs. That's the amount the
front steering and braking is reduced by and the amount that is added to the 500 (total of 670 lbs) going onto the rear suspension. Adding 670 lbs to the rear suspension is going to squat it by an inch or two...taking 170lbs off the front is going to raise it by a half inch or so and make it feel "floaty" or "bouncy"...and on low friction surfaces (wet, muddy, icy, loose sand on pavement) the 10% to 15% reduction in steering and front wheel braking could become a serious safety hazard.
Sooo, the bottom line is that with the relatively lightweight 2619, you
probably can "get by" with a standard hitch...but you
are going to suffer some loss of front wheel steering and braking and the ride will be less comfortable (a bit like riding in a boat at speed over choppy water).
But even if you can get by without one, a WDH or leveling hitch is a very good idea because it distributes a third of the tongue weigh to the rear axle and a third onto the front axle (and the remaining third on the trailer axle). Therefore instead of having 670 lbs added to the rear axle, only 160 lbs is added; instead of removing 170 lbs from the front axle, 160 lbs is added. The result is the truck squats only a little...and squats equally front and rear; you have about 500 lbs more available cargo load capacity in the truck bed; and the front end will feel very "planted" or "solid" with noticeably improved steering, braking, and ride quality.
I have a half ton extended cab truck with a 128 inch wheelbase, an empty weight of nearly 5000 lbs, and the forward weight bias of 4WD. My 2720SL TM is somewhat front heavy...tongue weight is about 650 lbs. I regularly tow on steep, sharply curving mountain roads where sand on the pavement in corners is a common occurence.
Any loss in front wheel braking or steering capability could have deadly consequences. Accordingly, I always, repeat,
always use a WDH when towing my trailer.
Editorial comment: To me the entire concept of "getting by" when it comes to safety isssues (and an unweighted front suspension
is a safety issue) seems irresponsible and foolish, especially if the reason is to only save a few dollars and a few minutes of hookup time. After all, a $450 WDH is only about 1% of the total cost of a $25,000 truck and $20,000 trailer...a very small amount for significantly improved safety.