New TM Owner Check-In

[Shane826]

A weight distribution hitch just slides into the regular receiver on the vehicle. It’s not a permanent installation on the tow vehicle. Your off road bumper and receiver will probably work just fine with a WDH.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Texastrailerguy

Welcome to family of Trailmanors. We just got back from Rapid City, S.D.. Spent a week up there. Went to Mt.Rushmore, rode the 1880 train, went thru Bear Country USA and laid around the campground alot. Myself,the wife and 2 kids(8 and 6 years old). There is alot to do. Alot we missed. Our 2007 2720's roof looks like a golf ball with all the dimples. We had 3 rain storms and 2 big hail storms, some of the hail about the size of tennis balls. We had no leaks except were the vents covers got broke. Gonna fix it all and get ready for the next little ride out with the kids.
Listen to Bill. He is wise. It took me a while to understand just how much he knows. If he doesn't know, he will tell you.

This might be a good enough reason to get some of those vent covers you see. Sacrifice the vent cover to save the vent in a hail storm.

[TnP-2027]

Originally Posted by Bill

Welcome aboard! You are going to love it here. And this is a great place to put your introductory posts.

As for hitch weight/ tongue weight. The dry (unloaded) hitch weight is somewhere well north of 300 pounds, as I'm sure you know. Once you have added factory options like air conditioner and awning, and then added all your own stuff, that weight increases, often well beyond 400 pounds. But I don't think 700 pounds is what you will experience. About $10 for a quick stop at a CAT scale will give you a real answer.

Please don't buy air bags until you read a couple of the tutorials in the Trail Manor Technical Library. The entrance to the library is at
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...splay.php?f=42
and there is a lot of good stuff in it, especially for a new owner.

I'm thinking particularly about these tutorials:
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ead.php?t=2616
and
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ead.php?t=2922

Bill

Originally Posted by rickst29

Tekonsha P3 will be great.

TM trailers do tow a lot better more with-than-advertised tongue weight. But 700 lbs seems a bit high to me - you could somewhat "adjust" for this by packing heavy things further from the tongue , closer to the middle (or rear) of the TM while getting ready for a trip. I have a super-heavyweight 2619, and I tow with only 550-600 lbs on the hitch.

A slightly more complicated issue is involved in the question of the Lexus "self-leveling" feature versus a weight distribution hitch. Because the Lexus has a big V8 up front, and weighs a lot, you could get by without adding a weight distribution hitch. BUT- and especially with such heavy tongue weight on the hitch, you will be more safe by using a WDH. Without a WDH, too much of the "weight" from the hitch rides on the rear axle of the Lexus, and too little is present on the front axle.

The Lexus feature levels the Tow Vehicle by adjusting the hydraulic pressure within the struts. It does not actually MOVE that weight from the rear axle to the front axle - the rear axle remains with substantial extra weight. In steering and braking, nearly all of the work is being done by the tires of the front axle. In order to do a really good job, the extra hitch weight should be distributed among all 4 Lexus tires - moving weight from the rear axle to the front axle. A WDH creates torque around the hitch, actually moving the weight into better balance.

My own "upper-trim" 4Runner includes a lesser version of your dynamic balancing feature, and my 4Runner is a much smaller vehicle. But, if you did a careful emergency stop (in a straight line) with and without a WDH attachment, you would have much better stopping distance with WDH. The best models of WDH hitches also include sway control, an additional valuable feature for emergency maneuvers.

To summarize: You can get by without one in normal driving, but you will be towing with much higher safety by using a WDH with the Lexus and TM. Congratulations on your new Trailer, and welcome to TrailManor Owner's Forum!

Thanks guys.

I appreciate the links - very useful information.

I am going to see what I can do w/ my tow vehicle here, but the TM up in SD...

[rmHaar]

If your getting it from eastern SD and you have some casb see if the factory will tune it up for since its close. They could even do some updates probably.

[TnP-2027]

Originally Posted by rmHaar

If your getting it from eastern SD and you have some casb see if the factory will tune it up for since its close. They could even do some updates probably.

Ah, that would be very cool!
Unfortunately no, we are picking up over in the Rapid City area...

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Shane826

A weight distribution hitch just slides into the regular receiver on the vehicle. It’s not a permanent installation on the tow vehicle. Your off road bumper and receiver will probably work just fine with a WDH.

Shane is exactly right. We assume you have a 2-inch square hitch receiver (not a 1" square receiver), and the shank of the WDH will slide right into it. You need to be aware of ball height, and you may want to consider an adjustable-height ball-mount (the part of the WDH that holds the hitch ball). Popular wisdom says that the top of the ball should be 19 inches above the ground. If you have a bumper hitch, it may put the ball a bit higher than the one found on many vehicles, so you may need what is called an "adjustable drop hitch", meaning that it is adjustable to drop the height of the ball. The adjustment is nothing but a series of holes, and a couple bolts that go through at your chosen height. Here is a rather elaborate one.

Bill

[TnP-2027]

Originally Posted by Bill

Shane is exactly right. We assume you have a 2-inch square hitch receiver (not a 1" square receiver), and the shank of the WDH will slide right into it. You need to be aware of ball height, and you may want to consider an adjustable-height ball-mount (the part of the WDH that holds the hitch ball). Popular wisdom says that the top of the ball should be 19 inches above the ground. If you have a bumper hitch, it may put the ball a bit higher than the one found on many vehicles, so you may need what is called an "adjustable drop hitch", meaning that it is adjustable to drop the height of the ball. The adjustment is nothing but a series of holes, and a couple bolts that go through at your chosen height. Here is a rather elaborate one.

Bill

Thanks Bill!
And it sounds like you want to source a WDH so that you are using ~2/3 capacity? So for 400 # tongue weight, a WDH for 600#?

[Bill]

You are tickling a memory here. Long ago when the Forum was just getting organized, one of the original members (the original RockyMtnRay) bought a 600-pound WDH. I think he found it to be a bit light (his word). At about the same time, I got a 1200-pound unit, and found it to be way too stiff. So let those numbers bracket your choice - probably best to stay on the light side of the span.

I can't find Ray's original post. I think it disappeared when the Forum was re-organized early in its existence. We lost a lot of good info then.

Bill

[rtcassel]

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...IMHO#post14936

[Bill]

Tim, I'm impressed. This was the second time recently that you've been able to delve into the old OLD stuff and pull up something that I thought was long gone. I should hire you, and split the salary 50-50 with you.

Bill