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I have weighed ... the camper fully loaded ready to go. ...The travel trailer came in at 3300 pounds.
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The spec'd dry weight of this camper (no options, no content, no cargo) is just shy of 3000 pounds. And fully loaded, ready to camp, it weighed in at 3300 pounds? How/where did you weigh it? Was the trailer hitched up to the vehicle at that time, so the vehicle was carrying at least 500 pounds of the trailer's weight on the hitch?? This would make the camper's weight more than 3800 pounds, which you need to consider in your tow calculations.
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My tow vehicle is a 2021 Ford explorer.
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I loved the earlier Explorers, before 2010 or so when they went through a major design change. With that in mind, my first question is what version of the Explorer do you have, and how is it equipped? To ensure that your vehicle is capable of what you intend, I suggest you check out the various tow ratings and GCWR (total weight of the car and trailer, loaded) shown in the official 2021 Ford Towing Guide at
https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...lorer_Dec3.pdf
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I have been asking other TrailManor owners what is the best WDH to purchase.
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Back to your question about WDHs. There is a whole range of WDHs out there. Some are mechanically simple, some are complex. Some are quite expensive, some not so much (none of them is cheap). Some include sway control, some do not - and on some you can add sway control later if you find you need it. None of them is particularly hard to set up, or to connect or disconnect.
My choice and my experience - and I emphasize they are mine, and some folks will be upset with me for saying so - is for simplicity. When I bought my first TM 20 years ago, the dealer suggested a Reese hitch that he had in stock. It was rugged, reliable, easy to set up, easy to use, and although not cheap, not too far up the cost scale. It was not beautiful, not elaborate or sexy or painted in many colors, or exhibited in full-page spreads in RV magazines. It was a workhorse. Still is.
It came equipped with what are called "trunnion" spring bars. Note that the term"spring bars" refers to the way that a WDH provides lift. Virtually all WDHs have them, in one form or another. Note that spring bars are not the same as sway bars, though that is a common misconception. Trunnion bars are not the cheapest spring bars, but again not too far up the cost scale. Their advantage over straight bars is that they can accept sway control later if I felt I needed it. I never did.
The tips of the spring bars hang from a short length of chain, anchored in a bracket that hangs over a trailer's frame member, a couple feet behind the hitch. This is a very common approach. The spring bars are lifted with a steel rod that is inserted into a socket in the bracket, and lifted. The rod looks like a tire iron, and in fact I can use a tire iron if I lose the original bar. Within some limited range, the amount of lift is changed simply by selecting a different link in the chain.
The lifting force is related to the stiffness of the spring bars. I originally bought 1200-pound bars, and they were too stiff. Others here on the forum report buying 600-pound bars, and finding them too bouncy. Collected knowledge seems to suggest 800-pound or 1000-pound bars are about right for a TM.
I still have and use that original hitch. I have never wished that I had something else. I would not be willing to pay $800-$1000 for a sexier hitch, but that is just me.
I hope you find something useful in there.
Bill
Linear Mode
