Wdh?

Hi all,
We are new campers, with a 2004 3326K. My question is do I need to have a WDH?

We towed the TM from where we purchased it in Maine 150 miles to our home in Alton, NH. The TM seemed fine and I did not have any problems pulling it.

Jimmy

What did you pull it with? Was it a 1 ton truck with dual wheels on the back?

[rvcycleguy]

Originally Posted by JBYRNE7844

Hi all,
We are new campers, with a 2004 3326K. My question is do I need to have a WDH?

We towed the TM from where we purchased it in Maine 150 miles to our home in Alton, NH. The TM seemed fine and I did not have any problems pulling it.

Jimmy

need much more info to offer an opinion. what tow vehicle are you using? what engine size, tow package?

2006 Dodge Ram w/towing pkg. Belongs to my son who is a contractor which he pulls a large dump trailer and an enclosed work trailer.

Like I said it towed very good, didn't have and adverse effects on the way the truck handled.

I appreciate you guy's answering the "Newbee's" questions.
Jimmy

I now pull my Elkmont without a WDH. I know others on the board with pickups pull without a WDH too.

There are several issues that I can think of:

Without the WDH, the truck's rear axle will be loaded with whatever is in the truck, plus the trailer's tongue weight leveraged by the distance between the ball and rear axle, plus the weight lifted off the front axle. So you may be exceeding your rear GAWR and your rear tires may feel "squirmy", especially if they are P-metric. In my case, I've switched to LT-metric tires and weigh the truck regularly - no problems with GAWRs (or GVWR) or rear tire squirm.

Second, the weight lifted off the front axle may make your steering feel light or floaty, and could reduce your braking efficiency. In my case I don't notice any handling difference, and the measured ~200# lifted off the front axle is only 6% of the total 3200#, so I feel relatively secure.

Finally, most after market class 3-4 hitches are only designed for ~650# weight on the ball when not using a WDH. My Ford's hitch says only 500#, but it certainly looks as solid as my previous hitch that was rated at 650#. So I feel comfortable at my current tongue weight of ~550# and would be willing to go to 600# with a non-WDH. Anything more and I would probably be taking enough weight off the front end to justify a WDH anyway.

My previous truck (a Tacoma) had a hitch rating of 650# but the handling was very floaty with our trailer so I always used a WDH. It was a lighter truck with a shorter wheelbase, so over 10% of the front axle weight was removed when not using a WDH. And with the P-metric tires ...

Anyway, I would put your rig on a CAT scale (you can google a location close to you; they are cheap) just to check your weights.

[Harry Womack]

I have never used a wdh pulling my 3124KB trailer. With the 2000 Suburban I did not do any modifications. With my 2007 Suburban I added Firestone air bags inside of the coil springs.
I had the trailer weighted on vacation at a CAT scale and it weighted 4900# loaded. The tongue weight is high because of the double propane tanks, electric jack and double Group 31 batteries.

I'm surprised Bruce....do you not get moved around when a semi truck passes? That was the big issue I had. I have to use a WDH with the built in sway control. Perhaps the Tundra wheel base is shorter than your Fords causing less stability???

I just joined the TM club. Took the plunge today and picked up a used 2011 2720, fully loaded (except leather). Question is regarding a (WDH) Weight Distribution Hitch.

My TV is a 2004 GMC Yukon 5.3l with factory tow package (max TC=7500#)
Hitch can go weight carrying or weight distribution and says:
maximum weight carrying = 5000
maximum tongue weight = 600
Little more than double those numbers for weight distribution.

When I hitched it up at the seller's house today, I had no visible bowing at the hitch, looked nearly flat. No dip down at the front of the trailer and no dip up at the front of the TV. It pulled great 50 miles home.

Do I need a WDH or does that more depend on how much I load the tralier and the tow vehicle?

The TM2720 has a dry wt = 2732
Load capacity = 1333
Tongue wt = 350

Thank you in advance for your reply.

[scrubjaysnest]

If you do a search, you will find the average TM owner has figures higher then what TM gives. This will pretty much be your choice. We use the WD more for peace of mind. We got away with towing the TM 1100 miles with out the WDH. Based on our CAT scale weights; that is exactly what it was we got away with it. With the WDH the axle weight on the TM was 3680#'s. TM lists the dry weight as 3218#'s

[Bill]

To the best of my knowledge, a WDH has two functions. The first is to remove some weight from the rear suspension components, such as wheel bearings, springs and shocks, if they need relief. The tongue weight rating you have indicated - 600 pounds weight-carrying - suggests that your vehicle does not need relief unless you put a lot of stuff in the Yukon's way-back area.

The second purpose of a WDH is to put some weight on the front suspension components. When you put a trailer on the hitch ball, the see-saw effect sketched out here

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...&pictureid=441

removes weight from the front end. As you would expect, this can have a bad effect on handling (since the front end does all the steering) and braking (since the front end does most of the stopping).

The addition of weight to the rear end tends to push the rear end down. The removal of weight from the front end tends to make the front end rise. This is the diagnostic - the indicator - for the need for a WDH. Since the rear end of your Yukon doesn't sink much, and the front end doesn't rise much, and your weight ratings are OK, my conclusion is that you don't need a WDH unless the handling feels squirrely. The Yukon's wheelbase of 116 inches helps this situation. Just for the fun of it, you might want to measure the rear end drop, and the front end rise, and see if they are excessive. But I'm reasonably sure you are OK.

It should be noted that if the rear end of a tow vehicle sinks, and the front end rises, the vehicle can be returned to level by installing air bags in the rear. However, air bags do NOT remove weight from the rear end, as a WDH does. And they do NOT add weight to the front end, as a WDH does. They mask the symptom, but do not address the problem. We have a lot of discussion about this, but the conclusion does not change.

Bill