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Originally Posted by Windbreaker
RMR, I know it is counter to you position on this matter but you really should stress that 1/3 of the hitch weight is going to the trailer axle. TMs (mine at least) have a very low CCC and the WDH shifts that into the "put nothing in the trailer" range.
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Agree on the importance of considering that. Maybe and maybe not on whether the trailer will be overloaded if 1/3 of the tongue weight is transferred.
I've had my trailer/rig weighed twice and found that I can transfer 160 lbs to the trailer axle from the WDH, fill both the fresh & hot water tanks, charge the toilet with 3 gallons, fill both propane tanks, load the thing to the gills with clothes/food/gear for 2 weeks of un-resupplied boondock camping and
still be ~50 lbs under the 4050 GVWR...and with an axle load of only 3500 lbs (right at Dexter's axle rating, 200 lbs less than TM's axle rating). And I've got the AC, 50 lbs of solar panels, an extra 60 lbs of battery weight (dual Golf Cart batteries), the awning, a microwave, the swing away hitch, & the overhead kitchen cabinet. And I've added two extra hardwood cabinets traveling on the floor. Yes, I do front load the trailer as much as possible to get some of that weight onto the truck (which is why I have a 650 lb tonque weight). All in all, I'm putting around 600 to 700 lbs of water/clothes/gear/food in my TM and that hardly could be considered "nothing in the trailer".
I would therefore argue that
most TM owners
do have the spare GVWR and GAWR to handle a 150 to 180 lb tongue weight transfer back from the WDH.
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That and the fact that I can tell no reduction in breaking/steering or increase in bounce is why I don't use it. The rig is set up for it, I just can't see a reason for using it and having to carry everything in the truck.
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As I recall you have a very long truck with an extended or double cab and a 8 foot bed. Which means a wheelbase that's probably in the 150 to 160 inch range. It's also an HD model and you have a cap on the bed. Let's assume you have about 3000 lbs on the front wheels when you, DW, and cargo are loaded. The ratio of a 48 inch overhang to a 155 inch wheelbase is about .31; multiply that times the 500 lb tongue weight and you are unweighting your front suspension by about 155 lbs. Since 155 lbs is only about 5% of the normal weight on the front suspension, I would not expect you to feel much if any difference in ride nor in braking/steering under normal conditions. Since I don't recall you mentioning that you do much if any towing on steep, sharply curving roads...especially where the curves can have loose sand on the pavement...or much large city expressway towing where panic stops are pretty common...or much towing in icy roads, you'll probably never have to depend on that missing 5% of front tire traction.
Sooo, because you have an exceptionally long wheelbase truck which minimizes the leveraging effect of the tongue weight,
and that truck also has a heavy front end truck which makes the amount of tongue-induced unweighting a small percentage of that weight,
and you don't tow anywhere near the limits of tire adhesion, you can indeed safely tow a smaller TM without needing a WDH. Those are 3 really big mitigating factors and very few other people will have them, ergo nearly everyone else really does need a WDH.
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