Weight Distributing Hitch

[ndamico]

Hi, thank you all for your wonderful, informative posts. I have yet another question....I am town a 7400lb (boat & trailer) Sea Ray with my Dmax. The trailer is pretty long and i get a decent amount of bouncing up and down. The trailer is a tandex alxe with surge brakes. I've been told a weight-distributing hitch will cure my woes of the bow bouching up and down while towing. Could anyone make a recommendation of a decent brand (i don't need the most expensive, just something well made) weight-distributing hitch that might help. also any other ideas? i am using a 6" drop on my 2 5/16 ball to get the trailer to tow straight right now. i had a 4" drop, but it would waggle a bit from side to side once i got up to freeway speeds.

Thanks again as always!

[AKDmax]

I have a Husky that I use to tow my 27Ft. TT. very little bouncing, even on the crappy roads here. seems to be well made with adjustable hitch heights. wide range available. Good luck

[Smorey]

ND,

From your description I think your problem is more likely low tongue weight. I have experienced the problem you describe while towing a poorly balanced equipment trailer. There is a % of the total weight that needs to be on the tongue. If it is too light you will experience the things you describe. Have it weighed. Weigh the whole thing, then only weigh the tongue.

Hope thi helps.

Mark

[IndigoDually]

Just curious, but doesn't the weight distributing hitch interfere with the surge brakes? I've only towed a trailer with surge brakes not using a weight dist. hitch. Just wondering, but I guess that the fore/aft movement is so slight that it is not really affected. (I guess that I answered my own question) Just food for thought.

John

[bmoeller]

The proper tongue weight is 10% of the total weight of the trailer, also there are sway control assemblies that attach from a plate on the hitch to the trailer that really smooth things out a lot.

[MaxNouT]

ndamico,

My experiance towing with and without a weight distributing is like night and day.A totally different experiance with the distributing
platform.I have a 35'Fountain boat with an Oklahoma trailer.Pulled without the distributing setup and was a complete nightmare.The trailer would want to oscillate out of control comming off of interstate bridges and hitting irregularities in the road.Talk about white knuckles and tight cheeks!My neighbor loaned his Reese weight distributing hitch to me when I was going to take a trip to Lake of the Ozarks,MO. I ran 75mph down and back and really enjoyed the ride.The trailer stayed in control at all times.
Get a weight distributing hitch,you won't be sorry.I have a REESE that is rated at 10,00lbs.
Good Luck.......
.

[DURAMAN]

If anything the weight dist hitch will help your breaking ability and your steering ability. It's going to put more weight on the front tires of your tow vehicle giving you better breaking/steering on slippery roads. Yes, this will greatly reduce the bouncing up and down, but as previously stated here you should first ensure the proper % of tounge weight.

Shane [img]smile.gif[/img]

[randym]

The best discription that I can give for what the weight distibuting hitch will do for your towing experience, is change from what has been two units working against one another, to that of a single in respect to feeling and handling; in short a far safer more relaxed drive. I for one have had highway experiances in which I truly believe that without the benifit of the weight dist. hitch I would not be here posting this response.

[Tim B]

I pull about 7500 # of Searay and trailer on the stock weight carrying hitch also. It's rock steady - no bouncing or swaying. I agree with a previous post that you may not have enough tongue weight. I'd get it weighed if I was you. Also, when towing a boat, you don't need to have 10% of their weight carried as tongue weight - anywhere from 7% up to 10% is OK.
You can also have major problems getting your surge brakes to work with a weight distributing hitch. The spring bars effectively stop the trailer from pushing forward and actuating the brakes. There are some manufacturers that have devised a way around this problem. If you decide to go down this route, make sure the setup you buy will work with surge brakes. Or you may get a real nasty surprise the first time someone pulls out in front of you.
Please don't misunderstand - weight distributing hitches are GREAT. It's just that surge brakes complicate the issue.

Tim B.

[01_Duramax_Dually]

I tow 2 types of trailers. The main one is an 11K enclosed car trailer. I have the Drawtite weight distribution set up on it with Sway bar. Like it was posted, it is Night and Day in regards to towing stability. No more bouncing up and down. The trailer brakes are electric. I also tow my 21 foot Mariah boat. I guess the weight to be around 4-5K with trailer and all the other boating ammenities. I do not have a weight distribution hitch for that application since it has surge breaks and I cannot see how you can use a distribution platform and not have it affect the functionality of the brakes. However to date I have not had any reason to add one. The set up runs perfectly straight and I have had no problems with bouncing or swaying. I would have to believe it is how you set up the Tongue weight. Looking at the posts I do see that most towing are 2500HD, I have a K3500 4x4 so there could be a slight difference in towing characteristics.

Regards

Jeff

[MaxNouT]

ndamico,

I don't have any problems braking with my surge brake/weight distributing setup,although the load I'm pulling is a somewhat heavier than yours.
Proper setup of the distributing hitch is required.
A detailed setup guide was included with the hitch.

[ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: MaxNouT ]

[ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: MaxNouT ]</p>

[RustyRoss]

My boat is about 10,000#. Weight distributing hitch and it tows like its not there! No problem with function of surge brakes.

[ChevysRus]

I have the drawtite system and you can get lower rated arms for the light weight trailer. I use the 750lb arms instead of the 1000lbs arms. Works great and gives a better ride. The one thing I like most about the WDS is when you are pulling in or out of a low driveway, say getting fuel or dinner, you have less of a tendency to scrape the ground with the hitch. Without the WDS you would have to watch closely to be sure you don't get hung up going in or out of low driveways. So for me the price of the WDS to avoid low driveways was the best benefit. Now the towing aspects are great as well with less bouncing up and down, not to mention the overall better stability. I pull an 8900lb loaded car trailer with the WDS and I don't think I would try it without one. As that old commercial goes "don't leave home without it"

Have a great day

[ 05-01-2002: Message edited by: ChevysRus ]</p>

[mps007]

My Tandem axel boat trailer with surge brakes information packet says DO NOT USE WITH WEIGHT DISTRIBUTING HITCH - The Torsion bars will inhibit the Surge actuators movement.

I tow a 6500lb Searay -
I tow it without the Torsion bars.

MY 10k lb utility box - The Utility has electric brakes & Weight ditributing hitch.

So check out your trailer brake mfg,s requirements

[mark45678]

2 very important things here..... 1st DONT use load distribution bars with surge breaks unless it was made by one company and approved to work together. 2nd this is the EXACT reason why you need REALLY STIFF rear shocks like rancho RS 9000's ! set them on 5 and forget it. problem solved. remove the trailer and set them on 3~4 and your back to a plush ride.Changeing the setting only take 30 seconds for 2 shocks. I pull a 7500 lb boat 150 mile a few times a year from NH to MA and back this will make all the differnts in the world!