FX4RR

Hey guys,

So I'm buying a 20ft Enclosed Car Hauler. I know the tongue weight is well under 500lbs and total weight loaded is around 6K. I've been told that I should have a weight distribution hitch with sway control when I'm hauling something of this weight and size.

Can you guys advise me of a good system I can use on my '13 Supercrew F150 FX4?

KR Kodi

iTrader: (1)

Well...common wisdom is that the tongue weight of a bumper hitch trailer must be 10% to 15% of the trailer weight, with a good realistic minimum of 12%.

So....if your trailer will be 6000 lbs loaded, then the tongue weight must be between 600 to 900 lbs.

Take a look under your rear bumper and you see a sticker like this:




You can see that any trailer weighing more than 5000 lbs or a tongue weight greater than 500 lbs requires a WDH.

I have an Equal-i-zer that has built in sway control. Reese and Blue Ox make good hitches.

My 20' car hauler weighs about 6200 loaded, and it has a 675 lb tongue weight. My car is as far back as I can possibly get it, so there's no way I could have less tongue weight, but 675 is 11% of the trailer's weight, and it pulls great with that tongue weight.

.

Wannafbody

Lots of people tow car haulers without a WDH. I've towed a 8x20 many times without one and it's felt pretty stable, no major issues with sway. The deciding factor is the weight of the car and misc items and where the weight is placed. Too far back and the hitch can get light over bumps, too far forward and weight on the hitch increases.

I'd suggest loading the trailer up and taking a short test drive to determine how it feels and whether you think it can be improved with the WDH.

The problem I have with the Ford sticker is that it's most likely underrated. Just compare the Ford hitch to a Curt hitch and you can see that the beefy Ford hitch has 1/2 the rating of the Curt hitch.

EcoboostKev

X2 on the Equal-i-zer with 4 way sway control.

nickstradamus

13 FX4 Super Crew here....+1 for an Equalizer 4-way. Towed with and without it....BIG difference. Without it I think you might squat the suspension more then you think....even with the FX4 rake.

acadianbob

Beware of posts that say, in effect, "I made it alive doing this so it must be OK". Best course of action is a WD hitch.

ecobeest

THIS!

Just because you 'can' doesn't mean you should.

Get a WDH. Equal-I-zer gets my vote. Blue Ox etc will also be up to the job.

jwoods

Love my Blue Ox WD hitch on my similarly weighted travel trailer.

Wannafbody

Harbor Freight has a WDH that's pretty inexpensive

tdkkart

This.....

At one time I spent a fair amount of time towing just a simple 7x18 open car trailer, total weight of about 5k. Did I need a WDH?? No, technically not, but let me tell you, the difference in the way it felt going down the road was amazing, and I didn't even have a sway control on it. the whole rig just felt so much more "connected". It turned a nervous twitchy ride into in a stroll through the park.

WELL worth the money IMO.