Shortstuff

I recently purchased a 7x14 enclosed trailer with dual axles/electric brakes. It has a max GVWR of 7,000 lbs. and an empty weight of 2,460 lbs. which leaves me 4,540 lbs. I can load into it. I towed it home empty (a one hour highway drive) using a Curt 45900 adjustable ball mount hitch. It rode level and there was no sway whatsoever, again - empty. I want to get a WDH so that whatever I put in the trailer, anywhere up to the maximum allowable weight, I can ensure that both the truck and the trailer ride level.

My questions are:

1. Is it OK for me to use a WDH even when the trailer is empty?
2. Will a WDH allow me to adjust my setup so that I can keep the truck and trailer level from empty up to its maximum load capacity?
3. What WDH setup do you recommend for my truck (I have the max tow package) that also allows me to adjust the height of the ball as well?

My goal is to always be safe and right whenever I attach this and and any other trailer I may have to in the future to my truck. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

acadianbob

1. You can use the WDH. You can pull without the bars or with very light bar pressure.
2. Certainly. They are all adjustable.
3. Adjusting ball height is very important and is about your insert rather than the WDH. Get an adjustable insert for sure. There are numerous good brands and levels of WDH sophistication. Some have no sway control, some have sway friction bars, and some have built in control. Among the later are Reese Straight Line, Equalizer, Curt, etc. I've used the Straight Line with excellent results.

acadianbob

More thoughts. I like trunion bar WDH as they provide more ground clearance. Make sure to get bars that are matched to your anticipated tongue weight. Bigger is not necessarily better as they can be too stiff.

smokeywren

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shortstuff

1. Is it OK for me to use a WDH even when the trailer is empty?

Yes. All the good WD hitches have adjustable spring bars that you can tighten or loosen to match the tongue weight of your trailer.

Quote:

2. Will a WDH allow me to adjust my setup so that I can keep the truck and trailer level from empty up to its maximum load capacity?

Assuming your truck is level without a trailer, then yes. All the good WD hitches have adjustable shanks. The shank is the part that plugs into the receiver, and to which the ball mount is bolted. You adjust the height of the ball mount on that shank so that the floor of the empty trailer is level front to rear, without any tension on the spring bars. Then you adjust the tension on the spring bars to maintain that level floor of the trailer as you increase the tongue weight (TW) of the trailer.

Quote:

3. What WDH setup do you recommend for my truck (Ihave the max tow package) that also allows me to adjust the height of the ball as well?

Rule 1. DO NOT buy a cheap hitch. A cheap hitch will not have any sway control, or will have one or two friction sway bars. You want good sway control built into the design of the hitch, without using sway bars. Even if your tow vehicle has built-in electronic sway control, that does not replace the need for good sway control built into the hitch. Here are my recommendations for reasonably-priced WD hitches with list price less than $1,000, and that are available at Amazon or ETrailer for around $500 to $600.

• Blue Ox SwayPro
• Equal-I-Zer
• Reese Strait-Line with shank and trunnion bars (not round bars)

http://www.reeseprod.com/products/weight-distribution/strait-line/strait-line-trunnion-bar/xihofqeC8HIVQN7yFHYCaDTayZjPjumE

• Husky Centerline (not the Centerline TS)

https://www.amazon.com/Husky-31390-Center-Line-Assembly/dp/B0085II6XW
Notice that’s just the head and shank, You must order the correct weight capacity spring bars separate.

A bit less expensive and almost as good as the above are the

• Curt TruTrack

http://www.curtmfg.com/part/17500

• Husky Centerline TS

https://www.amazon.com/Husky-32218-Center-Line-Spring/dp/B00W919FL8

A newcomer to the decent WD hitch family is the Reese Steadi-Flex. It’s too new to know yet if it is a good one or not. It’s apparently another copy of the Equal-I-Zer design. If I were going to shop for a good Reese WD hitch, I would stick with the tried and true Strait-Line until the Stead-flex gains a good reputation.
http://www.reeseprod.com/products/weight-distribution/strait-line/strait-line-trunnion-bar/xihofqeC8HIVQN7yFHYCaDTayZjPjumE


Blue Ox and Equal-I-Zer don't sell cheap hitches. But Reese, Curt and Husky do. So if you buy a Reese, Curt or Husky WD hitch, be certain it is a Strait-Line, CenterLine or TruTrack and not one of their cheaper hitches.

The good WD hitches with good sway control included above will handle about 99% of trailer sway conditions. But if you have ever experienced uncontrollable trailer sway, then you’ll pay a lot to be sure it never happens again. That’s why the WD hitch for my TT is a ProPride. It costs 4 or 5 times the internet prices of the above hitches, but it will handle almost all of that other 1% of sway-causing conditions and keep the sunny side up. I’m glad I have it.
https://www.propridehitch.com/propri...control-hitch/

Shortstuff

Thanks for the replies, they are all very helpful. I will definitely purchase one of the more expensive hitches with built in sway control. I realize that towing a trailer is not just a hook-up-and-go thing. I want to be as safe as I can be for myself, my passengers and the public. Safety always has been number one in my book.

altarocks

I use an Equalizer with a 28' TT, ~ 8k loaded. It works fine for me, but it's the only WDH I've ever used so I don't have any basis of comparison. If I understood your post right you were asking about adjusting based on different loads up to 4500# across your range. Assuming 10-15% of that is transferred to the tongue you're looking at adjusting across ~ 600 lbs.

I wouldn't want to change adjustments too often - it takes more time than I'd want to spend (at least that's the case for the Equalizer). You can make a decent guess, and you'll no doubt get faster at it the more you do it. I spent quite a bit of time getting mine dialed in perfect. It was a necessity for me since I've only got 1500# payload capacity and when hooked and fully loaded I'm within 50 lbs of that. I'm level and both axles are under max.

Instead I'd set if for the most frequent load you'll haul. If that's not enough to keep it level enough all the time then air bags may be a fit for you. They're only for leveling and you'll still need a WDH.

Ricktwuhk

Kudos to you. Wish everyone thought this way!