brulaz

From everything I've heard that Propride pretty much eliminates sway (even if the trailer is poorly loaded). Sounds to me that it's even better than a fifth wheel hitch, which has no sway control other than moving the hitch point above the rear axle.

And, yes, there's not much you can do when the wind moves your whole rig around. We too have found that the Prairie winds are the worst. Always get my worst mileage there. The Rockies are a piece of cake after two days of fighting Prairie headwinds.

xcntrk

The one thing with the Propride hitch is that it is significantly heavier than your average friction based WDH. It's almost a catch-22 in that those who need the ultimate sway benefits of this hitch, are likely hauling loads larger than their vehicle was intended to support and therefore don't have the additional payload to spare in order to carry the heaver hitch. The other oxymoron withe the Propride is that it's so heavy that naturally the additional tongue weight will help to curb trailer sway. So even without the fancy "pivot point projection" capabilities of the hitch, slapping a 200lb Anvil to the front of your trailer is going to inherently help control sway due to the increase in tongue weight.

Bigbirt

I read this whole thread and only one person made the connection that the GVWR is specified at the lowest rated component...which, I believe, is the factory tires. To make your truck safer for your currently "overloaded" status, trade-in the tires for Load Range 'D' or 'E' rated replacements. Yes, the ride will be firmer (loaded and unloaded) but the towing experience will be much improved.

Boulevard

Best way to tell ball weight is to put the receiver in, place a known weight on the ball and measure how far the truck dropped. Where you measure is not important just so long as you always use the same spot. In my case I used me. I weigh 200 pounds and standing on the ball I dropped the fender 1/2" which equates to 1/2'' drop per 200 pounds. I placed my trailer on the ball and it dropped 2 inches for a ball weight of 800lbs. The WDH raised that 1" so I moved about 400 pounds. Standard weight transfer is 20% rearward and 80% forward so I moved about 80 pounds into the trailer and about 320 forward into the truck. You can use this to see how much weight was taken off of the ball when you put your 'toy' into the hauler. Its not scientific but it will get you in the ball park.


200 pounds overloaded is nothing to worry about despite claims to the contrary. Being unstable is definitely something a worry about so get that part solved and enjoy yourself.

Nautique

I did replace the tires the second day I had the truck. And I'm not currently "overloaded" I haven't even bought the trailer yet.

Bigbirt

Then, in my opinion, you probably aren't going to be "overloaded"! Get out there and buy that trailer already!

I still have the factory 20" Bridgestone Dueler H/L- when I towed the boat to the Florida Keys this summer, I was 300lbs over payload - and had no issues at all.

xcntrk

The trim and configuration drive the individual weights for each component. For example on my FX4, the crappy P-rated tires are actually rated higher than the 20" wheels themselves, which end up being the limiting factor at 2025lbs each, resulting in a 4050 RGAWR. So slapping some E-rated tires on there doesn't change anything regarding payload as the limiting factor is still the 20" wheels. Replace the tires and wheels, and you move the bottleneck up the stack to the rear springs which are then rated at 4050 as well. Replace the tires, wheels, and throw some air-bags in the rear and you continue to move on up the stack which leaves the rear axle itself which is then rated at 4800lbs. The point here is that changing one component isn't going to necessarily net you some new found payload. It's still a half ton pickup anyway you slice it...

Reference:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...F-150_v1-1.pdf