I have an 04 f-150 and I pull a 16' tool trailer and im considering getting a stabilizer hitch. Can onyone tell me if they are worth having and the pros and cons of them?

 

I have a 30" travel trailer 8000lbs and towed it 2200 miles with a load leveling and stabling hitch and it was amazing.

I towed it 10 miles accross town in a 35 to 45 mph wind at 50mph and what a difference.

First once a trailer is allowed to start swiveling and or pivoting on the ball hitch it builds up momentum. This momentum builds until it feeds back into the truck and you can feel it moving your truck around.

Essentially these hitches add additional linkage to the truck to stop the motion before it can gain bad momentum.

They make a big difference. How much weight are you pulling?

 

I would say close to 5000 lbs on a 2 5/16 ball. So Just that 25 dollar stabilzer hitch makes that much difference?

 

I pull a 23ft Boat and have never needed a stabilizer hitch. My buddy pulls a 30ft travel trailer like Harley, and he does use one. For a 16ft trailer it probably isn't necessary but it wouldn't hurt. Just my .02.

 

When I had a 21 foot camper I did not use one. Had a few white knuckle trips. When I purchased the 30 foot trailer I purchased a load distribution with anti sway. World of difference. Would not go anywhere without it now.

 

I wouldn't tow my 28 footer without using it.....

 

by stabilizer, do you mean anti-sway? or weight distributing?

borrowed from a website:


weight distributing (WD) adjust the relative weight on the truck's front and rear axles so steering and braking control is optimized (pitch control in airplane lingo). This is done by clamping steel bars to the trailer tongue and tightening chains to "lever" the front of the truck down, to compensate for the hitch weight of the trailer pushing the back of the truck downwards and lifting the front tires off the road.


anti-sway (AS) damping the trailer induced sideways forces on the truck bumper located pivot point, which are caused by the trailer being hit with wind gusts or whatever. These forces tend to force the truck to turn (yaw control in airplane lingo). Controlling these forces can be achieved with several different techniques: with adjustable friction devices between the truck and the side of the tongue to dampen the forces.
better hitch design
mechanical additions to change the way these forces operate

http://www.timberman.com/RIG/trailer...omparisons.htm