Thanks for all your replies. you're right. It aint broke, not goin to fix it. I have just been reading too many towing posts. Staying the way it is. It worked with the Explorer and it works with the F150.

 

That doesn't answer the question of whether or not the bars are doing their job. It's kind of like performance mods... seat of the pants meters don't tell us anything. To answer the question, look at your front axle. Do the bars return weight to the front axle that falls in line with Ford's specification?

820lb tongue with a WDH weight of?... say 60lb, for 880lb on 750lb bars, that's approaching 20% over their rating. That much stress is not my cup of tea. At least make sure the section of bar attached to the frame won't get send to the road should one snap.

If you do snap a bar, go ahead and get heavier rated replacements as the other one won't be far behind.

 

Just pretend he never posted, it works VERY WELL! NOTHING we can suggest will make it work better. If it isn't broke don't fix it.

 

If you're going to pretend I didn't post, go ahead and pretend no one posted. Just because you don't like what I stated doesn't mean I don't have something to offer.

Just stating the physics, ma'am. If you overwork metal, life is greatly reduced. OP has already been towing like this for some time. Losing weight distribution during the middle of a trip sucks as$. OP can make his own decisions.

 

Drives me Crazy!

The WDH is NOT part of the trailer tongue weight. Not to be used for determining the percentage of trailer weight. Definitely not to count against itself in its capacity ratings. A WDH is part of the tow vehicle’s load capacity. So he’s 70# over or just under 10% over. Chance of light bending, little chance of snapping. Never heard of a bar snapping.
Only other place where a WDH’s weight MIGHT be considered is in the weight it places on the hitch in the hitch receivers carrying capacity. Say at 1160# rated with a WDH, the 100# WDH might be considered to eat into that allowing only 1060# for trailer tongue weight. But that’s questionable.

 

Nothing but guesswork on your part. Maybe you can tell how much pressure is on those bars from your keyboard, but I don't have that gift to tell from here.

 

Woah there fellas.

the way these spring bars work, they bend when overloaded until they are back at their max limit. You can’t tell if they were pushed beyond that limit unless you remove the load and see if they straighten back out or stay bent upwards.

if they are bent with no load, they are worn and should be replaced. They probably won’t snap, but they will continue to weaken and not do the job they are designed for.

 

Exactly. Trace an outline of your bars on a piece of paper for reference. After a trip check them against the outline.. The bars won't break until they have sustained a permanent bend or a "set." Once set has happened, the bars become brittle and multiple bends result in a break. Think of how you break a paper clip...the wiggling hardens the metal, which makes it brittle.

BTW, my research seems to have shown the 750 bars have just been relabeled to 800. If you worried then measure.

 

The bars are perfectly straight when removed from the hitch. I have been using the wdh for more than 20 years with the Explorer. There are no markings on it, so don't know the brand. It's whatever the rv dealer installed . Back then as a new rv'er, I didn't know enough to ask questions.

 

You're fine. Like you said in an earlier post the forum weight police will get you all worked up over nothing.