Sweetlou

All, I’m gearing up for the camping season and I have a question about WDH setup. I have an E2 trunnion bar 1000lb hooked to my starcraft 27BHU, GVWR 7800.

When I picked up the trailer camping world set up the hitch. The trailer was empty, but both 30lb propane tanks on tongue were full and the battery was in, so I wasn’t setup “dry”. The drive home was smooth.

Now that I am beginning to load up, I was thinking about the hitch setup. My question is:

As the truck gets loaded with my family and gear in the bed, and the trailer weight increased, the load on the rear of the truck increased and squats the rear more. More WDH tension is needed to bring it back to level. HOWEVER, as I’m thinking about the rear of the truck squatting, I’m thinking as the truck squats, the hitch angle squats as well, therefore increasing pressure on the trunnion bars.

I have 2333lb payload, so I’m well within spec, and don’t carry anything “heavy” in the bed, but it’s more of a theoretical question. When I’m loaded up I’ll remeasure my front to make sure I’m good, but I’m thinking the setup should compensate at least slightly for the added weight?

Thanks. Keep it civil!

acdii

You want to set the hitch up with everything road ready, not empty. Go through the setup on the hitch and check measurements. If the front fender returns to nearly the same height as when unloaded and unhitched, then you should be on the money, if not, adjust the hitch until you are. The trailer will be level empty or loaded so if they got the ball height correct the first time, then you don't need to adjust that, but if more head tilt is needed (not all WDH have adjustable tilting heads), then you will need to add a shim to get more spring to the bars.

More than likely though, just going up one more link may be all you need.

Of course the best method to know for sure is three weigh scale passes. Truck unhitched with cargo and people, hitched but no bars, and then with bars. If you can return nearly 100% back to the front axle as when unhitched, then you have the best setup you can get.

Trailbreak74

Yep, every time you change the load of your truck or trailer, you should readjust your WDH accordingly. I doubt many people do this though.

Sweetlou

My E2 has a shim system. Actually, when looking at it, it appears they tightened the hitch and it’s not even touching the shim. It’s another washer away!

Im still wondering about my theory question. We are still packing (first trip is Memorial Day) and I just changed the tires out for Goodyear’s and installed a EZ-flex suspension system which seems to have lowered the trailer some. Really excited!

I pulled the trailer out the other day to swap tires and install the suspension and didn’t bother installing the trunnion bars. My HDPP didn’t even squat! I should have took measurements but I was sitting totally level. HDPP is impressive

8100hd

You should adjust the WDH once the base load is added to a new TT. Variations in load between trips should be minimal if you centralized the weight added correctly. I don’t readjust the WDH usually but do shift the load in the TT to try to maintain a consistent TW. Baseline fender well measurements are a good thing to establish, you can use them to monitor TW changes.

To answer the OP question, yes ball height changes will effect tension on the WDH.

DarrinT04

i notice all the time people not adjusting their WDH accodingly

smokeywren

You apparently have a slight misconception. Whether the truck is level or not when the WDH is properly adjusted is not a concern. The only two concerns are:

1] The spring bars should be adjusted so that 50% to 60% of TW is on the rear axle of the tow vehicle and 20% tp 25% of TW is on the front axle. Don't worry about whether the truck is level after the WD hitch is adjusted, just worry about the weight distribution.
2]Without the trailer, measure the distance to the ground from the center of the front wheel well lip. If you accomplished 1] above, then the measurement should be very close to the same as the unloaded height - within zero to one-half inches higher with the trailer than without the trailer.

First, know the unloaded height of the front fender well lip. Then tighten the spring bars until that distance is returned to close to the unloaded height. That should be close enough to allow you to safely tow the rig to a CAT scale.

At the CAT scale, fill up with fuel, and weigh the rig three times. 1] truck only, no trailer, 2] rig with WD spring bars disconnected, 3] rig with spring bars connected and adjusted to where you think they should be, Then do the math to determine weight distribution.

Sweetlou

I realize how to measure for WDH, I only used “level” to mean bringing the rear of the truck back up and adding distribution. With my HDPP I’m actually “above level” when all hooked up.

Im pondering this theory more for carrying heavy loads in the truck, such as my ATV or two dirt bikes, than for trailer load. My trailer load is fairly consistent at around 7000, so my hitch weight should be relatively consistent. But as the truck’s rear axle gets loaded with stuff in the bed, I imagine the hitch angle increases and therefore applies more tension on the bars without actually making an adjustment to the hitch.

8100hd

The issue with this theory is you can’t add the ATV/dirt bikes to the bed with the WDH already set. Then setting the hitch bars will probably be difficult due to the increase tension added by the lower ball height. You will most likely have to readjust the WDH again with this scenario. I do not believe in using the WDH to compensate for load added to the TV bed, just TW.

acdii

In this situation, I see how air bags can be used. With the bed empty, set up the trailer as if you are not loading the truck. Set the airbags to the minimum pressure recommended by the manufacturer when setting it up. Now when you have the truck loaded, and the trailer hooked up, you can return the rear wheel height to the height it was with the trailer hooked up and the bed empty to maintain the configuration. You will need to know what the fender height is when hitched and unloaded to be able to do this.

The WDH transfers weight from the trailer fore and aft, reducing weight on the rear axle, the Air bags do not transfer any weight, but add capacity by relieving some weight off the springs. They aree good for direct downward loads on the axle like a gooseneck or 5th wheel , or a heavy load in the bed. If you are not loading the bed, make sure they are at their lowest air pressure when towing.

What ever you do, do not exceed GAWR or GVWR on the truck.