Weight Distribution Hitches |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Topic: Weight Distribution Hitches Posted: 29 Jan 2023 at 4:07am |
Look at it this way. The TV has additional weight on it when you hitch up the trailer. That weight will be the tongue weight minus whatever weight the wdh has shifted back to the trailer axle.
Let's say your TV was level to start with without the trailer. Now let's say your tongue weight is 500 lbs and the wdh shifts 100 lbs of that to the trailer axle. That leaves 400 more lbs on the TV, distributed between it's two axles. If you have gone though the recomended wdh front suspension adjustment process and gotten back to your unhitched front suspension height you know none of that 400 lbs has gone up front, bc if it had then there would be more front suspension squat. Since the extra 400lbs didn't just disappear it has to be sitting on the rear axle. So the rear axle will be sitting lower than it was when you were unhitched, and the TV will not be level. Can't be any other way. How noticeable that TV squat is depends on the tongue weight, how long the TV wheelbase is, how long the TV rear overhang is, and how stiff it's suspension is. If you have a big or long TV or a light trailer its probably going to be pretty darn close to level. But if you have a high tongue weight and a lighter, shorter wheelbase TV, it will be quite noticeably tail low when hitched, even with a properly set up wdh. My Highlander was like that. It has a pretty short wheelbase and my 179 ran close to the Highlander's tongue weight limit. It was noticeably low enough at the rear that I at first thought my wdh wasn't tensioned enough. I even went through the scales to convince myself I had set things up right. The tension on the wdh needed to get the TV even close to level would have been way too high, over 1000 lbs, enough that it would probably have overstressed the frame of the TV and or the trailer. My wimpy old arm muscles likely aren't strong enough to tension it that much without help from the tongue jack. That's why I wanted to warn folks not to try to tension their wdhs to get their TVs level. That is, unless you need the excercise and like fixing bent frames or broken axles. Then feel free to build up those biceps and have at it. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2587 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jan 2023 at 5:49am |
Seems to me the key is to do your set up on a level/flat surface so the measurements don't get messed up. The TV and trailer should all be on the same flat plane.
Once properly adjusted, the tension bars will be a little below the L brackets and unless you are really strong, you're not going to be able to put them into running position. The solution is simple, just raise the tongue with the tongue jack until the bars can be positioned, put in the retainer clips, then lower the the tongue and stow away the jack in the full up position and you're ready to go. To unhook, use the reverse process. They give you a pry bar to help muscle the tension bars into position or pry them off the L brackets, but that is way too much work and if you ever got hit by a tension bar popping off under pressure you could really hurt yourself. It bears repeating that this procedure presumes proper adjustment of the WDH in the first place per the manual's instructions and that the WDH is properly sized for your trailer and TV.. That means you vehicle may not be perfectly level, but is within the range described in the manual.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jan 2023 at 7:13am |
Yep, the only way to get the rig set up correctly is to be on totally flst pavement.
Different design wdhs tension up differently. With the chain type like I had you connected the top of the chains to pivoting hooks and then using a pry bar rotated the hooks up and over center. In the process the chains tension the wdh bars. Then you put in clips to hold the pivoting hooks in position. All wdhs are easier to tension up if you connect the hitch then use the jack to raise both the trailer and the TV. Then tension. To me that has a couple of drawbacks though. First is you have to raise and lower the hitch twice. Second is that if you do it that way you don't get a good feel for how much tension you're applying to the bars. On our relatively light trailers if you have a lot of tension on there something is probably not quite right. Like maybe I hadn't had my morning coffee yet and miscounted chain links when hooking up. And last but not least you don't get your morning upper arm workout. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jan 2023 at 3:05pm |
One advantage of raising the combination of hitched tow vehicle and trailer is that you verify that the trailer is hitched up correctly and not just appearing to be hitched up. That is a good reason to do so.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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Sparky_0591
Newbie Joined: 02 Jan 2021 Location: NY Online Status: Offline Posts: 2 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 01 Feb 2023 at 4:05pm |
We own an r-pod 191 for the last three years. Just last spring I installed an Andersen WD hitch and I'm pleased with its performance.
https://andersenhitches.com/product/weight-distribution-hitch/
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