We were evacuated from our home when one of the big fires started in California. We had everything packed, and part of our belongings we wanted to take with us was our RP-179. Seeing that we were getting underway at 3AM, and we have an F-150, which can pull the 179 with no control issues whatever, I decided I would skip the WDH setup.

As we proceeded down the highway, I noticed two things. 

First, the headlights were just a bit too high. Just high enough that the low beams would shine right into the windshield of anyone coming the other way. Not a good thing.

The second thing I noticed was that all the bumps and dips were exaggerated. 

After we got to our first stop (what we affectionately referred to as "Chateau de CVS"), we got a few hours of rest, and before we left, I hooked up the WDH bars. The rest of our escape to safety was uneventful.

Is that 270 tongue weight an actual measured value for a loaded trailer? Seems very low.. FR specs say an unloaded dry 178 is 295 on the hitch and 2893 total. That's with no battery, water in the water heater, or any of the tanks...If it really is that low then you'll also want your total trailer weight not to exceed 2700 lbs to avoid sway. 

If you are Ok you will be very close, so check all your actual loaded weights against your Jeep specs (trailer, tongue, combined gross vehicle weight, and axle weights). When you run through the scales disconnect or de-tension the weight distribution hitch, it will throw off your weight measurements. 

Here's a nice calculator to load all your data into and see where you are. . 

Originally posted by alohapad Can see that everybody has a favorite, and I'm HOPING I made the right choice for my needs, but I picked the Anderson 3324 Sway WDH.  It's kinda pricey ($499), but it's under 60lbs, and looks to be the bee's knees. My Jeep is rated 350/3500, and the 178 is at about 270 on the hitch, so my math says I snuck in just below. No lift kit, running 33's, so hoping the height is gonna be OK too.

It will quickly become apparent that 350/3500 is inadequate. I towed with a 2016 Ford Escape and while it worked for a time, there were lots of those times I was wanting to have something with more capacity. We had an accident when we hit ice along with a strong crosswind. The damage to the Escape meant we needed something else to continue our trip and get home (the RPod was damaged also, but I was able to patch it up enough to get home, after which it went to the factory for repair). We ended up getting a 2020 Nissan Frontier LE Crew Cab 4x4 which has been serving us well with its 6,100 lb tow rating.

I say this to say that you will want to be careful with that Jeep. Its high center of gravity and short wheelbase (relatively so) means that any issue with trailer sway could get out of control faster than you can imagine. If you do not already have a lot of experience towing, I would recommend that in addition to the Andersen hitch, you look into one of the electronic sway control devices such as the Hayes Sway-Master, the Tuson Sway Control, or Lippert Sway Command. It will be able to react to conditions faster than you can and help prevent a potential sway situation from getting out of hand. I would recommend one of these, especially if someone has a vehicle that he/she thinks does not need a WD/sway control hitch.

Yeah and it seems from conversations here that WDHs DO make a big difference even on a lighter trailer, so I don't know why the Etrailer guy was so adamant about not needing one under 7k. He must not have had his coffee yet...

When I first bought this camper my neighbor (who has 30 years RV experience) told me I should get a WDH for safety reasons even though the trailer is light compared to others. I don't really see people here using them much on small stuff. I called Etrailer and the guy there told me for the R-Pod it would be a waste of money and would not make a difference until I was towing around 7,000 lbs. But then, my truck is only rated at 6,200 lbs max, so I think the Etrailer guy was missing the "big picture". To me it seems the physics should be the same just on a smaller scale...

The trunnion has a little bit more clearance under the hitch, so if you have limited clearance at the back of your tow vehicle, it might be the better choice. We have the round bar version.

Agreed, but when in doubt you can always release the bars first. Your hitch and jack will also let you know. If when you lift the tongue with the jack the load on the jack is getting heavy, the rear of the TV is coming up more than usual and the wdh bars are still under a lot of stress then you have a caution flag. 

The concern about tension on the wdh bars when on uneven terrain is a very good one. Consider that your wdh is set up on flat ground so its trying to keep all 3 axles of your rig in a straight line.  So, if say you're backing down a slope into a flat campsite your wdh is trying to lift both the trailer tongue and the rear of your TV up in the air. The tension on the bars under those conditions is going to go way up. You could easily have a thousand pounds of tension on the bars, probably more. 

If anyone has ever seen a cable under strain fail you will get an idea of the force.  For an example, go back to the reality tv series about loggers and watch when a strawline breaks.  It'll take someone arm or leg right off.

On my rig I need about 600 lbs tension on the 30 inch spring bars (300lbs on each one) when set up correctly. That's a torque of 600*30/12 = 1500 ft lbs.