Offgrid-- you are right, the WD hitches I was looking at also had a sway device incorporated and I certainly can't think of any reason a properly adjusted WD would have an issue.

StephenH and Jato-- thank you for the additional information.

Having traveled through snowy conditions with our 177 using the following vehicles '08 and '13 Explorer's and '94 F-150 using only a sway bar link has been sufficient for us in northern Michigan since 2011.  Granted, we have not traveled mountainous roads in the snow but have just used common sense when on the highway or 2 lane roads just by slowing down.

 

Lessons learned:

Don't trust weather forecasts!

Don't take the northern route in the winter.

If we encounter snow, be smart enough to stay put until we can be sure that the roads have been sufficiently treated to be clear. If not possible, be very leery of the roads if any appearance of black ice appear and slow down. Go the minimum speed to the next safe exit and get off and wait.

Having an accident will slow you down more than stopping and waiting until you are sure the roads are clear.

All season tires aren't! Tires rated M&S are not necessarily good on ice.

Highway department road condition reports aren't always reliable.

Never exceed the speed limit of each state for towing. It isn't always the same as the posted speed limit. Examples: Wyoming posted 80 legal towing 60 (which is what I was doing before we hit the ice). That is why the Highway Patrol trooper wrote it up as unavoidable instead of citing me for reckless driving. States like California have a legal towing speed of 55. Other states have a legal towing speed of 60 or 65. Texas allows 70 mph during the day but 65 at night. Other than that, I can't find any information about a faster legal towing speed.

Weight distribution is okay for all conditions. Some sway control bars and hitches do not recommend using with the sway control active. Hitches like the Equal-i-zer, E2, and similar models can't be disconnected without removing the weight distribution bars. In the case of some vehicles, this may lead to greater instability than would otherwise be the case as the weight will then be taken off the front (steering) wheels of the tow vehicle

Would be curious to hear of circumstances/lessons learned from your accident.  I have been trying to avoid going WDH path as I thought they weren't recommended for snow/ice conditions.  Please let me know if there is a version out there which is good for use in winter conditions.

I've tightened the shackle with a StowAway Hitch Tightener to eliminate slop, seemed a little less prone to mechanical failure than those that are incorporated in the hitch pin.  It has worked well for the few trips we've taken so far.

Interesting design but it's damn pricey. ProPride (same design) is $2800. If I ever buy a larger camper it definitely worth considering though.

There is some slop. I assumed it was normal and didn't worry about it. Not sure how would you notice the slop when towing. 

Correct. The only real way to know tongue weight and gross weight of the towed vehicle is to weigh it. Get a tongue weight scale. Get your tow vehicle weighed ( pay attention to the front/rear distribution) Then get your overall rig weighed, again paying attention to the distribution. Now you have real data. Get the manual for your hitch and read it carefully. Everything else, including the "4 links recommendation" is just opinion, or worse - conjecture.

The Hensley locks the trailer's hitch and the ball together. The rotation is at the articulating joints. See this link for more information on how it works:  https://www.hensleymfg.com/faq/hensley-hitch-works/

I'll see if I can plug things in to the calculator. I also will see if I can use the scale at the North Wake Convenience Center.

The horizontal distance from the ball to where the spring bars are attached to the trailer frame is for sure going to govern how much bar tension is required to produce a given moment (torgue). But if you set your Hensley to redistribute the same about of tongue weight as you did with the Equal-i-zer (which will require less bar tension if the bars extend farther aft) then you should end up with pretty much the same axle loads. 

This is because the redistributed axle loads are governed only by the moment (bar tension x distance from bar attachment to the ball) and the distance from the ball to each axle. The distance from the ball to the trailer axle hasn't changed. The distances from the ball to each of the TV axles will be a slightly different with the Hensley than the Equal-I-zer. 

You can measure those distances and put them in the calculator if you want to see the effects. 

https://www.ajdesigner.com/apptrailertow/weightdistributionhitch.php

Have you tried using your local waste transfer station to see if you can use their scale? As a taxpayer you should be able to make use of it if they're not busy, Dare County lets me use theirs, no problem.  You don't need pay for a tow, just go through once with the tow vehicle only and then again with the trailer attached without the hitch tensioned. Get the weight of each axle as you go through the scale. Then if you want to prove that the calculator works correctly you can even go through a third time with the hitch tensioned. Or you can trust in basic physics and believe the calculator once you know your actual weights and distances 

 I haven't used all the different styles of anti-rattle devices out there, and there are a LOT of them. But I did try a Maxx Tow Anti-Rattle Clamp, and it SUCKED!! The four bolts (4 - FOUR!!!) loosen up almost immediately, have to be snugged up, and then loosen again later on. I tried it for two trips, gave up. Just a terrible design that did not work for me.

StephenH, a WDH is generally considered to be part of the tow vehicle not the trailer, because it winds up being rigidly attached to the TV receiver when in use. I don't think the Hensley hitch is different in that regard. But of course, since a WDH acts to redistribute tongue load to the TV front axle and trailer axle, its weight doesn't end up on the TV rear axle anyway, like tongue weight does if you don't have a WDH. 

Did either of you have a lot of slop in the shank?

It does lift the rear of the TV when you tighten the chains. It is much quieter and smoother than the std.WD system I was using. 

I have one. It's my first camper, so I don't have anything else to compare it with, but it works fine with my tacoma. Got around 5K miles on it so far.

On level ground, with your tow vehicle unhitched from the trailer, measure the distance from ground to the lip of each wheel well of the tow vehicle. When your trailer is hooked up, you should be very close to these measurements (for me 1/4 to 1/2 inch is close enough) and your trailer should also be level. There are a lot of ways to achieve this with a WDH, but I would experiment with the free chain links first. I would try 5 free first and remeasure. I would not exceed 6 free links but again, I am not that familiar with the chain variety of WDH. Good luck.

Gino

2016 Nissan Frontier SV

2016 RP179