Is a WDH needed?

Is a weight distribution /Sway hitch (WDH) needed our recommended when towing a 8,000 lb travel trailer when pulling with a 1 ton dually?

 

Yes,the hitch is only good for 5k without

 

Ok, its just that I don't think I've ever noticed a Dually with a WDH. Thanks for the info.

 

Quite a large percentage of Dually owners and even 3/4 tons don't use them unless the trailer is excessively large. I'm guilty of it myself at times.

I'm not sure if you own one now or not. But if you don't, take a look at the Anderson WD hitch. It's a little different design. Biggest complaint of owners is that it doesn't have quite enough pull on the chains to shift the weight forward on very heavy trailers. But for something as light as 8K and especially with a dually where you are not as concerned about getting a ton of weight forward, it might be a good option.

 

I would not waste the time or money with that setup.

 

I believe that using a weight distribution hitch with a properly loaded dually truck and an 8,000 lb trailer will enhance the performance of the combined unit significantly, especially during an emergency maneuver. It will also be a pleasure to drive.

Just because the truck is big and is a dually doesn't mean that there aren't benefits to using the WDH.

- John

 

Once you have seen a cracked or broken hitch you may change your mind.There is no doubt the truck can handle the weight-that is not the issue

 

The OP's '15 should be a class 5 hitch.

Nick

 

Jeez, I never even thought to check the class of hitch I have. Its the hitch that came with the truck.

 

I know in '02 the receiver was the same on all three trucks (1500, 2500, 3500). While it claims 5K#, 10K# weight distributing there's still up to 10K on the receiver.


With the Cummins up front I don't want to move weight forward. You can buy a Curt receiver that's 15K/16KWD and not worry about it.

 

Class of hitch means nothing because there isn't a standard. One manufacturer's class 4 is another's class 5. The original hitch on mine was rated for 500 hitch weight/5000 trailer weight w/o a WD and 1000/10,000 with a w/d. I hooked up a heavy first response trailer in Ft. Worth that had a front mounted large generator and a deck that was welded to the forward frame because it had a front door to service said genset. Hitch weight was about 800 pounds but I couldn't attach my snap-up brackets. By the time I got it delivered in Bellingham WA. the frame mounts of the hitch had literally tore from being overloaded. The hitch weight of an 8000 pound TT will be in the neighborhood of 800 pounds, so I recommend you find out what your receiver is rated for.

Also, a WDH and a sway control gimmick device are two separate animals. A simple WDH is all one needs for any bumper hitch trailer. I say that because I have literally hundreds of thousands of miles pulling TTs, large and small, loaded and unloaded, and other bumper pull trailers all over the US and Canada. I was sucked into the sway control myth when I was a rookie, but soon learned they are nothing but a rip off.

 

I respectfully could not disagree more. A properly set up WDH with sway control is a safety necessity pulling a TT, much more so the heavier you get. Even more important than weight is size (wind profile) when selecting sway control.

I pull a 38' TT with a very high profile (it has stairs inside with basement storage). It also has a very heavy tongue weight. I pulled it with my 06 3500 dually, and now my 14 SRW 3500.

Even with a sway control hitch, I have experienced severe sway from passing or being passed by semis, or high winds. The hitch keeps it from escalating. Seeing "tail wagging" trailers going down the road emphasizes the need for properly set up equipment. I now use a hitch that moves the pivot point of the trailer, eliminating trailer-induced sway. It behaves like a fifth wheel when forces would cause sway on friction style hitches. Look up "Propride" or "Hensley" hitches.

A trip to the truck scales is best for your initial WDH setup. Check RV forums for directions on how to do it. You can also measure the height of your fenderwells.

Saying a sway control is a myth because you haven't needed it is misleading. Im sure you're a safe driver, but properly set up sway control will help control a travel trailer. I've driven thousands of miles in vehicles without anti lock brakes. That I didn't wreck doing so doesn't mean it's not better to have them.

 

The receiver is only part of the equation in weight capacity. What is the ball capacity or draw bar capacity and how long is it. 500 lbs of ball weight with a short mount is way more on the receiver if you add 6" in length to the ball mount. The longer they are the more trailer steer you get and the more they drop in a dip. Most WDH are typically about 6" longer than most standard draw bars.

I don't use them for the above reasons, however my trailers are such that I can adjust the load as my weight distributing system. If I had an RV that had a set ball weight I might need to use one but it would have to be very heavy. My Curt forged ball mount is rated 2550 lbs hitch weight and 17k gross trailer weight. With some of the roads around here with the bad dips, I am sure it is needed.

Receivers, balls and ball mount capacity ratings are similar to truck gvw and gcw, use and haul what you are safe/comfortable with.

Nick

 

Actually I say it is a myth because I have pulled the same trailers with and without a sway gimmick. They towed exactly the same.

Your little push-pull from passing trucks isn't sway anyway. Even 5th wheels and your prize Hensley hitch will experience the same motion if the circumstances are right. It is easily controlled anyway. Sway is the uncontrollable lateral movement of a trailer, usually caused from improper loading. The most likely trailer to sway is an enclosed or flatbed cargo trailer. TTs are designed to be idiot proof and are virtually impossible to load improperly, unless of course you put a rack with a motorcycle on the back bumper. I've pulled many privately owned trailers that are packed to the gills with the owner's belongings and none of them swayed. In fact, if I ever hook to a trailer that sways I'll take it back to the shipper. It either has a mechanical fault or is loaded poorly. It's not my job to relocate cargo.

Your words are " Even with a sway control hitch, I have experienced severe sway from passing or being passed by semis, or high winds." There you go, you have just testified that a "sway control" doesn't do anything. Had you not wasted the money on that gimmick hitch and were using a straight WD the results would have been identical. I've pulled enough 38 footers (and longer) to know that.

During the last Houston flooding I had occasion to tow a 40 ft TT that was being used as temporary housing. The fellow in the storage yard cautioned me to be careful because when he had towed it to the yard the sway kept him below 45 mph. A little questioning disclosed he had just hooked it to the back of his Dodge 2500 and went on down the road. It was the lack of weight on his front tires, not sway, that made his trip miserable. I towed the trailer through a TX thunderstorm and some serious crosswinds without incident or white knuckles.

The same thing happened to a TDR member when he upgraded to a longer TT and hauled it home with no WD. He claims the sway gimmick of the hitch he bought cured the sway, but was unwilling to tow it with a simple WD hitch to compare.

The placebo affect caused by the high dollars that are spent by the gullible and that are sucked up by the hitch manufacturers are what keeps fueling the myth.

 

Sway control hitches don't eliminate sway. It adds a force on the trailer that makes it want to return to center, or more accurately makes it not want to move away from center. It minimizes the effect of sway. It's sway control, not sway elimination.

My propride hitch is not the hitch I experienced sway with. It was on a friction style sway control hitch. No, it didn't eliminate it, but that is not the same as doing nothing. With my current hitch, I still feel the effect of the push pull. The difference is my trailer doesn't ever continue to wag after the fact. My "prized" hitch also reduces wind's ability to act on the pivot point. Parallel linkage isn't a placebo effect... it's physics. I've also pulled with WD and no sway control. No, there isn't a noticeable difference immediately. There is a difference in some conditions.

I'm not trying to change your mind, only to say that there are many other people see a benefit. Enough that there is a whole industry built around it. Enough that others may want to consider investigating sway control options, even if you dont.
Go on an rv forum and read. There are a lot of people who have tried both. Not everyone is gullible and just looking to justify their purchase. Can you pull without It? Sure. Does that mean it's useless? It may to some, others disagree.
I agree properly set up WD is more important. Sway control is an added precaution.

 

My guess is your hitch was already fatigued and cracked from the years and trips that it had already hauled. The trailer hitch was probably heavier than 800# also. 800# is not heavy. I typically have 1500# on my 14k bumper pull dump. Still using my rebuilt oem receiver hitch that some on here gave me static for because I rebuilt it and didn't buy a new one

Nick

 

Well I know it wasn't cracked previously because I use the WD for trailers that are not really heavy because the company I lease to requires them (it's an insurance thing from what they say) and I do regular equipment inspections. It very well could have been heavier, but not by much. I didn't have any controlability problems that are associated with too heavy tongue weight, like sway. There are a lot of rough stretches of road between TX and WA which didn't help either.

 

Return to center? Really? None of them have springs, they all rely on some type of friction. It is the same amount of friction to move left as it is to move right. In that regard the little bit of force they exert is just as detrimental as it is beneficial. The only one I'm aware of that isn't friction is the duel cam model, and I've used one of them. It is a hitch that the owner of a TT had and wanted me to use the first time I pulled it for her. That trip was from Kansas City to Houston. A couple months later I pulled the same trailer from Houston to Yuma. The owner had already departed and had locked the hitch inside the trailer so I used mine. Absolutely NO DIFFERENCE in how it towed. I've pulled that same trailer cross country on two other occasions, one with her hitch and one with mine. I'll bet no one else has done the same type of comparison.

Oh, I know there is an industry built around it. There are big bucks involved to convince people they need a gizmo that supposedly makes towing a breeze. The number of people that have towed with both a straight WD and one with a gizmo type attached to the same trailer for comparison is so small it can't be measured. The RV forums are mostly new owners that have been hyped by a salesman and BS manufacturer's claims. They swear by their expensive hitches because they don't know any better. Many of those one hitch wonders have never traveled outside their home state. Some proponents have never even pulled a travel trailer and are getting their info from the sales brochures. I'm willing to wager that the only two hitches you have used with your 38 footer are a gimmick hitch and the propride. I'm also confused why you would experience "wag after the fact". Why have I never experienced that? Oh, I know, it isn't the hitch, it is the trailer. I've never pulled your trailer so I can't imagine what in the world you are speaking of. However, if you tell me the make and model number I'll keep my eye out for one so that I can.

 

You need to check your state's DMV laws. Some states REQUIRE WD and/or sway control by weight of towed vehicle.
That said, properly loaded towed rig won't sway much with or without sway control.

 

At least one does.. I have a Blue Ox truecenter anti-sway. It's gas piston springs. It works great. That said proper loading and WD are much more important, it's just added to minimize oscillating in cross winds and it does help, especially if used with a lighter tow vehicle like my original 1/2 Chevy. With the 1 ton Dodge it's not really needed, but I use it anyway, the rig is really stable.