Once installed, these metal bars pry upwards on the trailer tongue.Ĭhain-style WDHs pull they don’t push. Round bar and trunnion-style WDHs are both “spring arm” hitches. There are three basic types of weight-distributing hitches:
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– provides detailed instructions on how to install and calibrate their hitches. Thankfully, you don’t need to run those calculations to configure your hitch.Įvery manufacturer of a WDH – Fastway, Andersen, Blue Ox, Weigh-Safe, etc. In reality, redistribution of 20-25 percent is more common than 33 percent.Įxact numbers vary – oh, based on a hundred factors: the height of your ball hitch, the wheelbase of your tow vehicle, the tongue weight of your camper, etc. A common rule of thumb is that WDH redistributes 1/3 of the tongue weight onto the trailer axles, 1/3 of the TW onto the tow vehicle’s rear axle, and 1/3 of the TW onto the tow vehicle’s front axle. Is there a reliable back-of-the-envelope calculation to figure how much weight gets transferred? Your total weight across all axles remains the same the weight just gets more evenly spread out. It does not magically push up on the hitch connection.
It forces your headlights to point up, not out!.It increases the risk of trailer sway and fishtailing.You’ll be more prone to overrsteer when cornering.It reduces tow vehicle braking performance and handling.The front axle actually loses weight! That’s bad for all sorts of reasons. Remember my teeter-totter analogy? As I said, with a weight-carrying hitch, the front end of the tow vehicle rises up, and the rear axle squats with the added weight.īut it’s actually worse than what you might think. (If you want to calculate your own axle weights, you’ll have to set up your own free-body diagram and solve the equilibrium equations).įirst, let’s consider what happens if you don’t use a WDH. The trailer and tow vehicle can’t form a “V” anymore because the spring bars or chains won’t allow pivoting. That’s how a weight-distribution hitch works. Now, can you still freely move the top index finger without it partially lifting off the bottom finger? Imagine wrapping some Scotch tape around the joint. Now slide one index finger on top of the other one so the first digits overlap. You can still move one index finger around while keeping the tips touching, right?
Point both your index fingers at each other. Here’s the simplest way I can explain it.
It binds the connection, transforming it from a freely rotating pivot to a semi-locked bridge. And in the same way that one person rises if someone else sits on the opposite end of a teeter-totter, so the tongue weight of the camper on the hitch causes the front end of the tow vehicle to rise into the air.Ī weight-distribution hitch acts as an extended lever and fulcrum.
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