Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

[bruceb58]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

You will be fine with that hitch. When you get it all hooked up, have your wife slowly drive(just a few MPH)while you sit in the back with your head looking out the back looking at the coupler and have her do a fast stop. You will see the everything slide forward just like it should.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

The boat is a 3 mile drive to the lake so I will just use the ball on those runs but when we go to the coast and its 150 miles each way this will be a nice thing to have. Hopefully the truck won't get pushed around as much as it does now. Will do a nice report when done.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

You can also get a hitch for your truck that would have a completely different rating on it. I did that with my 3/4T Suburban. The one I got for it was rated a lot higher for not using a WD hitch.

How does that keep you from exceeding the rear GAWR of the vehicle?

http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-tt.shtml

[h=2]Scenario: Only know the hitch maximum tongue weight rating[/h] If you only know the hitch rating as specified by the manufacturer, enter it in the Tow vehicle maximum tongue weight rating box.
Example, using the 2005 Chevrolet Colorado, crew cab, 2WD, Vortec 2800 I-4 engine:

• Tow vehicle maximum tongue weight rating: 500 lbs
• Calculated Maximum Trailer Weight: 3,333 lbs

If the maximum tongue weight used in this calculation is from the hitch manufacturer, this result may be highly inaccurate because the hitch rating may have no relevance whatsoever to the truck ratings. On the other hand, if the maximum tongue weight is from the truck manufacturer for this specific vehicle, then the calculation would be more accurate. In either case, using this number alone is insufficient because of the following:

• Calculation assumes that tongue weight is 15% of the total trailer weight. Variation in tongue weight percentage will make this assumption invalid.
• Using only the maximum tongue weight ignores other manufacturer specified weight constraints such as GVWR, GCWR, maximum loaded trailer weight (or GTW) and RGAWR. For better accuracy, enter as many of these values as possible.

The above calculation has put us well over the 1,700/2,900 lbs (manual/auto transmission) specified as the maximum trailer weight by Chevrolet.

These scenarios illustrate that relying on too little information may cause you to exceed manufacturer ratings. On the other hand, providing the calculator with all relevant weight numbers will produce accurate results.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

How does that keep you from exceeding the rear GAWR of the vehicle?

They put on the exact same hitch on the 3/4T as they do on the 1/2T Suburbans. The 3/4T GAWR spec is way higher than what the deadweight hitch spec is.

The hitch that comes on these is a derated class 3 hitch.

Out of curiosity, what do you tow your Grady with? Don't you have a 1/2T Silverado? You use a WD hitch with it?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

Out of curiosity, what do you tow your Grady with? Don't you have a 1/2T Silverado? You use a WD hitch with it?

Male enlargement and towing ratings. The two industries catering specifically to men. That should tell you something about reading the small print...

I've towed it with a Durango, an Expedition, a 1/2 ton Silverado, and now the 5.3-1/2 Tahoe. Of them all, the Tahoe pulls it the best. Then again, the Tahoe has a factory "heavy" tow package with 3.73 rear, air leveling, etc. We almost bought a 3/4 burb but couldn't justify the fuel cost when not towing. The "grocery getter" at the time.

I've never felt the need for a WD with the load lever in the Tahoe. Ran the RGAWR calcs using the data on the door jam. Guestimating truck weights, I came with a #475-490 tongue weight. The trailer ~#520.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

I've never felt the need for a WD with the load lever in the Tahoe. Ran the RGAWR calcs using the data on the door jam. Guestimating truck weights, I came with a #475-490 tongue weight. The trailer ~#520.

So, pretty much over the capacity of the OE hitch then of 5K pounds.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

I've never felt the need for a WD with the load lever in the Tahoe.

Its not about feeling the need its about what the manufactures says. I bet if you read your manual it will have one tow rating for Weight Carrying hitch and a higher rating for Weight Distributing hitch. I have invested allot of time and about $700 in to this venture. I will do a write up some time that perhaps can become a sticky helping people to understand. Im going to hold off on the writeup until I get it installed and configured for my rig. Will report back.

What year is your Tahoe?

 

[agallant80]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

Here is one from a 2007 Tahoe, yet again the owners manual clearly states on page 426

"If you will be pulling a trailer that, when loaded,
will weigh more than 5,000 lbs (2 270 kg) be sure
to use a properly mounted weight-distributing
hitch and sway control of the proper size."

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Chicken Or Egg came first. WD Hitch

If you weigh your boat trailer tongue and it exceeds your hitch weight rating, you get a bigger truck or you do a weight distribution (WD) hitch.
A WD hitch moves some of the tongue weight to the front wheels of your tow vehicle and some of it back to the trailer wheels.
A proper WD system squishes the front and rear tow vehicle springs equally. To set them up you measure the tire to body clearance and adjust accordingly. When adjusted right you can rip along in a crosswind at 65 MPH in traffic with semi's on both sides and the trailer will stay rock steady behind you. The reason I mentioned 65 MPH is that's the max speed rating of most trailer tires.