Trip With Trailer

[GlennSullivan]

Unlike what you had to endure on I-95 around Baltimore,Washington,and Richmond.

Hahahahaha. Yeah no ****. If you can’t get through DC/Balto between 11:00 and 1:00 it is like Russian Roulette with all 6 bullets. On this trip, I missed the time slot by a little over an hour and paid the price.

On the way down in December, I did take the inland 80 / 78 / 81 route, and while the traffic was much better, there is a multi-year construction project on 81 that has sections of the road completely closed (exit and take small back roads through little towns for 10 miles). Also going through Charlotte is no picnic, not as bad as DC/Balto, but alot of traffic.

 

[adamsdaddy]

I installed the Equal-i-zer WD hitch myself. Very simple to install. I like that it has built in anti-sway protection. Available on Amazon.

 

[ssmock]

I have a 2014 Limited and the Anderson set up. Easy to use and dial it in when and if necessary. Tow a all aluminum car hauler with a classic car inside. I, at 6K lbs with the trailer and car, add another 500 lbs for gear so its about 6.5K lbs all in. I get 8 to 10 MPG depending on the wind. Hitch works great, no or very little sway when trucks pass or when passing trucks on the interstate. Once the auto leveling shocks kick in after driving a few miles it levels out even more.

 

[chuck s]

A tongue weight scale is invaluable especially if you trailer capacity varies. 10% (minimum) of the trailer's weight needs to be on the ball. I used mine to setup my camper trailer initially and whenever I need to tow a rental or other trailer.



Watch tongue weigh in regards to cargo capacity. I think my capacity is 1450-ish pounds and putting 700 pounds on the ball only allows the remaining 750 pounds for cargo and passengers.

Tail heavy trailers establish a tail wagging inertia -- is that the right word? Pendulum effect.

-- Chuck

 

[GlennSullivan]

Im def going to buy a tongue scale, although I was able to "calculate" my tongue weight by knowing the trailer and car (on trailer) weight - total of 6300 and deducting the trailer / car weight on the scale 5720 = 580.
I looked at the anderson WDH mentioned above and am having trouble understanding how the horizontal chains take the place of horizontal torsion bars on other make WDH. What am I missing?

 

[rollinstone]

I’ve been using the Andersen WDH for 8 years. It will dial in tongue weights from 0 to 1400 lbs and trailer weights from 0 to 14,000 lbs. Easy DIY install. Handles sway like a champ.

 

[JasonH]

I looked at the anderson WDH mentioned above and am having trouble understanding how the horizontal chains take the place of horizontal torsion bars on other make WDH. What am I missing?

The chains attached to a pivoting plate on the head. When you load the ball, the plate get pushed down. When you tighten the chains, it lifts the plate along with the rear of the tow vehicle. There's also a friction component near the ball for sway control.

 

[mefly2]

Equalizer wdh has worked well for us for over 20+ years. The sway control is great and the adjustments are almost infinite ... good for some but challenging for others. We also like the Shocker hitch to really smoothe out the ride!