Weight Distributing Trailer Hitches

Weight Distributing Trailer Hitches

The other day I was on the highway headed to town, when I saw, for the first time ever, a trailer situation that scared me! There was a big white SUV towing an even bigger travel trailer, and the trailer was so heavy that the front end of the SUV was visibly lifted higher than normal, and the hitch and trailer tongue were much too close to the ground.

Clearly, this guy needed a weight distributing hitch.

What exactly is a weight distributing hitch, you ask? Well, in very simple terms, it’s extra equipment, including spring bars, that you use when hitching your really heavy trailer. What it does is distribute the tongue weight of your trailer to the axles of the trailer and the front axle of the tow vehicle to level things out when your tongue weight is too high for your hitch.

How do you know when you need a weight distributing hitch? Without hitching up your trailer and checking your vehicle for level, you can look at the numbers and figure it out. You need to know your tongue weight (TW). Compare the TW of your trailer with your hitch’s TW capacity, and if you are over that number, you need a weight distributing system.

Your receiver hitch (class IV and class V) comes with two weight limits for both TW and GTW (gross towing weight). The lower numbers is are the weight carrying limits (without weight distributing hitch) and the higher numbers are the capacity with weight distribution. Use those numbers to find the weight distributing system that has the capacities you need.

For example, a vehicle that can tow a trailer with up to 750 lbs. TW and up to 7,500 lbs. GTW with a standard Class IV weigh carrying hitch could possibly tow up to 1,200 lbs. TW and up to 12,000 lbs. GTW with a weight distributing hitch. However, please remember that these weights are hipothetical, and your towing capacity depends on your specific vehicle. Consult your owner’s manual for towing capacities of your vehicle.

With a weight distributing hitch, not only will you look a whole lot smarter than the guy with his front end up in the air, but you’ll find your ride is smoother and your braking and steering control better as you get down the road.

Towing Safely and Securely

Several trailer incidents have been in the news this week, reminding us all of the need to tow our trailers safely and store them securely.

In one incident in Washington state, four would-be thieves were attempting to break the lock on a trailer holding two personal watercraft when the noise they were creating woke a neighbor who called police. After a chase into the woods, all four were captured and charged with a list of crimes. That’s the happy story and kudos to the trailer owners who had the sense to use a hitch pin lock and the alert neighbor who took the time to call police.

Less happy news includes a story out of Brunswick, GA where a five car accident started when a camping trailer came unhitched from it’s tow vehicle and crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. The trailer hit a semi which sent it back across the center line where it caused damage to three more cars. Fortunately, no one was injured. In an accident earlier this year, the driver of an SUV who was hit by a utility trailer that came unhitched was not so lucky, she died as a result of the accident and the driver of the vehicle towing the trailer was charged with second degree vehicular homicide.

In Colorado Springs last week, a woman was killed when the trailer of a cement mixer came unhitched and sheared off the left side of her vehicle.

As trailer owners, we all need to make safety a habit. Get a hitch lock and use it; it’s a simple way to secure your trailer and protect your family. And when you are towing, remember to go through your checklist to ensure your trailer is securely hitched. Keep your hitch and coupler equipment in top working order, make sure your lights are functioning, and use those safety chains!

Tow a travel trailer with a Class 1 Trailer Hitch??

If you’re looking for a travel trailer you can tow with your class 1 trailer hitch, look no farther than the T@B at www.tab-rv.com. This micro travel trailer weighs in at under 2000 lbs with a tongue weight of 110 to 154 lbs. This means it can be towed by most SUVs and light trucks, even some larger cars and vans!

The T@B is a micro travel trailer with exterior measurements of 15′ 6″ long, 6′ 7″ wide, and 7′ 9″ high. The only travel trailers smaller than that have to fold up before hitting the road. My only complaint is that at 5′ 9″, the interior height is awfully low. Beyond that, the T@B is packed with all the features you really need in a travel trailer including sink, 2 burner stove, a mini fridge, lots of storage space, up to a queen size bed, a five-person dinette, and fantastic windows with black out shades. And it’s all done with so much style! You can choose from four different floor plans, many exterior colors and designs and very 5 very hip fabric choices. Optional equipment includes air conditioning, a port-a-potty, an awning, screen room, bike rack, screen door, and a DVD/TV unit.

Now, the T@B is not, by any RV standards, a luxury travel trailer (remember, the port-a-potty’s an extra and the roof vent is manual), but it does cover all the necessities for a two people to camp for any amount of time. What I love is the fact that it can be towed by almost any vehicle with a trailer hitch and, as I read on the website, if you can’t get your T@B backed in just right, it’s light enough that you can unhitch it and move it where you want it by hand.

Trailer Hitch Safety Chains

What Are These Safety Chains For on My Trailer?

I hate the sound of chains dragging on the road behind a truck! And I just have to wonder, what is that guy thinking?

The safety chains on your trailer near the coupler are there to “catch” your trailer tongue and keep it attached to your vehicle should the hitch ball somehow fail. To use your chains properly, be sure to cross the them below the trailer tongue and attach each to the corresponding opening on either side of your hitch. The S-hooks need to be attached from under the hitch so that the “S” is actually backwards as you look at the hitch from the side. The chains should be short enough to keep the trailer tongue off the ground, but have enough slack to allow the whole rig to turn well. The chains should never drag! Not only is this annoying to other drivers, but it will weaken your chains and make them less likely to do their job should the need arise.

Safety chains are rated according to their strength; make sure yours are rated for more weight that the gross weight of your fully loaded trailer.

Fuel Efficient Towing?

With average gas prices across the US reaching well over $3, fuel efficiency is on almost everyone’s mind. Add that to the fact that boating and camping season officially opened last weekend, and you might think it’s time to do some research about the most fuel efficient towing vehicles.

According to www.edmunds.com, the top three most fuel efficient suv and truck models of 2007 are:

1. Ford Escape Hybrid mpg: 36 city / 31 highway

2. Mercury Mariner Hybrid mpg: 32 city / 29 highway

3. Lexus RX 400h mpg: 32 city / 27 highway
Toyota Highlander Hybrid mpg: 32 city / 27 highway

It would seem what you gain in fuel efficiency however, you lose in towing capacity, even if your pulling a light tent trailer Case in point, the conventional V6 Ford Escape (24 mpg city / 29 mpg highway) with towing package and the Premier Mercury Mariner (19 city / 23 highway), each tow 3500 lbs, while their sister hybrids have only a 1000 lb towing capability.

There is some good news though, in the Lexus RX 400h, a hybrid, you will find 3500 lbs towing capacity. And, even better is that next year’s (2008) Toyota Highlander Hybrid with tow package can tow up to 5000 lbs! Three cheers for Toyota’s engineers whose work increased the highlander’s safety ratings, brought the horsepower up to 270 hp and maintained excellent SUV mpg at 31 city and 27 highway.

What do you mean “motorcycle trailer”? Part II

Today is part two of looking at motorcycle trailers. During road trips I’ve seen touring motorcycles on the interstate in the middle of no where. They must be on cross country trips, but how much stuff can you carry on a motorcycle? Some of these bikes have loads of power and a few storage boxes attached saddle-bag style to their sides. There’s just only so much you can carry in them right? On those long road trips you want to have some extra space so you can bring a few more amenities from home. This trailer may be the answer:

The ZZ2000LT is the sleekest trailer I could find that’s designed to attach to a motorcycle. No small surprise that they’re intended exclusively for Harley Davidson and Honda Goldwing motorcycles. This trailer is sweet. It’s also expensive - $3,995 plus $95 for packing and then you’ll pay a few hundred dollars for shipping. It’s going to be worth it though. Chrome wheels, factory matched colors, a tongue-mounted cooler, carpeted interior, suspension on the wheels, chrome trim, and a huge 200 lb. weight capacity. It even has 16.5 cubic feet of interior space. This is a big motorcycle trailer. It’s going to get the job done for you. It will take your cross-country touring to a whole new level.

What do you mean, “motorcycle trailer”?

If you go to google and type in motorcycle trailer you’re going to get one of two results: first, you might find a trailer that you’d pull behind a truck or suv. You know, a trailer to carry a motorcycle. The other option you’d have would be trailer that attaches to a motorcycle. In my next couple of posts I’ll feature an example of the coolest version of each type. Today we’ll look at the trailer you’d load your favorite bike on for a cross-country trip (you don’t want to put unnecessary miles on it right?).

One of the best examples of a motorcycle trailer I could find is the Diamond Deck. As you can see in the pictures, it’s versatile. It can carry up to three dirt bikes if they’re narrow enough; or you could pull a full-sized Honda Gold Wing. I’m not sure why you’d want to though. More about that tomorrow.

The Diamond Deck comes with a 2,200 pound gross weight rating, 12″ sport wheels, and up to three motorcycle rails to keep your bikes stable. The base price is $1,495 for the tent trailers with two rails, and a center rail will run you an extra $125.00. If you’re at all close to the manufacturer you might consider a road trip to pick it up because freight will be between $250 and $350.

Bottom line, this trailer is a great value for everything it can do for you. Learn more about it here.

Trailer Innovators

We have tons of respect for anyone that innovates and creates their own trailer. Hitch up a home-built trailer to your station wagon for a family weekend? Sounds great to me. Michael Boyink put a lot of tlc into this Bantam trailer. He restored it from a rusted relic to a family favorite. It may be old, but it connects to a standard trailer hitch — light enough to pull behind any family vehicle. Check out some pictures from his collection or learn more about what he’s done at his site here.

Michael has added some really cool trailer accessories to his creation including a bike rack and a shelf system to hold camping supplies.

Here’s another creative soul who thought built a trailer you can hitch to your bike. It’s a lightweight, simply constructed design made of bamboo. Pretty cool, and very duplicatable. Here are a couple of pictures to illustrate:

The creator of the bamboo hauler lives in the UK and she’ll give you the plans to build your own. She just asks that you post on her blog what you did with the plans. Pretty generous of her right? Check it out here. Anyway, if you’re a person that likes trailer hitches in all their forms, you should appreciate these two examples of creativity.

Squirley Trailers and Trailer Hitches

A good friend of mine just moved to town today, and I had the privilege of helping him unload his trailer. He had pulled one of the larger U-Haul trailers behind his F-150, and he had that thing stuffed to the gills. I asked him how the ride was, and he said that the truck didn’t have any problems towing up the hills, but that the trailer was very squirley and jerked his truck around the whole way. Then, when the trailer was empty, we took it back to the shop, and i was amazed at how jerky the ride was–even empty.

That jerky trip with an empty trailer really got me thinking about trailer hitch products that are out there that could have made his ride a lot more smoother. Mark’s post the other day about air ride trailer hitch systems and their air-bag designs came immediately to mind, as did anti-sway bars and friction devices. His truck would have probably handled better when the trailer was fully loaded if he had a weight distributing trailer hitch, but that wouldn’t have helped our ride much with the empty trailer. My friend doesn’t tow a lot, so he can probably get by with just his standard Class III trailer hitch on his truck, but for those of us that have a trailer attached to our hitch more often than not, these trailer hitch accessories can really be life savers.

How Much Can You Tow?

How much can you tow? Do you regularly hitch up a utility trailer full of tools? Are you hauling horses and other livestock? Or do you just need to pull your boat to the lake a few weekends of the year? Whatever you’re using your trailer hitch for, you need to make sure your towing needs and towing capacity match; your safety and the safety of others on the road around you depend on it.

Many factors contribute to a vehicle’s towing capacity: axle ratio, transmission configuration (whether it is rear or front wheel drive), tire and suspension load ratings, engine cooling equipment, type of brakes, etc. As you might expect, full size trucks, have, by class the highest towing capacity. Topping the list of heavy haulers is the 2008 Ford F450 with a whopping 24,000 lbs of towing capacity. That’s huge! In fact, it’s a full size back hoe (without a trailer). Also impressive is the the Nissan Armada (in the full size SUV class) with a 9,000 lb capacity. But the real shocker is the Hyundai Elantra, member of the compact sedan class, which checks in at 3,086 lbs towing capacity if the trailer is equipped with brakes, and 1,000 lbs for a trailer with no brakes. That’s the same or more towing power in a budget-priced compact that you will find in many more expensive full size sedans!

So, how much can you tow? Well, your vehicle’s towing capacity is listed with other manufacturer’s specs in your owner’s manual. There you will find at least two numbers relating to towing capacity; these are the gross trailer weight capacity (the weight of the trailer fully loaded) and ball weight capacity, (the amount of weight the trailer puts on your hitch ball). These numbers are pretty important as far as your safety and the safety of the drivers around you. A vehicle towing a trailer that is too heavy or improperly loaded will not have the steering or braking control necessary to operate safely. Please take the steps necessary to ensure you are towing safely.

You can (and should) measure your gross trailer weight on a commercial scale (check the yellow pages to find one locally). Make sure you have your trailer loaded as you normally would before weighing it. Drive the trailer completely on the scale, unhitch it and make sure the jockey wheel and all trailer wheels are on the scale. This gives you your gross trailer weight or GTW. Ball weight capacity, also known as tongue weight, or the amount of weight on your hitch ball can be measured by a special scale made for this purpose (Sherline is one manufacturer of a tongue weight scale (http://www.sherline.com/lm.htm)). It can also be measured on a commercial scale; to do this, drive the trailer to the scale so just the hitch part is over the scale. Unhitch the trailer, and check the weight with just the jockey wheel on the scale. Again, you want your trailer fully loaded when you weigh it.

Obviously, if your GTW is too high, your trailer is too heavy to be safely towed by your vehicle. You can imagine the potential problems of braking and/or pulling the load up hill. The problems with too much tongue weight are a little less obvious though. If your ball weight is too high, the trailer will weigh down the back end of your vehicle, raising the front end. This is particularly bad if your vehicle is front wheel drive, but steering and braking will suffer even on a rear wheel drive vehicle.

If your tongue weight is too high, but the total weight is okay, you may just need to reload your trailer. The weight that must be supported by the tongue is anything in front of the front axle of your trailer. Moving cargo back behind that front axle should lower your tongue weight. Remember, even if your GTW is well below your towing capacity, you only want 10-15% of your total weight to be on the tongue. If you cannot change your tongue weight, then you need to look into a weight distributing hitch which will distribute the weight of your trailer over both axles of your vehicle.

So, how much can you tow? Whether it’s horses or snowmobiles, find your gross towing capacity and your ball weight capacity in your vehicle’s owner’s manual, keep your tongue weight at 10-15% of your total weight, and be safe on the road.