Weight distribution and anti sway equipment?

[out of sight]

OK kiddies. Everyone who thinks they can safely tow a 13,000 lb trailer with an F-150, raise your hands.

[out of sight]

Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle

Indeed the max tongue weight is 500# / 5000# without WDH. With WDH it depends on the pacakages selected, but can be as high as 13,200# trailer and 1400# tongue weight.

WDH has to be setup correctly and yes, you can transfer too much weight and it can be dangerous.

I will bet you that the cause of this accident was not out of control sway. Unless something broke or the hitch failed, with a Hensley there cannot be sway.
WW

Probably true. Sway didn't cause the jackknifing. Probably a hard turn or swerve caused it. Note that the Hensley hitch is one of the worst hitches out there for avoiding a jackknife incident. The reasons are the extended distance from the tow vehicle axle to the trailer center of gravity, the 200 lb weight located far from the trailer center of gravity, and of course the infamous Hensley Bump.

[kscherzi]

Originally Posted by out of sight

OK kiddies. Everyone who thinks they can safely tow a 13,000 lb trailer with an F-150, raise your hands.

Or the same trailer with a F250 on the ball. Nobody except a fool.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by out of sight

Probably true. Sway didn't cause the jackknifing. Probably a hard turn or swerve caused it. Note that the Hensley hitch is one of the worst hitches out there for avoiding a jackknife incident. The reasons are the extended distance from the tow vehicle axle to the trailer center of gravity, the 200 lb weight located far from the trailer center of gravity, and of course the infamous Hensley Bump.

We all can tell how weight obsessed you & your cohort are, where is your proof of how well balanced you are?
Well balanced may not be the best choice of words.

Think actual weights...👍

Bob
🇺🇸

[Dan and Liz]

“There’s a very narrow window of application we’re the WDH actually improves handling. Engineering types know it but the general public ignores it completely. The fact is if drive slow enough you can tip toe around the this country for thousands of miles in a neutral/oversteer state and never have a issue. The SAE has proven the minimal use of the WDH torque is indeed safer, like it or not.”

I interpret “Minimal use of the WDH torque” to equate to “a properly adjusted WDH hitch.” And I like it.

I believe I’ll go with SAE, NATM, NATDA, etc. who all recommend a WDH as the trailer/TV weight ratio nears 1:1. Other than that, the graph is real nice for tow-on-the-ball guys.

[out of sight]

Better still, keep your trailer/tow vehicle weight ratio below 1:1.

[Dan and Liz]

Originally Posted by out of sight

Better still, keep your trailer/tow vehicle weight ratio below 1:1.

No, I believe what I said was, I’m going with everyone else’s advice, not yours.

Warm regards,

Dan

[Fair_Enough]

My hand was up.

What does the Arrow® do? It eliminates any possibility of trailer sway. That’s not a misprint or an exaggeration. It is physically impossible for a travel trailer to sway, fishtail, or jackknife when outfitted with the Hensley Arrow®.

If anyone has more than opinion about the Hensley being one of the worst hitches regarding jackknifing, please present it.
WW

[out of sight]

I think most people would agree that you can't safely tow a 13,000 lb trailer with a 5000 lb F-150, at least not at highway speeds and certainly not comfortably. The sad thing is that the SAE towing standard, to which most vehicle manufacturers subscribe, allow this claim to be advertised in the manufacturers literature. Apparently the tests that they put these vehicles through are not very stringent. Let's see them conduct these tests at 80 mph which is the highest speed limit in the US.

Manufacturers would actually stand to gain by de-rating their vehicles. If every manufacturer was on board it would result in forcing people to buy larger and more expensive tow vehicles.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by out of sight

I think most people would agree that you can't safely tow a 13,000 lb trailer with a 5000 lb F-150, at least not at highway speeds and certainly not comfortably. The sad thing is that the SAE towing standard, to which most vehicle manufacturers subscribe, allow this claim to be advertised in the manufacturers literature. Apparently the tests that they put these vehicles through are not very stringent. Let's see them conduct these tests at 80 mph which is the highest speed limit in the US.

Manufacturers would actually stand to gain by de-rating their vehicles. If every manufacturer was on board it would result in forcing people to buy larger and more expensive tow vehicles.

I think most people would agree that this is a nonsensical strawman, since the issue at hand has nothing to do with 13,000-lb trailers. If your Airstream trailer is 13k lb, you have bigger problems.

[kscherzi]

Originally Posted by out of sight

I think most people would agree that you can't safely tow a 13,000 lb trailer with a 5000 lb F-150, at least not at highway speeds and certainly not comfortably. The sad thing is that the SAE towing standard, to which most vehicle manufacturers subscribe, allow this claim to be advertised in the manufacturers literature. Apparently the tests that they put these vehicles through are not very stringent. Let's see them conduct these tests at 80 mph which is the highest speed limit in the US.

Manufacturers would actually stand to gain by de-rating their vehicles. If every manufacturer was on board it would result in forcing people to buy larger and more expensive tow vehicles.

I expect you'll now tell us that the smart way is to pull the above 13,000 lb trailer with a heavy duty truck, like your 7,500 lb Ram 2500, but only on the ball at 80 mph.

[out of sight]

Not really. To safely pull a 13,000 lb trailer at 80 MPH you need at least a 13,000 lb tow vehicle.

[Dan and Liz]

Not good grief — exceptional excellent grief.

[TheBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by out of sight

A weight distribution hitch is only used if the tongue weight of the trailer causes the rear axle of the tow vehicle to become overloaded. In your case you are well within the specs of the manufacturer so there would be no benefit to using a wd hitch.

Thank You! I'll take your advice and keep towing on the ball. I have not seen sway as a problem to date. But....... - Dr. T.

[TheBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

If the "factory tow package" includes a brake controller and a 7 pin connector, you are good to go. If for some reason it does not .... you need some upgrades.

WD wise, the Basecamp is a pretty small trailer. Unless your Tahoe is loaded right at the limits (which does happen) you probably can do without. Indeed some fun at the local CAT scale is the only real way to answer the question.

Bob

Uncle Bob your were right. I definitely needed "some upgrades." I risk sounding like and idiot when I admit I didn't think twice when the dealer said as long as I had the 7 pin connector I was good to go. I had a much needed break controller installed today. I didn't notice that all summer I was running around with no trailer breaks. It became snowy here in the Midwest and breaking didn't feel right. Definite dangerous situation resolved today with input from airforums.


Thanks.


- Dr. T.