The owner of our trailer (the Wisconsin one) suggests we tow with weight distribution and says "he has the chains for it". Sounds good to me, but...what does weight distribution mean and what do we need to have? Check out pictures of our trailer at my photo album if that helps. There's one with the front hitch thingy and the chains.
Soon I will have *smart* airstream questions to ask! Like, where's the beer?
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ingrid
1967 24' Tradewind #19104 ~ Forums #4449
Weight distribution bars attach between the tounge and the hitch on your truck, and transfer the load so it's not all weighing on the ball of your truck. Without WD the truck will sit lower in back. With WD it should lower the same amount front and back. Heavy rigs without WD can put too much weight on the back of the truck, and take weight off the front, decreasing your steering effectiveness. We use it on our Caravel because I felt it made for a smoother, more controlled ride as well.
You need to decide what kind of hitch you want to use, a Reese, Equalizer, EZLift, etc. Reese Dual Cam is supposed to be very good. Shopping for hitches will absolutly make your head spin! Start searching the forums, and good luck!
go to this site, click on the "info" tab, and select the section on "weight distribution". pretty good explanation there.
imagine a trailer hooked up to your tow vehicle. then attach a set of wheel-barrow handles to your truck's bumper, straddle the trailer's tounge, and lift up the wheel-barrow handles. (you have Superman's strenght in this scenario ) what happens? some weight is shifted to the front axle of the truck, and some to the trailer's axles.
what have you got for a tow vehicle now? it'll need a receiver hitch bolted to its frame, trailer wiring, a brake controller....then you'll need a ball mount that is specific to the type of weight distribution setup that you get for the trailer, and an adjustable draw bar so you can adjust the height of the ball mount.
When you drop the trailer coupler on the hitch ball, the tongue weight is placed on the tow vehicle rear axle. However, being behind the rear axle, that tongue weight also leverages weight OFF the tow vehicle front axle onto the tow vehicle rear axle, which is now carrying even more than the tongue weight.
A weight distributing hitch has a special head into which you insert spring bars. These are like putting wheelbarrow handles on the rear of the tow vehicle. The ends of the spring bars are then connected to the trailer tongue by chains, etc, under tension, which lifts the rear of the tow vehicle, putting weight back on its front axle. The chains are like the arms of someone standing on the trailer tongue, pulling up on the spring bars/wheelbarrow handles.
Ideally, you want to put as much weight back on it as was taken off, and usually a little more, part of the tongue weight. In the process of doing this, a little of the tongue weight is actually transmitted back to the trailer axles.
OK, looks like it's time to ask hubby what kind of hitch we have...we got this one from U-Haul, that's all I know, and it's rated 6 or 8 something...does that tell you anything?
exasperated by knowing nothing,
ingrid
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ingrid
1967 24' Tradewind #19104 ~ Forums #4449
Once you have the coupler on the ball and latched, use the tongue jack to lift the tongue and the rear of the tow vehicle high. Besides making sure the coupler is on the ball properly this puts the rig in an inverted v and moves the spring bars up close to the trailer tongue. You hook up the chain when the rig is like this, then lower the tongue and fully retract the tongue jack. The chains will be under tension at this time.
There's MUCH more to adjusting a weight distributing hitch, both the height and tilt of the head, as well as the weight tension. But it's getting late. If someone doesn't do it before tomorrow, I'll try to get back and explain it.
John HD, THANKS. Pictures help a lot, I don't know the terminology. "Trunnion" to me sounds like a genetically engineered onion. I pm'd you a thank you too.
RKM, any more explanations will help. That means we have to buy one of those fork-looking devices? Or did we get one with the thingy we have on the back of the truck. I should take pictures of what we have and get more info and post it here. Give me something else to do besides stare at a map of the US.
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ingrid
1967 24' Tradewind #19104 ~ Forums #4449
Got kindofa dumb question, if the trailer does not lower the rear end of the vehicle - in other words has a pretty lite tong, is there a need for equalizer bars? I've always thought yes and no - yes because the bars do tend to reduce sway, and no because the purpose of the bars is to bring up the rear. What do you all think?
I use one on the 68 Caravel because it makes the whole system more stable. Distributes not just the static weight but the dynamic weight of starts, stops and bumps. At least that's my impression. Bringing the 59 back from NC the tongue was so light you could pick it up, no jack needed. Yet the hitch improved handling. It also put some load on the hitch ball that wasn't there. I think a large part of the handling improvement is the weight increase to the front wheels. I the case of the 59 taking it from the rear axel. Of course you run the risk of the rear end of the trunk wanting to pass the front if they lock up. I have ABS so not a major worry. Throwing some of the rear axel weight to the trailer wheels on a lighten trailer is likly a good thing as well. No??
__________________ Let those who can play, let those who cann't rule.
Pictures of what we have on our tow vehicle, 2001 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4. Husband says it's basically a Z-71 except for the sticker on the side, with all the upgrades he got, whatever that means, if it helps...
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ingrid
1967 24' Tradewind #19104 ~ Forums #4449
looks like your reciever is in good order. except for brake wiring.
you will need everything that i posted in the previous photo.
they include:
drawbar
trunnion
bars w/chains
brackets
bolts
ball, email rick. i believe it has a 2" coupler. double check to be sure.
brake controller for truck and jumper harness.
don't panic if you don't have all of it before you arrive, all of it can be had locally. but be aware it might add half a day to your return trip if you need to get these items here in wisc.
john
ps, be aware we haven't even looked a sway control yet!
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you call them ferrets, i call them weasels.
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) what happens? some weight is shifted to the front axle of the truck, and some to the trailer's axles. 
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