Reese hitch bar weight rating?

[Mastermarx]

Hey there. I've been towing my 30' classic with the PO Reese hitch. It's probably an early 2000 year hitch. It is your typical round bar weight distributing hitch. However, after years of painting and repainting, I'm not sure if there is any weight rating info or serial number stamped anywhere on these hitches. Where would that usually be located? Basically, I'm trying to figure out what weight the hitch bars were originally rated for.
I will call Reese, too, but figured on checking in here.
Thanks!

[ROBERT CROSS]

The rating of the 'hitch' bars, (WD?) is determined by how much weight needs to be transferred, not on receiver design.

If you have a round bar receiver I would highly recommend you consider replacement.....cheep insurance.

Bob

[paiceman]

I don't believe there is a way for Reese to tell you what weight bars you have over the phone. I would suggest you take Robert Cross advice and switch to a newer hitch and system and have it set up by a pro. In that way you will be set up correctly and have the correct weight bars.

[n2916s]

How is it towing? Is the trailer level? When you engage the bars is the height of the front fenders restored to what it was before you hooked up the trailer?

If the system is working, there is no need to replace it.

My Reese is older than yours and it works just fine.

Mike

[Mastermarx]

Originally Posted by n2916s

How is it towing? Is the trailer level? When you engage the bars is the height of the front fenders restored to what it was before you hooked up the trailer?

If the system is working, there is no need to replace it.

My Reese is older than yours and it works just fine.

Mike

We've been towing with the system okay, occasional light sway on super windy days, but I haven't been tightening the chains on the bars too tight and I the weight is not currently evenly transferring to the front. It was originally setup at the dealer with our old truck (03 diesel excursion), and now we tow with an F150 ecoboost. That's what we are trying to setup with.

The tongue weight on the AS is about 800, and I'm averaging about a 4" drop on the hitch when attaching the trailer. The Reese allows for tilting the head via washers to pull the WD bars closer to the ground, and I believe ours is already set to the max at 7 washers. I'm not sure about tightening the bars too much, because am not certain of the weight rating, but I've got to get the weight better distributed towards the front.

[tjdonahoe]

I still use a reese with my car trailer that I bought new in 1975, and with many miles it is still good. If yours is is still working good and no breaks use it...

[featherbedder]

I have info for sq. bars as they are rated by diam. as to weight they are, you can google up Andy at Inland rv, he is very up on things.

[ROBERT CROSS]

....are we talk'n the receiver on the TV or WD hitch?

Round bar receiver? I still stand by, replace.



Bob

[wvstreamer]

Sounds like you need to tighten the bars a bit more...maybe one link at a time. I have the dual cam Reese and it takes a lot of trial and error to get it really right when switching tow vehicles. When you do you'll know it and it will do great.
Dave

[streamintrip]

Are you talking about the RECEIVER or the spring bars? Spring bars are usually classified as round bar or trunnion. As has been stated above the RECEIVER,which bolts onto the TV can also have a 'round bar' construction, but I believe they are not rated very highly. We have a Reese Strait Line Round Bar WD hitch with 1,000# spring bars. The bar rating is stamped into the metal at the rear of the bar. As has also been stated above, getting the setup right usually takes some trial and error, but once you invest that time, you're pretty well set unless you make some pretty big changes in the trailer loading. The setup is critical to safe towing.

[featherbedder]

Originally Posted by jrolls

Are you talking about the RECEIVER or the spring bars? Spring bars are usually classified as round bar or trunnion. As has been stated above the RECEIVER,which bolts onto the TV can also have a 'round bar' construction, but I believe they are not rated very highly. We have a Reese Strait Line Round Bar WD hitch with 1,000# spring bars. The bar rating is stamped into the metal at the rear of the bar. As has also been stated above, getting the setup right usually takes some trial and error, but once you invest that time, you're pretty well set unless you make some pretty big changes in the trailer loading. The setup is critical to safe towing.

Reese did not stamp rating in bars until recently.

[streamintrip]

I am not sure what 'recently' means as these bars date from 2001 when we bought our 2nd Airstream, a 2000 Classic 28.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Mastermarx

The tongue weight on the AS is about 800, and I'm averaging about a 4" drop on the hitch when attaching the trailer. The Reese allows for tilting the head via washers to pull the WD bars closer to the ground, and I believe ours is already set to the max at 7 washers. I'm not sure about tightening the bars too much, because am not certain of the weight rating, but I've got to get the weight better distributed towards the front.

Sounds to me like the top of ball height is not set correctly. It should be at least 1" higher than the trailer coupler. Measure each vehicle separately, when the vehicles are setting on a level surface.

While measuring the ball height, also measure height of the front fender well of the truck at the center of the wheel. Attach the trailer then increase tension of the bars until the measurement at the front wheel well returns to the unloaded height. That should be the proper tension to transfer load correctly.

There should be a section in your tow vehicle's Owners Manual that gives some instruction.

Other that what I've said, the best thing to do is go to a scale and weigh. Otherwise you are just guessing.

add edit:
The object of tilting the hitch head downward is to keep the bars low enough that they can be tensioned, but high enough to have plenty of ground clearance. The target of adjustment of the tilt should result in the bars being approximately parallel to the trailer frame when they are fully tensioned to transfer the load.