BC+WDH=good deal?

[bryan]

Just a little heads up for the BC members of the forum who might be considering a WDH. I have yet to tow my 17b trailer with my Tacoma and was sitting on the fence as to if I should get a WDH. I walked into my local Lordco store and inquired about what hitches they may have available. Anyhow it seems they are having a sale on the Curt brand of WDH and at $175 it seemed like a great chance to try one out. I'm sure if I decide I don't need one I can sell it and cover my costs.

Anyhow, its the round bar style and comes in 600,800 and 1,000 lbs tongue weights and all of them are priced at $175. I did a quick Amazon price check and it seems that MRSP is in the mid-400 range and sells for about$250. Lordco wanted $375 on my normal discount pricing.

Its their trade show month so they have a ton of stuff on sale. I also picked up some Dynamat(sound damper material) for my truck and it was about 75% off the reg pricing.

[santacruzer]

I tow my 17B without a WDH with my Tacoma, and so far it seems very manageable. I have the '09 TRD double cab with the tow package, and I did have the rear springs replaced when Toyota did a Service Bulletin announcement a couple of years ago.

I'm still wondering, however, if it might even tow better with a WDH. As son as I can get to one of those CAT scales I'm going to get some front axle weights with and without the trailer hooked up.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by santacruzer

I have the '09 TRD double cab...

As son as I can get to one of those CAT scales I'm going to get some front axle weights with and without the trailer hooked up.

I always encourage people to check their weight, but in this case you might not need a scale... as long as you know the tongue weight and have a tape measure.

1. Measure from the rear axle line to the ball, and divide that number by the wheelbase; for instance, the distance to the ball might be about 50" or 1300 mm, and the wheelbase will be 140.9" or 3,579 mm if it is a long-box, giving about 0.36 or 36%
2. Multiply the tongue weight by that fraction, and that's how much load will be taken off the front axle; for instance, 36% of a 300 pound (136 kg) tongue weight is 108 pounds (49 kg).

It's a leverage thing: the rear axle is the pivot point, and the ball and front axle are the two ends of the lever.

You need an idea of the front axle load to put this in perspective, and you do need a scale for that (although it's going to be something around 3000 lb), but you can calculate the change.