do i really need an equalizer hitch?

[Rossue]

When you get in wind- even with a 5300 lb SUV you benefit from a WDH.

[cpaharley2008]

Crossing the divide with BlackJack and Andersen hookup on way to Osoyoos, both truck and trailer were pushed one lane over by wind, we went over as one, not a pair. Very frightening...

[peaka]

Originally Posted by Rossue

When you get in wind- even with a 5300 lb SUV you benefit from a WDH.

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Crossing the divide with BlackJack and Andersen hookup on way to Osoyoos, both truck and trailer were pushed one lane over by wind, we went over as one, not a pair. Very frightening...

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Really helps, safety is the first.

[John David]

We have a 19 towed with an Xterra and the basic WD hitch. The headlights on an xterra are set high on the body and whenever we have any load in the back the lights raise and dine into oncoming cars. The WD hitch prevents this.

[The Quilting Lady]

Originally Posted by peaka

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and also new to trailers.
I have a pathfinder which has max tongue load 500lb.
and I'm getting a 17B with a storage box. My question is,
do i really need an equalizer hitch or the other 2 even more fancy options (Equalizer Hitch with Sway Control Bar / E2 Integrated Sway Control and Weight Distribution Hitch) ?
Anyone has experience with those things, any ideas will help?

Thanx!

For what it is worth,
I talked with a friend who pulls a travel trailer and asked his advice on this matter. He says he ought to know, he was a professional 18 wheel truck driver for over 20 years and had to deal with weight distribution. He says unless the weight of what you are pulling comes close to what your tow vehicle is rated to pull then you don't need one.

We used a sway bar on our Casita in the past and liked it.

[azjack]

In the middle of a trip I stopped and bought a WDH for the 17 Casita that was being towed by a F150 super crew and I have not been without one since.
Jack

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by azjack

In the middle of a trip I stopped and bought a WDH for the 17 Casita that was being towed by a F150 super crew and I have not been without one since.
Jack

I will be doing the same thing when we get our 21' next January.

What brand and model do you have?

When you are hitched up to your 21', do you have enough clearance to lower your tailgate?

[azjack]

With the Casita I bought a single bar hitch that was meant for a tent trailer or something similar. We now have the 21 and have been towing with the Jeep GC, but in the next few days we'll be leaving and towing with a Dodge Durango and using the
Andersen hitch.
Jack

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by The Quilting Lady

For what it is worth,
I talked with a friend who pulls a travel trailer and asked his advice on this matter. He says he ought to know, he was a professional 18 wheel truck driver for over 20 years and had to deal with weight distribution. He says unless the weight of what you are pulling comes close to what your tow vehicle is rated to pull then you don't need one.

I mean no disrespect to your friend, but I don't think any number of years towing 20-ton fifth-wheel semi-trailers with ten-ton tractors which are designed specifically for towing would provide anyone with any useful understanding either of weight-distributing hitches (which are not used in commercial towing, not used with large trailers, and not used with any size of fifth-wheel trailer), or of towing small trailers with passenger vehicles and pickup trucks.

One lesson of the trucking experience might be that for each axle there is a gross axle weight rating which must not be exceeded; that would be relevant since the purpose of a weight-distributing hitch is to reduce the load on the tow vehicle's rear axle. Unfortunately, the size of trailer which might lead to overloading of that rear axle is unrelated to the tow rating of the vehicle, so that tip is not valid. For many of our tow vehicles the tow rating is entirely a function of the drivetrain (engine, transmission, drive axles), so it has nothing to do with the factors that lead to the use of WD.

For illustration, pick any SUV or light truck that comes with a choice of engines. The tow rating will likely vary significantly between the engines, and even with the same engine it will often depend on a towing package consisting of a transmission fluid cooler. Selecting a bigger engine or a transmission cooler does not change the ability of the vehicle to handle hitch weight or to control a trailer, so they have no effect on the amount of tongue weight or size of trailer which requires equipment such as a WD hitch or sway control device.

If you want a single easy-to-follow guideline which is far more valid, try this: do what the owner's manual of your specific tow vehicle says.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by peaka

Anyone has experience with those things, any ideas will help?

Thanx!

Here is what I would do.
1. Buy and install the Pro Tow WDH.

2.Set up your hitch to tow level or slightly nose down

3. Use the money you save to buy a Sherline scale with 1,000 lb gauge.

4.Load your camper and weigh it.

5. Adjust your tongue weight to be 12 to 15 percent of the camper weight using the Sherline.

6. Take her out on the highway and run her up and down a few times and when nobody is around, jerk the wheel a couple of times. Might as well see what she'll do in a non crisis situation.
Just my opinion, as Donna says YMMV
Dave

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

"If you want a single easy-to-follow guideline which is far more valid, try this: do what the owner's manual of your specific tow vehicle says.

Exactly! The Owners Manual of our Ford Explorer gives a Tow Rating of 5000# "With Weight Distribution Hitch". We love the feeling of one unit connectivity too

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Here is what I would do.
1. Buy and install the Pro Tow WDH....

Dave, I assume that was intended to be "Pro Series WDH", the less expensive of Escape's options. Of course any other brand of basic two-bars-and-chains WDH would work the same way.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Exactly! The Owners Manual of our Ford Explorer gives a Tow Rating of 5000# "With Weight Distribution Hitch". We love the feeling of one unit connectivity too

Manuals typically also provide a trailer weight limit with weight-carrying hitch (or without weight distribution hitch). That gives the straightforward answer to whether or not the manufacturer says WD is needed.

This is what Ford actually says for the 2015 Explorer, on page 275 of the owner's manual:

For towing trailers up to 3500 pounds (1588 kilograms), use a weight-carrying hitch and ball. For towing trailers over 3500 pounds (1588 kilograms), up to the maximum trailer weight, we recommend you use a weight-distributing hitch.

So if you want a quick-and-dirty, rule-of-thumb answer to for what trailer to use WD with this particular tug (not the one the original poster is asking about), the answer is 3500 pounds. In Escape terms, that means the 19' and 21' models.

For the 2002 Pathfinder that the original poster has, the equivalent quick answer was given in post #15: WD is not required with any weight of trailer, although of course rear axle load must stay within its GAWR.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Dave, I assume that was intended to be "Pro Series WDH", the less expensive of Escape's options. Of course any other brand of basic two-bars-and-chains WDH would work the same way.

Yup, I have had too many similar phrases through my mind in the
Past 68 years and get them mixed up if I don't double check. I'm hanging 4 loose links with the Highlander and the Escape 19 with 14 inch tires. If dead level or the tongue slightly "up" with the ball on the hitch, flipping the tension yolks is easy (er) for me. When I'm feeling real good I can do it without the provided cheater. Nose down hard, not so much.
Thanks
Dave

[float5]

Originally Posted by The Quilting Lady

For what it is worth,
I talked with a friend who pulls a travel trailer and asked his advice on this matter. He says he ought to know, he was a professional 18 wheel truck driver for over 20 years and had to deal with weight distribution. He says unless the weight of what you are pulling comes close to what your tow vehicle is rated to pull then you don't need one.

We used a sway bar on our Casita in the past and liked it.

Nancy, yes, what he says is basically correct. So when someone has a great big powerful heavy truck that can tow nearly twice or more of the loaded weight of a small trailer, it is generally thought that a WDH is of little use.

Many, if not most, of those towing fiberglass trailers are doing so with small trucks or SUVs or other passenger vehicles that do not have very much weight or towing capacity in comparison to the load. So probably most of us can benefit from a WDH.

We do not have new numbers. Our old WDH numbers though have us transferring nearly 200 lbs. to the front of the tow vehicle and 100 lbs. back to the trailer, off of the tongue or off of the back of the tow vehicle. We consider that to make the towing situation more stable as it can affect the front wheels of the vehicle for the better.

[gbaglo]

Have to wonder what he would say if his truck was front-wheel-drive.

[sunrisetrucker]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I mean no disrespect to your friend, but I don't think any number of years towing 20-ton fifth-wheel semi-trailers with ten-ton tractors which are designed specifically for towing would provide anyone with any useful understanding either of weight-distributing hitches (which are not used in commercial towing, not used with large trailers, and not used with any size of fifth-wheel trailer), or of towing small trailers with passenger vehicles and pickup trucks.

Brian you said exactly what I was thinking

[float5]

Originally Posted by sunrisetrucker

Brian you said exactly what I was thinking

If you are taking issue with the trucker's comment, instead of simply knocking his experience that you may or may not have, either of you please explain.

He is saying, in effect, that you need a WDH when the weight you are pulling comes close to your tow vehicle capacity. That is what we most see in fiberglass situations, and hence, many use a WDH for that very reason. The fact there there are a number of possible considerations does not detract from his basically correct statement.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by float5

The fact there there are a number of possible considerations does not detract from his basically correct statement.

I read that he is dismissing WDH and I don't think he knows what he is talking about. Not going to ask him for financial or medical advice either.

[float5]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I read that he is dismissing WDH and I don't think he knows what he is talking about. Not going to ask him for financial or medical advice either.

Well, maybe so, but I did not take it that way because that is probably the majority of our situations, as he describes. That our weights are pretty close to towing capacity, so a WDH would be good. He would be right in our cases if you read how it applies to us.