I guess I'm spoiled

[CharlesinGA]

Read the owners manual. As previously mentioned, many vehicles have max tongue weights that are limited without weight distribution. On my RAM 2500 its 500 lbs max, and 1000 lbs with weight distribution. The owners manual should explain this, or the separate Ford towing guide for the year of the tow vehicle.

WDH helps a lot with porporsing or chucking such as crossing RR tracks and other road irregularities.

Many SUV's come with P series tires and they have soft sidewalls. It might tow a lot better to have a tire with a stiffer sidewall. In any case the rear tires may need to be inflated to near the max on the tire sidewall.

Trailers with torsion axles such as Escape and Airstream need to be as near level as possible when towing. The two axles function independently of each other and nose high will put more load on the rear axle and less on the front, which will increase tongue weight (and help prevent sway) while nose low will leave the trailer on the front axle and the rear axle skipping along with less load on it and making for more sway possiblilities. This is true of leaf spring axles with equalizers but (personal opinion here) to a lesser degree. Axles with equalizers and leaf springs still have some interconnection, while torsion axles are TOTALLY independent of each other.

The big deal with torsion axles being level is you are putting a lot of wear and load on the elastomer in one of them, with leaf springs and equalizers you are not significantly overloading or harming the springs.

This video helps somewhat I do wish he had used a dual torsion axle for the demonstration.

Charles

[Mark B1]

I read the owners manual, and the trailer hauling manual, and I am aware that Ford says you don't need a WDH. I have towed trailers and equipment of all sizes. The reality is that if you don't use a WDH on the Explorer, the back end settles down more than the front, especially if you have much cargo in the TV. This results in a lighter front end which in turn can compromise handling in rough conditions or quick movements. Yes, you can tow without the WDH and if you are always cautious and take it easy on rough roads, and if you don't get caught in crazy traffic having to make quick avoidance moves, but in reality why not improve the handling with a WDH witch keeps the required load on the front end of the TV and improves safety? It is not expensive in the overall cost of owning the TV and trailer.

[SeldomSeen]

I decided to go with the Andersen WDH. I just didn't like the way the E19 felt behind the Explorer. My son said it was the same with the pop-up he rented last year, so that really helped with the decision.

His first towing experience was with our E150 towing a pop-up. Then in college he drove landscaping trailers around. Neither of us are experts. But we are hoping that the Andersen helps with the bounce and jiggle. He doesn't need it until August, so....stay tuned if you want to hear the end of the story.

Glenn

[KellyDellar]

Originally Posted by woodentoy

I've towed my E19 over 13,000 miles in the past year with a 2021 Subaru Ascent. No issues whatsoever.

Are you still towing your E19 with your Ascent? How much do you think the 19 weighs loaded? Thank you.

[woodentoy]

We're over 20,000 now and no problems whatsoever. I had the transmission fluid changed at 25,000 as recommended.

[KellyDellar]

Originally Posted by woodentoy

We're over 20,000 now and no problems whatsoever. I had the transmission fluid changed at 25,000 as recommended.

That’s awesome! What year is your E19? What mpg do you average towing? TY

[woodentoy]

Our E19 is a 22 and we average a little under 16MPG towing. I figure the the trailer loaded is between 4200-4300 lbs.

[KellyDellar]

That’s about the mpg I was figuring. Have you taken it over mountain passes? Great to hear the ascent is doing fine with the 19.

[woodentoy]

Not many mountains here in the East but on our hills of 4,000 feet or less it does well. I don't push it and the rpm rarely go over 3,000. We're heading out West next year and don't anticipate any problems.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by Escape_19

Dave, do you give a thumbs up to the Anderson hitch? It's a bit expensive but I think it may be worth it. What are your thought?

I'm 50 miles away from LaCrosse, in Lanesboro, and have an Andersen hitch that I bought used, but never installed. If you're interested I'd let it go for $150. If interested PM me for my phone #.

Food for thought,

Perry

[Perry Butler]

Nobody needs sway control, until they encounter the perfect storm. Terry was driving our F150 pulling our 25' Cougar in Wyoming. We had just passed an exit, but when approaching the bridge underpass the trailer hit a vortex and massively swayed. In a heartbeat, I quickly reached over and squeezed the trailer brake controller to straighten out the trailer. I'm guessing in another second or two we would have flipped. Even with the Blue Ox hitch the trailer went into a severe sway. Would the Blue Ox hitch have made a difference? We'll never know. I wasn't going to wait to find out.

Living on I 94 for 19 years I saw at least one flipped camper a year, many with weight/sway control hitches, most the Equalizer style. One time, on the way to Fargo we saw 5-10 flipped campers/trailer/semi's. The wind from Rothsay to Fargo can be brutal! However, I've seen many of these hitches improperly adjusted, with many not even close to having a level camper.

Just because you have 12-15% of the trailer weight on the tongue you still may encounter the perfect storm. Even a F450 doesn't prevent sway, since sway is from the ball back.

Food for thought,

Perry

[KellyDellar]

Originally Posted by woodentoy

Not many mountains here in the East but on our hills of 4,000 feet or less it does well. I don't push it and the rpm rarely go over 3,000. We're heading out West next year and don't anticipate any problems.

Thanks for the info. Hope you enjoy the west next year!

[KellyDellar]

Originally Posted by woodentoy

I've towed my E19 over 13,000 miles in the past year with a 2021 Subaru Ascent. No issues whatsoever.

You’re my hero! Are you still towing with your Ascent? What areas of the country? Average mpg? Thank you!

[BobG]

Perry, can you point me to a test or study that documents how effective a sway bar added to a ball hitch is at controlling sway?

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by BobG

Perry, can you point me to a test or study that documents how effective a sway bar added to a ball hitch is at controlling sway?

If you have to ask that question why bother? Sway happens and anti-sway devices do work 99% of the time. Pick your poison.

Perry

[BobG]

In the past I have looked for tests and research on the subject of controlling sway. I have seen tests of different types of built in or retrofitted sway control that controls either the wheels on the tow vehicle or the trailer. The tests were run through obstacle course with the system turned on and turned off. The results impressed me. I have not been able to find similar testing of sway bar added to the ball hitch type coupling. I thought you might know of some.

I think there are a lot of tow vehicles that have built in trailer stability control. If the vehicle has ability to independently control power/braking to each wheel, then they can incorporate trailer stability control along with their ESC. From watching videos of testing the systems, it appears to me they work very well to stabilize the trailer going through an obstacle course. At least they keep the trailer wheels on the ground and the tow vehicle isn't being yanked around.

I would like to see similar testing of sway control bars but have not found any. By the way, I have seen sway induced accidents where weight distribution hitches were used and where sway control bars were used.

One thing about weight distribution hitches that bothers me is that pickups and SUVs are heavy on the front axle due to the engine up front and light on the rear axle. If the rear end of the tow vehicle is loaded to place equal amount of weight on front and rear axles, the vehicle may no longer be level. By using a weight distribution hitch to make the vehicle level, does that transfer more weight from the rear axle to the front axle? That doesn't sound good to me.

My owner's manual recommends adjusting the trailer load so that the maximum tongue weight allowed is placed on the ball. That is without a weight distribution hitch. I suppose this helps to even the weight out between the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle. I run with around 530 lbs on the tongue (21NE) and a few hundred lbs of gear in the back. This brings the rear axle of the tow vehicle to 250 lbs heavier than the front axle. The rear axle is still almost 900 lbs below allowable load.

[John Webb]

BobG, I have done a lot of Utube research on WDH hitches, but have very little real-world experience. There is a vlogger Who goes by, “Wandering Weekends”, that has done a lot of testing on WDH hitches. He did a very good job. Having said that, the trailers that He tows, tend to be larger, and definitely have different sway, and WDH attributes. In My case, I have ordered an E23, and I probably am going to go with the Andersen WDH. This particular hitch, seems like it works better on mid to smaller size trailers versus 35’ tow behinds. Just My 2 cents.

[BobG]

I am trying to learn. Pickups and SUVs are designed and manufactured to carry xxlbs of cargo. Empty, these vehicles are relatively heavy up front compared to the rear and are intended to carry quite a load in the back. They may squat some in the rear when that load is added but the vehicle performance is within the manufacturer's specifications. Their rear axles are rated for quite a bit more weight than the front axle.

In the case of towing a trailer the hitch load is dynamic as the trailer encounters bumps. Without a WDH the rear suspension of the tow vehicle is carrying that dynamic load. The result is that the tow vehicle is somewhat lively in the rear end with up and down motion when bumps are encountering. The rear suspension is carrying the load and doing what it is designed to do. A WDH can tame this movement and make the ride much smoother.

When adding this extra trailer weight to the tow vehicle it seems to me that that weight should be added to the lightly loaded rear axle so that the rear wheels get more traction and can better counteract sway or instability. I do not mean to say don't use a WDH but when people say to level the tow vehicle when adjusting the WDH, I wonder what is going on. Maybe that is proper, but it seems to me that if the tow vehicle is level, then there is more weight on the front axle than the rear axle. If this is the case, I don't think that is the best situation. It seems to me that when loaded, the tow vehicle should have more weight on the rear axle than the front axle. I also don't think that adding a trailer should unload the front axle by very much if any. Without a WDH, the front axle would probably be unloaded some but cargo in the tow vehicle would add weight back to the front axle.

So, I don't know what is going on nor do I know what is best but, in my mind, a WDH has the potential to unsafely unload the rear axle of the tow vehicle and people using a WDH should check what their axle loads are at different WDH settings and not just say "make it level".

[KellyDellar]

Sorry, I realized we already chatted. ��

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by BobG

I am trying to learn. Pickups and SUVs are designed and manufactured to carry xxlbs of cargo. Empty, these vehicles are relatively heavy up front compared to the rear and are intended to carry quite a load in the back. They may squat some in the rear when that load is added but the vehicle performance is within the manufacturer's specifications. Their rear axles are rated for quite a bit more weight than the front axle.

In the case of towing a trailer the hitch load is dynamic as the trailer encounters bumps. Without a WDH the rear suspension of the tow vehicle is carrying that dynamic load. The result is that the tow vehicle is somewhat lively in the rear end with up and down motion when bumps are encountering. The rear suspension is carrying the load and doing what it is designed to do. A WDH can tame this movement and make the ride much smoother.

When adding this extra trailer weight to the tow vehicle it seems to me that that weight should be added to the lightly loaded rear axle so that the rear wheels get more traction and can better counteract sway or instability. I do not mean to say don't use a WDH but when people say to level the tow vehicle when adjusting the WDH, I wonder what is going on. Maybe that is proper, but it seems to me that if the tow vehicle is level, then there is more weight on the front axle than the rear axle. If this is the case, I don't think that is the best situation. It seems to me that when loaded, the tow vehicle should have more weight on the rear axle than the front axle. I also don't think that adding a trailer should unload the front axle by very much if any. Without a WDH, the front axle would probably be unloaded some but cargo in the tow vehicle would add weight back to the front axle.

So, I don't know what is going on nor do I know what is best but, in my mind, a WDH has the potential to unsafely unload the rear axle of the tow vehicle and people using a WDH should check what their axle loads are at different WDH settings and not just say "make it level".

I can’t speak for all wdh manufacturers, but the ones I know about recommend measuring front fender height before and after the trailer is coupled and then adding weight distribution until you get half of that distance back. As far as towing a level trailer, that is solved by adjusting hitch height.