What's The True Value of A WDH?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Centex

1. Headlight Aim - If you tow at night as I often do, use of a WDH is about the only way to maintain proper headlight aim. Air-bags and other rear-boosters can reduce rear-squat but don't serve to 'level' the TV in the way that a WDH does because they don't transfer the tongue weight to the front of the TV nearly as effectively as a WDH.

Some vehicles (but none of mine) have manually or automatically leveled headlights; in that case, leveling the vehicle is not required for proper headlight aim.

WD doesn't transfer tongue weight - it transfers rear axle load to the front axle and to the trailer axle. the attitude of the vehicle with the trailer and with WD applied should still be lower in the back than without the trailer, but not by as much as without using WD.

Air bags in the rear suspension don't transfer load to the tow vehicle's front axle at all, but can bring the back right back up to unloaded height if desired. And air suspension at both front and rear - an available factory option for some vehicles - allows leveling despite the front axle load change due to the trailer.

[cpaharley2008]

And air suspension at both front and rear - an available factory option for some vehicles - allows leveling despite the front axle load change due to the trailer.
Brian, does not leveling shift the load? I'm picturing a wheel barrow with all the weight in the rear and once leveled, the load has shift somewhat to the front?

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Air bags in the rear suspension don't transfer load to the tow vehicle's front axle at all, but can bring the back right back up to unloaded height if desired.

This is something basic that I wish more people understood. Air bags don't do a thing to distribute weight. (Also, they don't change the towing capacity, payload capacity, or max tongue weight of your tow vehicle.)

[Bear101]

Originally Posted by George Johnson

I'm the happy second owner of a 2009 Escape 19. The trailer came complete with a Husky Weight Distributing Hitch. While I have towed numerous utility trailers before, and hauled a variety of loads, this is my first experience with a WDH.

I live in a rural agricultural and recreational area so I also see a lot of trailers on the roads, and I can't help but notice that I only see WDHs on some recreational travel trailers, and those generally are confined to the larger (24' plus) trailers. So what am I missing here? I have a supplemental air bag suspension system on my truck which I can use to level the tv/trailer combo (and which I do not use when using the WDH). The WDH is heavy (haven't weighed it but it's probably 50 lbs), it substantially reduces ground clearance when crossing dips at gas stations and parking lots and causes a rougher ride for the passengers in the cab of the tv.

So long as I keep the weight distribution properly biased to the front of the trailer, which I am very careful of (there's a story there), is there any real advantage to the WDH when towing a small light trailer such as my E 19?

Your thoughts would be most welcome.

Hello
We tow our 19 without any WDH. We have a Lexus GX which has a leveling system and we have had no problems since we purchased the 19 new in 2017. I really enjoy the ride towing with the GX.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

... Air bags in the rear suspension don't transfer load to the tow vehicle's front axle at all, ....

Originally Posted by rbryan4

This is something basic that I wish more people understood. Air bags don't do a thing to distribute weight. ....

I'll respectfully disagree with both gentlemen when discussing rear-axle air bags.

For any given rigid mass supported on four corner springs bearing on a level surface, raising the height of any corner of the mass increases the static downforce on the diagonally opposite corner (weight is transferred). Raising the height of both rear corners increases the static downforce on both front corners (rear-to-front weight transfer). This weight transfer can be observed and measured using independent wheel scales as are employed in race-car suspension tuning rigs.

As the 'attitude' of a mass relative to a level line becomes steeper rear to front downward, weight is transferred to the front, all other things being equal. The 'attitude' of the mass bears on weight distribution, as readily perceived by the wheelbarrow / two-wheeled cart analogy when one lifts the handles to extreme height.

While the real-world degree of this weight transfer and associated 'attitude' change is slight in comparison to use of a WDH to effect weight transfer, the phenomenon and its physics are real, and well-understood by those practiced in the science of race-vehicle suspension tuning / cornerweighting.

[Sandra L]

Originally Posted by George Johnson

I'm the happy second owner of a 2009 Escape 19. The trailer came complete with a Husky Weight Distributing Hitch. While I have towed numerous utility trailers before, and hauled a variety of loads, this is my first experience with a WDH.

I live in a rural agricultural and recreational area so I also see a lot of trailers on the roads, and I can't help but notice that I only see WDHs on some recreational travel trailers, and those generally are confined to the larger (24' plus) trailers. So what am I missing here? I have a supplemental air bag suspension system on my truck which I can use to level the tv/trailer combo (and which I do not use when using the WDH). The WDH is heavy (haven't weighed it but it's probably 50 lbs), it substantially reduces ground clearance when crossing dips at gas stations and parking lots and causes a rougher ride for the passengers in the cab of the tv.

So long as I keep the weight distribution properly biased to the front of the trailer, which I am very careful of (there's a story there), is there any real advantage to the WDH when towing a small light trailer such as my E 19?

Your thoughts would be most welcome.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my Escape provided WDH (2009) added stability when towing my 17B . I was not buffeted by large passing commercial trucks, as like I am when not towing.