Every person who has an t.v. trailer need's to see this video. Thank's for bringing attention to this VERY important fact .It's something that everyone should know, but, probably doesn't. Thanks for the information, and bringing it back to light. Great video. This information comes with every hitch, ,,but, who reads that , we all should, but don't.
Great video. We have a single axle camper and people look at me like a have 3 heads when I say I don’t run a weight distribution hitch. The marketing for these hitches has made people think it is irresponsible or unsafe to not use one. I’ve tried to explain exactly what you covered in the video and people think I’m just lazy or don’t care about safety. Trailer pulls fine without one.
Great information. I realized all the problems of single axle campers after buying a brand new one as you did. I hope anyone thinking about buying one sees this video before they do. My tow vehicle is a Ford F250 so don't need weight distribution my solution was to keep the load in the camper light and upgrade the tires and axle as you did.
@@davesrvchannel4717 we’re thinking of buying a 20 ft Geo Pro with single axle . We will tow it with a ford 150 eco boost 3.4 . We have a weight distribution hitch. I don’t know what the geo pro axle are rated. Would it be ok with a WDH?
I have been towing RV's for over 5o years now of every type imaginable. Yes using an equalizing hitch on a heavy duty tow vehicle will cause issues among other other things also. I had started to post a comment when you had your last video about your axle but it became to long of a comment so I deleted it. When ever the tongue weight is posted you can almost be guaranteed that you have to add that weight to the trailers actual dry weight. The way some manufactures post their weights can be very misleading in this regard so always ask the trailer sales place to clarify this. Plus when they say dry weight do they mean as is standard equipment or do they include options like propane = battery = microwave oven - anything that is an option that is added to the trailer after it leaves the factory. Your trailer with its limited capacity is just plain nuts and you should beadle to back on this for the problem. In 1974 I had the same issue with you almost 46 or so years ago so the manufacture after a year offered to give me a new heavy duty axle if I installed it so I took them up on it. They paid shipping to my door. To use an equalizing hitch on a heavy duty vehicle is something the trailer dealership should have warned you against doing. I don't care how much weight is in your heavy duty tow vehicle - its going to sit lower to some point simply because they are designed to carry more weight. Also your hitch equalizing hitch was not set up properly and you may have used to heavy duty of bars. You always take a measurement of your tow vehicle before hitching up your trailer once the trailer is added take the measurement same place again. If the trailer causes your tow vehicle to squat more than an inch its is OK - if it doesn't' drop down at all it is OK. But an average 1/2 ton truck or a SUV etc. might drop lower and need an equalizing hitch. I say may because you want to maintain at least a minimum of 10 percent - 15 percent on the tongue ideally 12.5 percent is perfect. The dealership can clarify what I am saying but to each their own. It normally takes me anywhere from 1-2 hours to correctly setup a equalizing hitch so that everything is setup correctly for the tow vehicle and trailer to tow at its very best regardless of your safe speed and to get the best ride out of the 2. Your axles are meant to flex a bit notice I said a bit other wise they will snap under severe conditions such as railroad tracks. But if your have a limited or the wrong axle such as your and the one I mentioned I owned this is just plain crazy and the manufactures need to be called on this mistake of being cheap. What you had what is called a drop axle from either a manufacturing defect or a manufacturing mistake period. People need to be educated in regards to how to setup a equailzing hitch properly and not totally rely on the trailer dealership to do it right - because they most don't even have the proper employees to do it right and they don't care anything but selling trailers. Now it doesn't matter if its a single axle or a dual axle you can still have one or both axles on a dual axle trailer go bad. Even heavier duty axles go bad with time. But if the axle is of the correct weight and it drops you can have it reset at most frame shops. they chain down both ends of the axle to the floor and use a heavy duty jack that is put under the center of the axle that pushes up on it thus putting the proper bend in it. Some brand new trailers have axle issues other than drop axles. The trailer axle or axles may have to much of a bend in them thus wearing tires out - or not enough of a bend in the center also causing abnormal tire wear. Just like alignment of a car or truck trailers can also be out of alignment and their axle or axles need to be reset or they are out of alignment at the leaf spring area. The axle components do to wear such as the shackles - leaf springs at the bushing and other things just plain wear out and need to be addressed - repaired. I am going to ask this but what made you think that you needed to use an equalizing hitch to begin with? Is this something you had done in the past or did you just decide to play it safe thinking this hitch was needed? There is not one thing wrong with a single axle trailer period but many people have this misconception - oh my if I have a blow out its going to cause my tow vehicle to flip or and or the trailer will. No it will not. I blow out on the rear of your tow vehicle is one if not the worse blow out to have because it causes your vehicle to go side to side at least if it is a front tire you still can steer it. If a trailer tire on a single axle blows it will just follow the tow vehicle and come to a stop providing you understand what will happen. A dual axle trailer acts in a similar way as a single axle trailer although you will not feel it as much but the blow out can cause the other tire on the same side to become over loaded over a short distance and you could have another blow out. I believe in good trailer tires and the ones you have on your trailer are some of the cheapest tires I have ever seen. If they were on my trailer I would spend the money and purchase Good Years or another brand made in the U.S. not China period. Yes you over loaded your trailer with the equalizing hitch but you would have over loaded it just by adding most anything to your trailer even by not using the hitch and caused the drop axle. So don't blame it on you using just the equalizing hitch blame the manufacture and let them know about this issue plain and simple. Like you stated had you loaded just your cloths =- food - dogs food and so on it would have still been over loaded. So the things you added to the trailer and the hitch it was really over loaded. It was something just waiting to happen so be careful you can still over load the new axle if you again use the hitch. But its the tires that concern me more because they are a time bomb just like your axle. I would recommend Good Year Marathon tires or another brand and go up a size and go up a weight rating such as a true 4 ply tire or an E rated tire. Everyone should check to make sure you don't have Chinese made tires on your trailer if you do the manufacture is cutting cost same with an under rated axle and care nothing about you period. I am sorry for the long comment but I pray this helps just somewhat people to understand even more than you video. Thank You a new subscriber oh an old subscriber at that at 74 years old and still towing my 44 foot fifth wheel back and forth each season 1,280 miles each time. Cheers P.S. I will reread this tomorrow and if I made to many mistakes I will delete it. I am finger typing on my phone with a broken finger. I am also a retired Mechanical Chassis Engineer for 44 years.......
Lots of great points Lunchbox. To answer some questions. I already had the hitch, so I thought it would do more good than harm. Truth be known I do miss using it, as it did cut down on sway (which is minimal) and it cut down on what I refer to as bounce as you go down the road and go over a bridge or road pavement change. I upgraded tires way before the axle issue. I went to multi ply with E rating, and I also went from 13-14". I did call manufacturer about axle, you can imagine their concern, nonexistent .
I have a 20 ft 5th wheel camper. I removed the 3500# axle and replaced with a 5200# axle with the correct leaf springs also, axle came with bigger brakes and went from 5 lug 14" wheels to 6 lug 15" wheels. it was a drop in change out very easy. just rolled out old, and rolled in new. have been very happy also gained 2" of ground clearance
we also increased tire size and went to a load D. There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to your axle. 3500# was the heaviest I could get, due to our width of RV
@@davesrvchannel4717 Dave you can get a 6000 lb axle at right width, with springs and 3 wheels and tires for $650 online, I actually went 2" wider and tires now line up with the plastic fenders perfectly and gives me a wider more stable stance... here is a 5000/5200 lb axle for $300 thetrailerpartsoutlet.com/5k-5-2k-dexter-trailer-axle-5000-5200-lb-idler-6-lug/
Very important and helpful video, thank you. This is another reason why it is a good idea to stay at 80-85% of GCWR of your vehicle: the total weight of trailer, payload (including tongue weight) and tow vehicle should be, ideally, no more than 80% of the GCWR, max 85%. We need to be able to stop what we pull... As you say, good tires matter!
Two thumbs up! Very revealing information. Really brought a whole new perspective on things. I used to have an RV trailer with what you call a weight distribution kit. I'll certainly keep in mind many of your findings for my next purchase considering my current vehicle. Thanks for sharing
It seemed like there was no real reason to upgrade axle rating for my use case. Now I will get upgraded axles in all my trailers. Great video thank you
It is near impossible to have everything all figured out before making the right choice in purchasing a travel trailer. I'm glad you helped me understand this all before I make a wrong choice.
My own anecdote: Back in the mid to late 1980's I played trumpet for, and was music director for one of the touring Shrine Circuses. We traveled about 35,000 miles a year throughout the western United States and western Canada (it was a BLAST!). In 1987 I bought a Terry Resort 31ZB basement model travel trailer for about $13,000 new. It served me well. Being the Resort model it was at the lower end of the build spectrum, but in a way that was an advantage because weighed about a 1000 lbs. less than a similar sized high end model (such as the straight Terry model). BUT: I was blowing tires every few thousand miles. Turned out the 14" (yes, 14 INCH) wheels and tires were WAY overloaded. And the axles warped on it. I went to the Fleetwood factory and under warranty they replaced the tires and wheels with 15" ones of the proper load capacity and replaced the axles and springs with thicker ones. Granted I was doing 35,000 miles a year, but hey, this means that all the other people who bought these for vacation purposes were traveling around with severely overloaded tires and suspensions on the things. Not cool.
isn't it crazy how under warranty they gave you correct tire size? They knew they didn't want to keep replacing them so they did the right thing. Of course it should have come from the factory that way.
Thanks just bought a single axle myself. Pulled it 1000 miles with no problems. I did ask those questions, I intend to review my trailer spec's. Thanks again and I look forward to more info!
I have a little Toyota motorhome and it is very light in the front end. I pull a 5 x 10 enclosed trailer with a a 900 lb load. I added one of these equalizer hitches and it is perfect. Throws more weight on the front end so the brakes actually try to work and also on the trailer so the trailer brakes also work and help out. I love it. Solved a major problem I had.
I'd never thought about it but it makes sense. It would be interesting to put the trailer on a commercial scale and see the difference in weight with the weight distributed vs not.
I may be doing a video soon related to this topic. Lots of bent frames, axles and leaf springs breaking recently. My thoughts is related to weight distribution hitch
I have a 1969 #3500 Trailer that had a drop axle that was #3000 we changed the axle out to a #5200lb axle and gained ground clearance, we put a WDH on because the trailer felt like it might tip over when we would go around a corner the hitch solved the problem now it doesnt feel like it will tip over pulls much better.
I suggest and prefer a WDH whenever possible. My issue was too much weight in vehicle, that added back to the RV. I am envious over your 5200# axle, I couldn't get one for mine.
Great information there that everyone should have and I don't even own an RV!! Seriously no matter what you're pulling behind you this is very important to know.
We were told the weight distribution was to level trailer while pulling. My 2500 chevy truck with ATV loaded, with a generator. extra fuel and water I added two 6-volt batteries to the trailer, larger propane bottle plus all the stuff I would need if we had a major breakdown. ie floor jack, ax, shovel, 50-foot chain, etc, etc, etc . My axle is now bent as well. I'm looking to upgrade now
if you have small single axle RV, and pull with 2500 you'll likely bend any axle you can put under it, if you use the WD hitch. Especially with all the extra gear.
With a weight distribution hitch, most of the hitch weight is sent to the front axle on the to vehicle!! That's the way the mechanics in the system works, IF adjusted properly! The only way to add most of the weight to the trailer axle is to add stuff towards the rear of the trailer! I have found all this out with the help of portable vehicle scales under all six wheels, while loaded and moving all the stuff around with a distribution hitch. If you adjust the hitch to the extreme is when you add to the rear axle! But at that point you will take too much off the hitch! Which is supposed to be at 10-20% of trailer weight! I found that if you tow vehicle is rated for 7,000 lbs like mine is, if your trailer weighs half that or less there is no need for a distribution hitch! Unless of course you want to max out the gw of the trailer. That is when you will need a distribution hitch to remove some of the weight off the trailer axle and send it to the front axle to the tow vehicle. A busy and I spent hours doing this with the GD industrial low profile portable scales like the State Police use! This was after I also discovered exactly what you had! I was wondering how a manufacturer could use an axle that is not rated for all the weight! Even though I suspected the answer they gave you about tongue weight! Still seems very penny size and dollar foolish! Just how much does a 3,500-4,000 lbs rated axle cost over a 3,000 lbs one?
Great to know it was of some help, and saved you about $200-400!! Keep in mind, if you have small pulling vehicle, you still may want to consider, if not you should be good to go. Happy trails!!
This is GREAT information! I have been shopping for a single axle RV since I own a small SUV that has a wt. limit of 3500 lbs. so NOW I will not use a disturbing system and I will be sure to look for an 3500 lb. axle, before I buy. THANK YOU for sharing!
Please be careful and mindful with your upcoming purchase. You often can't just go by the advertised maximum towing number for your vehicle. You need to find and work off of the GCWR (Gross Combination Weight Rating). This is the MAX that the vehicle and any trailer can weigh COMBINED legally per the manufacturer. Ex. Let's say you have a 2017 Ford Escape, 4wd with a 2.0L Ecoboost engine. That configuration has a max listed tow rating of 3,500 lbs. (That means you can never have a trailer heavier than that.) But, Ford lists this vehicle as having a GCWR of 7,639 lbs. The curb weight is listed as 3,765. 7,639-3,765=3,874 lbs. available in the combination for the trailer weight, people, gear, the dog, etc. If you had a trailer at MAX of 3500, that leaves you with a MAX of 374 lbs available in the SUV. These are maximums with proper weight distribution on all axles and wheels, and anyone who is anyone recommends a target of no more than 80% of maximums. Good luck to you. Happy, fun and safe travels!
After up grading your axle, you still need a W.D.H. to level your tow rig if you are carrying heavy junk in the back like you said you do, so it will steer properly right? At 4:02 you said "thats O.K. if you leave it alone" and at6:52, you said "under these circumstances, should I be using a W.D.H. and he said no" That seems a little misleading, and dangerous if someone misunderstood you. I think you should update your video and make it clear to everyone that if you are carrying a heavy load in your tow vehicle you need both a W.D.H. and heavy enough axle to take the displaced weight so you have sufficient weight on your steering axle. Very good video, and good points you made, thank you
Paul Robbins you’re correct I need to do update video. Between 6:10-7-25 or so I do express that because my van and junk in van outweighs the (keep in mind Single axle)RV by three times, I should absolutely never use WD hitch. But, if I’m using light van or suv yes I should use WD hitch. Problem with this video is there’s way too much info to catch. Within comments there’s a link to a video showing some engineers proving my theory along with info I got from Reese. Thanks for watching and comment
They don't build them them the same these days. I'm glad you found this out without injury. While traveling at a steep incline the rear axle is overloaded. Doesn't matter if you have a wieght distribution hitch. The manufacturer stiffed you. I'd assume your RV sleeps 4.
Glad it went safe too. It sleeps 2 adults and one small dog. I never heard or read what manufacturer thought it sleeps, probably 3, but they'd have to be small
I tried to pass the info in this video to an RV forum I used to belong to and was locked out of the post with admin telling me I was giving the wrong advice and no way to respond. I quickly left that forum. THANK YOU for your great advice and doing the research as I myself do tow a single axle with a truck that is loaded down and am sure if I didn't find this video I would probably be doing exactly what u had to
As you can see in comments and some were so hateful I had to delete them. Many folks are closed minded and have no desire to accept what they’ve always thought to be best, can actually be worst. This lesson cost me about $700 in tires and axle. Glad to save others from the same issues
It's everyday Joe's like this man that carry weight with me(no pun intended)I too own a small single axle travel trailer and luckily my truck driving background with weight distribution really helped in my case.I use mine as a 3 season cabin on wheels where after Easter take it out of winter storage and live in it til mid October then put it back in winter storage.From storage to summer site and back truck and trailer is empty weight due to same limitations.I knew this but apparently not many do he's doing a good thing with videos letting people know what they should know if they use their trailer for travel with all their stuff.Is amazing how quickly it adds up,I bring my stuff in van in early May in separate trip to avoid this issue but know I'm an exception.Thanks for letting others know what they should on a critical thing like this.👌
We weigh our RV at a CAT scale which provides the weight on each axle. We always have it weighed with the weight distribution system in place. We have always been comfotably below the weight ratings for both the RV and Tow vehicle.
I know I just came across this video 5 years later but I can relate! My trailer is a little longer than your but noticed one tire kicking out. I had 3 AGM batterie's on that side for solar. I should of known better, with 210 lbs. on that side. I too am upgrading the axle to a 3500 lb. axle. I since then replace batterie's with Lithium but yes, the factory puts the bare minimum in these trailers. Very good video ... Thank you. P.S. I to use a weight distribution hitch but might reevaluate .
@@davesrvchannel4717 Ill be going through your channels videos.. looks like a wealth of info. P.S Even thought about replacing with a heavier axle but then would of had to get lager wheels and tires... cost goes up.
Dave,, you can modify that axle with a truss rod that might drop about 2 to 3 inches in the center of the axle, and is welded to the axle ends just before the hubs, and increase the weight cap by about 500 lbs. It will look like an upside down roof truss and have a block welded between the axle center and the rod. The ends need to be slightly flattened, and conform to the curve of the axle pipe for a good strong weld, but it will stiffen it up so it won't bow and let the tires roll at an angle.This will help the tire life as well. Simple mod that works. With the tires running straight up, it will take the side stress off the wheel bearings, and increase the bearing life as well. No real need to replace axle if done before damage is done to spindles.This is a simple inexpensive preventative mod for such units. If you understand the stress it would take to stretch that added rod, you'd know what i mean, just reading this, which I think you do. By the way, that 500 lb estimate is a very conservative number with a 5/8" steel rod.
I totally get what you are saying. I play guitar and do some repairs, and guitars have a truss rod in the neck, so I get it. Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
I tow a single axle R Pod with a 08 Toyota 4 Runner V6 . The R Pod has the 30 gal fresh water tank located aprox 36" behind the trailer axle along with the 6 Gal water heater.That's about 280 lb that cant be changed except for simply draining it.If Forrest River would have placed the tank closer to the hitch some of the weight could be transferred to the tow vehicle thru a WD hitch .I would not tow without a WD hitch and a sway control device . I've had the tail waging the dog too many miles with no way to correct the problem. I think safety first is the best plan. Good video Dave , I thought R Pods were the only ones with the water tank problem.
Absolutely top notch video. Duel axel trailers could be overloaded too. Good job of explaining what could be complicated. I appreciated that you consulted experts,
Very good info Dave. Thanks. I do have a single axle and pull with a E350 van and haul about 1000 lbs in the van. Never used a distribution hitch but do have a sway control bar which works great!
Great advice. I feel same as you spoke, that for light vehicle a distribution hitch is a good idea, but heavy pulling vehicle and light trailer are not a good mix with the hitch.
thanks Juanita! Keep in mind this mainly applies to heavy vehicle and light trailer mixture. In most cases its best to use the weight distribution hitch.
You really have my attention here! I'm crawling under my 30 foot to get my axle ratings and stopping at the next truck stop that has scales. I'm only going to weigh the trailer axles first with the weight distribution connected then I'll disconnect the w.d. and rescale.
I have to say this was AMAZING information. I can't begin to thank you enough. It is brilliant! It will inform my next purchase. Thank you so very very much!!!
your artic cooler from the other video is a "swamp cooler" which means it evaporates water to cool the air. It won't work in high humid environments such as in an enclosed trailer as the humidity level will rise and the evaporation effect quits working. This principle of evaporation is used in arid environment areas such as Arizona and New Mexico. Look up evaporative air conditioning units and you will see what I mean.
Thank you so very much for the info... Since I am just now seeing a bit of "bent axle" wear I will quit using the weight distribution hitch and see how things go.
Nice video. I built my own camper and put it on a tandem modified boat trailer. It holds the camper well. It started on RUclips at mac136 camper build. I'm going to put on an up date soon
A couple of observations: when I towed a single axel trailer with a midsize truck (Nissan Frontier) I did so without a WDH. JUST NO NEED FOR IT! Anti-sway, yes. But no need for a WDH. Further, how much does the axel and wheels weigh? That is inspiring weight, and should not count toward the 3000 lb. rating of the axel.
I agree you should never use a weight distribution hitch no matter what your vehicle is or how light your tow is on a single axil trailer if your trailer weight and axil rating will be the same .
Did I say that I really enjoy your excellent channel if not I should have. Very informative with great information. I love watching you show RV's of all types and the pro's and con's also. Thank You
I'm so glad I watched this video! You explained everything in such a way I could totally understand what you were saying. Thanks for the information! I learn something new every day, and am grateful to have this info before I buy and load up a trailer and my truck.
Thank you very much for this info! DOT could possibly bust us good or even ins. companies in the event an accident takes place due to this! Thanks once again!
Great info and vlog Dave..your info is gonna save some people some real bad damage..way to go my friend..... the way the tires lean out at the bottom is called negative camber..not something you ever want on a trailer...i would sooner have a root canal ...lol..lol
Great info and Yes none of the sales reps Ever discuss. They don’t know, need to watch your RUclips channel. I think the blooper shot and your response is a hoot. You should have kept filming adds to the show. Tks
They don't tell you, because the VAST majority of the dealers DON"T KNOW themselves! Most are just pushing a product and know almost NOTHING about what they are selling!
I have gone thru three axles on my 2018 17' Coachman TT from stock 3000 lb axle with 14" tires, the new 3500 lb axle & 15" wheels collapsed day after installation now have a 6500 lb axle with 16" tires, almost totaled the frame from the spring mounts hitting the frame and caused a weak buckle point. frame wants to bend inward on collapse, completely boxed frame in steel added steel plates onto frame, then boxed whole frame in steel, now have jounce bumpers and added 4" x 6" box beam across frame above axle and adding shocks on the diagonal above axle for sway control. oh and the axle is "flipped" eliminating any clearance issues...
Very good information Dave! My 19 foot Aljo has tandem axles so I don't have a capacity problem. But I need the weight distributing bars on or she'll sway all over the road. Also squats down my 1/2 ton Silverado quite a bit without the bars.
I would bet that you could reinforce your axle because not only are you concerned about it say snapping but I am sure you should be concerned about it bending there for some angle iron with hose clamps should help that to never happen even with another 500 lb just figuring and I have studied architectural drafting which entailed some engineering which entails a lot of math, as well as a lot of trailer experience. I do have a single axle trailer as well as a double axle trailer and I thank you for your due diligence, because I use my single axle for storage I have to be concerned about taking things out before I move it.
I pull a small forest river wolf pup travel trailer that weighs 3000 lbs. The Nissan frontier has a towing capacity of 6400 lbs so I'm 50 % of maximum. I try to load the pickup truck with any heavier stuff … generator, fluids, tools. Tows fine without any major noticeable sway or issues so far. No weight distribution hitch .
You have to consider the weight of the axel and tiers minus total. In another hand when you’re driving on a bumpy road the weight will change each second...
The axle is rated to carry 3000 lbs , the gvm is including the weight of the axle so you need to deduct the weight of the axle off the gvm to work out if your overloaded
Thanks for the video, I’ve been shopping for a long time over a year now and what I found out is the RV world is kinda crap, none of the sale people really know anything like you have said and I checked out a lot of service departments at a lot of RV places and it looks like a lawn mower repair shop, I think I’m going to hop alittle longer and try to get more information before I buy, thanks again for the video
yes and no. In fact the WDH acts as a lever/torsion front to back to get the front of the tow vehicle to take some of the weight and not just the back by applying torsion force to the hitch ( that's why the hitch should be in good condition). So only 20% gets transferred back to the trailer. Use a scale and test it fot yourself you will see it is still an amazing system.
totally agree its an amazing system, but in certain scenarios it can do more harm than good, as in my situation which in grand scheme is more rare than common. Most scenarios are too small pull vehicle with too large of a trailer, that is why the WD system was designed. Thanks for watching.
Had to do a work around since you disabled the comments on your “does the arctic air cooler work or not?” As seen on tv. This is a tiny evaporative cooler such as we have in the southwest. These only work in very low humidity. 10 or 20 % humidity and these work very well. They sit on the roof so of course the water in them is hot. They can keep your house about 25 or 30 degrees cooler than the outside. They don’t work well during our monsoon season when it’s humid. But when you only get 4 to 5 inches of rain per year evaporative coolers work wonders.
Great info! When I was hauling I had new empty trailers and empty truck bed etc. never thought about loaded trailer changing the dynamics. I wonder if you could have fit a 7k axle under there. Glad you got it fixed. ROFL on the blooper reel!!!! I am going to start keeping my bloopers and making them into a funny video by themselves.
Overloaded e 350 van with shingles,pulling single axle 4x8 trailer loaded ,lost steering ,had to put more on small trailer,now having to rebuild trailer
very good advice Robert. I went from 13" tires to a 14" E rated. I did that before the axle issues. Lucky I did, if I would have had the 13" China bombs on there it might've been a different outcome
it should not affect heating/cooling. Feel free to give more info and I will try to help with ideas. Main thing is maintain safe speed, try not to use air conditioning, and never use overdrive.
If you are an RVer and like water toys or fishing boats, Look into Expandacraft, a modular watercraft that stores in small spaces and converts into all sorts of different craft. Oh, and we ship all over the world.
Yea I don't think so i think it just put torque counter clockwise to lift the rear of your truck back up and help the ride.. it probably adds the weight of your hitch not decreases it. So it looks more even and is because of the torque it puts on it. Doesn't magically remove weight . or maybe it does lol And I know what your saying im not confused on the simple idea of what your saying I just dont see it happening.
I really learned a lot with this video. My question is do you not want the trailer level for braking purpose? I will look at my axle when I pull it from storage. Also, what about sway control? With my weight distribution it is incorportated into it and Reese told me which light weight hitch they recommended. I have had this self contained unit for 2 years and lots of mileage and no tire wear. Like I said before I will look at the axles and closely look at the tire wear.
Please keep in mind Ron this totally pertains to heavy vehicle and light trailer. The reason you want trailer level is for smooth ride/pull. If the tail of trailer has too much weight the trailer will fishtail on you and have crazy sway.
@@davesrvchannel4717 You are right I have a light weight truck (Frontier) pulling a light trailer. The setup I have seems to fit my needs quite well. However saying that , I will check very closely my axle weight and tire wear. Thanks again for the information. Safe towing = Happy Camper
Yup, our Forest River is maxed out, when I did the math year's ago I was amazed... We did upgraded our tires for more load but our axle should be upgraded also. Manufacturers should be jailed for this crap, Yes we love our floorplan and we have had to pull at 85 mph passing semi trucks in the flatlands. We go 4x4 in the dirt mountain roads where we like to camp, but I'm always ready for problems now and the trailer manufactures should be held acceptable for bad components and design problems like this... Just takes the fun out of our family camping trips. So look before you buy! Thanks for the advice and very good work on the video...
Hi Dave. Found your vidieo interesting. Let me tell you my story. It sometimes takes a lot of tuning the trailer set up to get it to tow well. Some 20 years ago, I had an 88 Jeep Comanche 4x4 longbox with a 4.0 six and 5 speed. I rode that puppy hard. I had the 1/2 ton model but Jeep offered a metric ton payload package (2200 lbs) option. Structurally and mechanically, the chassis was the same except for swapping out the rear axle for a Dana 44 and bigger rear brakes and springs, plus adding an auxiliary cooling fan to the radiator. We decided we wanted to get a travel trailer and go camping. We found a dual axle 23 foot terry travel trailer. I had previously installed a class III receiver hitch to use for miscellaneous towing, skidding logs to use for firewood and a place to hook onto when I got stuck. Worked great. Anyway, after checking everything out, I determined if I used a receiver hitch with equalizer bars I could tow up to about 5,000 lbs. the trailer data plate indicated it was 3700 lbs dry so I figured I was good to go. I purchased the trailer and an equalizer set and had the truck rigged by the dealer to tow it. They fully serviced the trailer, should me how to use it and take care of everything and told me the ‘proper’ way to hook it up to the truck. They said to set the bars to make the truck and trailer sit level. That all done, I towed it home and we set out to go camping. It towed terrible. It would start swaying badly at about 45 mph. When I looked at the towing instructions with the hitch, basically I had everything set up right. I found that a friction damped sway control device was recommended, and that the trailer and hitch had a provision to install one. So I purchased one an installed it. It helped, but did not fix the problem. So I dug deeper. My hitch had adjustments for height and pitch. The height was to set the ball distance from the ground and pitch set the angle for the equalizer bars. (It helped the height of the bars from the ground at the trailer tongue mounts.) i adjusted ball height and pitch, then I then took the truck and trailer to a scale to get some weights. The trailer (loaded with most of the gear we would be taking) came in right at 4700 lbs. 750 of that was on the tongue. (250 over 500 pound rating.) I then weighed the truck. With gas, it came in at around 3450. 2050 on the front and 1400 on the rear. When I added the trailer, hooked up as instructed, the weight of the truck went to this. 3275 front, 975 rear, for a total of 4250. I did not weigh the trailer axle hooked up. I was not concerned about that because it was well under axle gross weight. No wonder the truck was swaying all over the place! My front axle weight increased by 1225 lbs and my rear axle weight went DOWN by 425 lbs. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. The gross axle weight ratings for my Comanche were 2500 front and 2644 rear. I had not only put all my trailer tongue weight on the front axle, I had moved an additional 475 lbs of truck weight off the rear to the front. I was now 775 lbs over gross on the front axle and 1,669 lbs under gross on the rear. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to shoot for a 50/50 weight distribution for front and rear, with maybe 100 to 200 lbs to the rear. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours adjusting the tension on the equalizer bars and reweighing the truck on the scale. I did not scale the trailer because it’s axle weight was well below it’s weight rating. When I was done, I had 2175 on the front axle 2250 on the rear axle. Total gross weight of 4425. 425 lbs under 4850 GVW. Combined GCVW was 9264 lbs. the combined weight of this package was around 8350 without driver. So I was comfortably under combined weight. The 32 gallon water tank was in the front of the trailer so I could cut the tongue weight by almost 200 pounds by not filling it up and waiting until we got near the destination. The result of this setup drove and handled much better. You still knew you had the trailer behind you. It had a LOT of wind drag. It took a deep throttle to pull above 55 mph. I got 11 mpg pulling it. The one thing visually which many people commented on was the rear end squatted about 4 inches with trailer attached. So the truck had a tail down look. Most of that was due to the soft rear springs. When unloaded, it allowed for good axle articulation off road. It took about 500 to 600 lbs to settle down onto the overload leafs to stiffen them up to take a payload. So you would get quite a bit of squat when loaded. But it had around 9 inches of suspension travel in the rear, around 7 inches in the front. Even when loaded with 2200 pounds of rock in the bed, it was not bottomed out. Still had almost 2 inches of travel left. That Jeep was a pretty darn good light pickup. I got 288,000 miles out of it before it got a dent in it the insurance company would not pay to fix. Then someone bought it and used the drivetrain to upgrade their 4 cyl 2x4 Comanche to a 6 cyl 4x4. Sometimes, it takes getting pretty deep into the weeds to get things set up right.
Great story you wouldn't think as a driver you would have to go that deep. I think this is one area where regulations would simplify what you can and can't pull. And trust me I hate regulations. Nice job getting it all sorted out.
@@Ricky-eo5ym Actually, the towing regulations for towing are not that difficult or complicated. And they are there for our benefit and safety. But there are a lot of simplified rules of thumb and grandpappy did it that way so I will do it too traditions which don’t always work. And as a driver, it’s pretty easy to determine if you’re within the limits. You use a simple scale and the documentation of your vehicle ratings posted on the vehicle. But when things don’t turn out right, thats where most people stop. I just chose to figure out why my weights were off and diving into the weeds was what it took to work it out. I suspect most people would not have bothered to dig into the why they were not meeting the rules and ether would have towed the load as was or not towed it at all. I chose to understand where the problem was and make the additional adjustments to fix it. Years later when I changed jobs and got my CDL and started driving semi trucks, it became part of my job to better understand load and balance for truck and trailer weights and know how to adjust the truck and trailer to properly accommodate the different loads. Most of the time there was no problem. Occasionally it took more time and effort to make everything work out. And with the large fuel tank capacities and weights of the diesel fuel we could carry, that also sometimes became an additional issue for balancing the load. There were times when I had to restrict how much fuel I put in the tanks to remain legal on my weights. (Some of the trucks I drove carried as much as 2,400 pounds of fuel with full tanks.
You see a lot of people going down the road with unsafe load setups. Not everyone has the fortitude or ability to figure out what they need. I too have been driving class A for over 30 years up here in Canada and trust me I have seen some pretty unsafe setups.
Dave we have almost the same trailer from Forest River badge as a Viking 16b. When we bought our trailer, i was planning to buy a weight disttibution hitch, but the tech told me to wait until we experience towing without it. we never bought the weight distribution hitch. i plan to see if i can find the tag on our axle showing the max weight rate as you showed in your video. thanks again for the info
glad I could be of some help. To find the tag on axle, you can approach the back side of axle. If you have good smart phone cam you likely can selfie stick a video without having to crawl under there, watch your video and pause where needed to read weight capacity of your axle.
Excellent info. Not to add anything to your head-aches, except for the fly (lol), but what are the springs rated for? Generally they rate them with them with the axles.
Dave And Purdy Look on the band that wraps around the spring pack should have a PN like PR4B, or AW3 etc etc and reply and I will tell you. Also you could tell me the number of leafs and how long it is and I can tell you
Get an axle that can fit 8 lug wheels. Then you can use the same 16" rims as 3/4 and 1 ton pickups. The tires for them are way sturdier and more durable as well as cheaper (you can run your old 10 ply truck wheels and tires and they'll last forever. They have more ground clearance and roll easier with their higher air pressure limits. The axles come with beefier springs that won't get flat from rough country. Bottoming on potholes is less likely to bend the axle beam camber "bowlegged". The electric brakes on 8 lug hubs are larger and safer too. Get the springs for 5k axles, too, not 3.5K. The trailer will sit higher, prouder and carry a lot more cargo and accessories. Heck, you are absolutely counting on just those single tires on each side....why not just have them be as big and as tough as possible??
before this happened I increased tire size from 13" to 14". I also bought E rated tires that are multi ply. As for axle, the width of RV is not a standard width. I got the highest rated axle I could find which is 3500#. I researched on the net for days and called numerous places. I would've bought 10K pound axle if I could have bought one, they are just not available at the width of my RV, bolt pattern etc
I see someone already said but I will add another note: The axle itself will commonly weigh about 250 - 300 pounds. That weight is not "on" the axle, it "is" the axle. It still is not much room to maneuver, but that is where the other 300# is coming from.
So your axle was over weighted due mainly to the weight distribution hitch. You explanation was outstanding for the average person to understand on how it works. I had a small trailer like yours and never used a weight distributing hitch. Just make sure that 60% of the loaded weight is in front of the axle or you might get some sway. Back in January I bought a 22' trailer (dual axle) that weighs about 4700 lbs when loaded and the salesman insisted that I needed to purchase a weight distributing hitch. I told him that I was going to pass and see how things go without one. I have a F-150 Supercrew and I've driven it in the windiest conditions and no sway at all. I'm guessing if you are at 25' or longer or weigh over 5000 lbs then that's when the weight distribution hitch is necessary.
Thanks for the kind words!! I had a 24' trailer with dual axle, that is when I purchased the distribution kit by Reese. Huge difference for the 24'. My main issue was my pull vehicle at that time was short wheelbase. That has a lot to do with how well trailers sway and travel. So your supercrew probably gives a great pull and ride. Downhill you may notice some issue without the distribution system so if you haven't pulled in hilly conditions, may wanna take the first few easy. Thanks again for comment and watching
It pulls it quite well. When big rigs pass me I get blown over less then when I had my previous 19' trailer. Kind of weird...maybe because it's 600 lbs heavier. In 3 weeks I'm going camping and the drive has a huge hill to climb. I'll be cautious on the way down.
Great video... it's a mystery to me why the manufacturer cannot build a 20% safety factor into an axle get..... I story I have heard in the past... you could use a WDH on the back of a large FWD (ex Olds Toronto) and remove the rear wheels and drive the vehicle... this was 60's engineering!!
Excellent points! Here’s something else: Going over uneven roads with a weight distribution hitch can amplify the points you made. Picture a truck nose up coming out of a dip while the trailer nose down going into the dip. Imagine the forces at play in this situation. Many RV dealers just want to sell add ons, or they just don’t know the physics involved. The answer: get a tow vehicle that well exceeds the trailer’s towing requirements. Thanks again - excellent video.
Every person who has an t.v. trailer need's to see this video. Thank's for bringing attention to this VERY important fact .It's something that everyone should know, but, probably doesn't. Thanks for the information, and bringing it back to light. Great video. This information comes with every hitch, ,,but, who reads that , we all should, but don't.
thanks Michael!!
Great video. We have a single axle camper and people look at me like a have 3 heads when I say I don’t run a weight distribution hitch. The marketing for these hitches has made people think it is irresponsible or unsafe to not use one. I’ve tried to explain exactly what you covered in the video and people think I’m just lazy or don’t care about safety. Trailer pulls fine without one.
Great information. I realized all the problems of single axle campers after buying a brand new one as you did. I hope anyone thinking about buying one sees this video before they do. My tow vehicle is a Ford F250 so don't need weight distribution my solution was to keep the load in the camper light and upgrade the tires and axle as you did.
this guy knows more about towing than most of youtube. Thanks
Thanks a bunch!
@@davesrvchannel4717 we’re thinking of buying a 20 ft Geo Pro with single axle . We will tow it with a ford 150 eco boost 3.4 . We have a weight distribution hitch. I don’t know what the geo pro axle are rated. Would it be ok with a WDH?
I have been towing RV's for over 5o years now of every type imaginable. Yes using an equalizing hitch on a heavy duty tow vehicle will cause issues among other other things also. I had started to post a comment when you had your last video about your axle but it became to long of a comment so I deleted it. When ever the tongue weight is posted you can almost be guaranteed that you have to add that weight to the trailers actual dry weight. The way some manufactures post their weights can be very misleading in this regard so always ask the trailer sales place to clarify this. Plus when they say dry weight do they mean as is standard equipment or do they include options like propane = battery = microwave oven - anything that is an option that is added to the trailer after it leaves the factory. Your trailer with its limited capacity is just plain nuts and you should beadle to back on this for the problem. In 1974 I had the same issue with you almost 46 or so years ago so the manufacture after a year offered to give me a new heavy duty axle if I installed it so I took them up on it. They paid shipping to my door. To use an equalizing hitch on a heavy duty vehicle is something the trailer dealership should have warned you against doing. I don't care how much weight is in your heavy duty tow vehicle - its going to sit lower to some point simply because they are designed to carry more weight. Also your hitch equalizing hitch was not set up properly and you may have used to heavy duty of bars. You always take a measurement of your tow vehicle before hitching up your trailer once the trailer is added take the measurement same place again. If the trailer causes your tow vehicle to squat more than an inch its is OK - if it doesn't' drop down at all it is OK. But an average 1/2 ton truck or a SUV etc. might drop lower and need an equalizing hitch. I say may because you want to maintain at least a minimum of 10 percent - 15 percent on the tongue ideally 12.5 percent is perfect. The dealership can clarify what I am saying but to each their own. It normally takes me anywhere from 1-2 hours to correctly setup a equalizing hitch so that everything is setup correctly for the tow vehicle and trailer to tow at its very best regardless of your safe speed and to get the best ride out of the 2. Your axles are meant to flex a bit notice I said a bit other wise they will snap under severe conditions such as railroad tracks. But if your have a limited or the wrong axle such as your and the one I mentioned I owned this is just plain crazy and the manufactures need to be called on this mistake of being cheap. What you had what is called a drop axle from either a manufacturing defect or a manufacturing mistake period. People need to be educated in regards to how to setup a equailzing hitch properly and not totally rely on the trailer dealership to do it right - because they most don't even have the proper employees to do it right and they don't care anything but selling trailers. Now it doesn't matter if its a single axle or a dual axle you can still have one or both axles on a dual axle trailer go bad. Even heavier duty axles go bad with time. But if the axle is of the correct weight and it drops you can have it reset at most frame shops. they chain down both ends of the axle to the floor and use a heavy duty jack that is put under the center of the axle that pushes up on it thus putting the proper bend in it. Some brand new trailers have axle issues other than drop axles. The trailer axle or axles may have to much of a bend in them thus wearing tires out - or not enough of a bend in the center also causing abnormal tire wear. Just like alignment of a car or truck trailers can also be out of alignment and their axle or axles need to be reset or they are out of alignment at the leaf spring area. The axle components do to wear such as the shackles - leaf springs at the bushing and other things just plain wear out and need to be addressed - repaired. I am going to ask this but what made you think that you needed to use an equalizing hitch to begin with? Is this something you had done in the past or did you just decide to play it safe thinking this hitch was needed? There is not one thing wrong with a single axle trailer period but many people have this misconception - oh my if I have a blow out its going to cause my tow vehicle to flip or and or the trailer will. No it will not. I blow out on the rear of your tow vehicle is one if not the worse blow out to have because it causes your vehicle to go side to side at least if it is a front tire you still can steer it. If a trailer tire on a single axle blows it will just follow the tow vehicle and come to a stop providing you understand what will happen. A dual axle trailer acts in a similar way as a single axle trailer although you will not feel it as much but the blow out can cause the other tire on the same side to become over loaded over a short distance and you could have another blow out. I believe in good trailer tires and the ones you have on your trailer are some of the cheapest tires I have ever seen. If they were on my trailer I would spend the money and purchase Good Years or another brand made in the U.S. not China period. Yes you over loaded your trailer with the equalizing hitch but you would have over loaded it just by adding most anything to your trailer even by not using the hitch and caused the drop axle. So don't blame it on you using just the equalizing hitch blame the manufacture and let them know about this issue plain and simple. Like you stated had you loaded just your cloths =- food - dogs food and so on it would have still been over loaded. So the things you added to the trailer and the hitch it was really over loaded. It was something just waiting to happen so be careful you can still over load the new axle if you again use the hitch. But its the tires that concern me more because they are a time bomb just like your axle. I would recommend Good Year Marathon tires or another brand and go up a size and go up a weight rating such as a true 4 ply tire or an E rated tire. Everyone should check to make sure you don't have Chinese made tires on your trailer if you do the manufacture is cutting cost same with an under rated axle and care nothing about you period. I am sorry for the long comment but I pray this helps just somewhat people to understand even more than you video. Thank You a new subscriber oh an old subscriber at that at 74 years old and still towing my 44 foot fifth wheel back and forth each season 1,280 miles each time. Cheers
P.S.
I will reread this tomorrow and if I made to many mistakes I will delete it. I am finger typing on my phone with a broken finger. I am also a retired Mechanical Chassis Engineer for 44 years.......
Lots of great points Lunchbox. To answer some questions. I already had the hitch, so I thought it would do more good than harm. Truth be known I do miss using it, as it did cut down on sway (which is minimal) and it cut down on what I refer to as bounce as you go down the road and go over a bridge or road pavement change. I upgraded tires way before the axle issue. I went to multi ply with E rating, and I also went from 13-14". I did call manufacturer about axle, you can imagine their concern, nonexistent .
I have a 20 ft 5th wheel camper. I removed the 3500# axle and replaced with a 5200# axle with the correct leaf springs also, axle came with bigger brakes and went from 5 lug 14" wheels to 6 lug 15" wheels. it was a drop in change out very easy. just rolled out old, and rolled in new. have been very happy also gained 2" of ground clearance
we also increased tire size and went to a load D. There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to your axle. 3500# was the heaviest I could get, due to our width of RV
I have a friend that's a pro welder and we shortened mine with an inter tube for added strength.
@@davesrvchannel4717 Dave you can get a 6000 lb axle at right width, with springs and 3 wheels and tires for $650 online, I actually went 2" wider and tires now line up with the plastic fenders perfectly and gives me a wider more stable stance... here is a 5000/5200 lb axle for $300 thetrailerpartsoutlet.com/5k-5-2k-dexter-trailer-axle-5000-5200-lb-idler-6-lug/
Very important and helpful video, thank you. This is another reason why it is a good idea to stay at 80-85% of GCWR of your vehicle: the total weight of trailer, payload (including tongue weight) and tow vehicle should be, ideally, no more than 80% of the GCWR, max 85%. We need to be able to stop what we pull... As you say, good tires matter!
"we need to be able to stop what we pull" I love it!! You are very correct.
Two thumbs up! Very revealing information. Really brought a whole new perspective on things. I used to have an RV trailer with what you call a weight distribution kit. I'll certainly keep in mind many of your findings for my next purchase considering my current vehicle. Thanks for sharing
It seemed like there was no real reason to upgrade axle rating for my use case. Now I will get upgraded axles in all my trailers. Great video thank you
It is near impossible to have everything all figured out before making the right choice in purchasing a travel trailer. I'm glad you helped me understand this all before I make a wrong choice.
My own anecdote: Back in the mid to late 1980's I played trumpet for, and was music director for one of the touring Shrine Circuses. We traveled about 35,000 miles a year throughout the western United States and western Canada (it was a BLAST!). In 1987 I bought a Terry Resort 31ZB basement model travel trailer for about $13,000 new. It served me well. Being the Resort model it was at the lower end of the build spectrum, but in a way that was an advantage because weighed about a 1000 lbs. less than a similar sized high end model (such as the straight Terry model). BUT: I was blowing tires every few thousand miles. Turned out the 14" (yes, 14 INCH) wheels and tires were WAY overloaded. And the axles warped on it. I went to the Fleetwood factory and under warranty they replaced the tires and wheels with 15" ones of the proper load capacity and replaced the axles and springs with thicker ones. Granted I was doing 35,000 miles a year, but hey, this means that all the other people who bought these for vacation purposes were traveling around with severely overloaded tires and suspensions on the things. Not cool.
isn't it crazy how under warranty they gave you correct tire size? They knew they didn't want to keep replacing them so they did the right thing. Of course it should have come from the factory that way.
Thanks just bought a single axle myself. Pulled it 1000 miles with no problems. I did ask those questions, I intend to review my trailer spec's. Thanks again and I look forward to more info!
I have a little Toyota motorhome and it is very light in the front end. I pull a 5 x 10 enclosed trailer with a a 900 lb load. I added one of these equalizer hitches and it is perfect. Throws more weight on the front end so the brakes actually try to work and also on the trailer so the trailer brakes also work and help out. I love it. Solved a major problem I had.
Light truck +heavy trailer its great to have a weight distribution hitch. Heavy truck + Light trailer its a NoNO
I'd never thought about it but it makes sense. It would be interesting to put the trailer on a commercial scale and see the difference in weight with the weight distributed vs not.
Thanks for the picture. Makes it easier to understand for dummies like me.
I may be doing a video soon related to this topic. Lots of bent frames, axles and leaf springs breaking recently. My thoughts is related to weight distribution hitch
I have a 1969 #3500 Trailer that had a drop axle that was #3000 we changed the axle out to a #5200lb axle and gained ground clearance, we put a WDH on because the trailer felt like it might tip over when we would go around a corner the hitch solved the problem now it doesnt feel like it will tip over pulls much better.
I suggest and prefer a WDH whenever possible. My issue was too much weight in vehicle, that added back to the RV. I am envious over your 5200# axle, I couldn't get one for mine.
Great information there that everyone should have and I don't even own an RV!!
Seriously no matter what you're pulling behind you this is very important to know.
OMG so freaking important!!! You are a wonderful and helpful person looking out for your brothers and sisters. Thank you ♡ive
We were told the weight distribution was to level trailer while pulling. My 2500 chevy truck with ATV loaded, with a generator. extra fuel and water I added two 6-volt batteries to the trailer, larger propane bottle plus all the stuff I would need if we had a major breakdown. ie floor jack, ax, shovel, 50-foot chain, etc, etc, etc . My axle is now bent as well. I'm looking to upgrade now
if you have small single axle RV, and pull with 2500 you'll likely bend any axle you can put under it, if you use the WD hitch. Especially with all the extra gear.
With a weight distribution hitch, most of the hitch weight is sent to the front axle on the to vehicle!! That's the way the mechanics in the system works, IF adjusted properly! The only way to add most of the weight to the trailer axle is to add stuff towards the rear of the trailer! I have found all this out with the help of portable vehicle scales under all six wheels, while loaded and moving all the stuff around with a distribution hitch. If you adjust the hitch to the extreme is when you add to the rear axle! But at that point you will take too much off the hitch! Which is supposed to be at 10-20% of trailer weight! I found that if you tow vehicle is rated for 7,000 lbs like mine is, if your trailer weighs half that or less there is no need for a distribution hitch! Unless of course you want to max out the gw of the trailer. That is when you will need a distribution hitch to remove some of the weight off the trailer axle and send it to the front axle to the tow vehicle. A busy and I spent hours doing this with the GD industrial low profile portable scales like the State Police use! This was after I also discovered exactly what you had! I was wondering how a manufacturer could use an axle that is not rated for all the weight! Even though I suspected the answer they gave you about tongue weight! Still seems very penny size and dollar foolish! Just how much does a 3,500-4,000 lbs rated axle cost over a 3,000 lbs one?
this is what i love about youtube. thanks for the info. i just got a small single axle camper. great vid my friend
Great to know it was of some help, and saved you about $200-400!! Keep in mind, if you have small pulling vehicle, you still may want to consider, if not you should be good to go. Happy trails!!
A good experiment would be to weigh your axles at a truck scale- with and without a WDH
This is GREAT information! I have been shopping for a single axle RV since I own a small SUV that has a wt. limit of 3500 lbs. so NOW I will not use a disturbing system and I will be sure to look for an 3500 lb. axle, before I buy. THANK YOU for sharing!
Please be careful and mindful with your upcoming purchase. You often can't just go by the advertised maximum towing number for your vehicle. You need to find and work off of the GCWR (Gross Combination Weight Rating). This is the MAX that the vehicle and any trailer can weigh COMBINED legally per the manufacturer.
Ex. Let's say you have a 2017 Ford Escape, 4wd with a 2.0L Ecoboost engine. That configuration has a max listed tow rating of 3,500 lbs. (That means you can never have a trailer heavier than that.) But, Ford lists this vehicle as having a GCWR of 7,639 lbs. The curb weight is listed as 3,765. 7,639-3,765=3,874 lbs. available in the combination for the trailer weight, people, gear, the dog, etc. If you had a trailer at MAX of 3500, that leaves you with a MAX of 374 lbs available in the SUV.
These are maximums with proper weight distribution on all axles and wheels, and anyone who is anyone recommends a target of no more than 80% of maximums. Good luck to you. Happy, fun and safe travels!
After up grading your axle, you still need a W.D.H. to level your tow rig if you are carrying heavy junk in the back like you said you do, so it will steer properly right? At 4:02 you said "thats O.K. if you leave it alone" and at6:52, you said "under these circumstances, should I be using a W.D.H. and he said no" That seems a little misleading, and dangerous if someone misunderstood you. I think you should update your video and make it clear to everyone that if you are carrying a heavy load in your tow vehicle you need both a W.D.H. and heavy enough axle to take the displaced weight so you have sufficient weight on your steering axle. Very good video, and good points you made, thank you
Paul Robbins you’re correct I need to do update video. Between 6:10-7-25 or so I do express that because my van and junk in van outweighs the (keep in mind Single axle)RV by three times, I should absolutely never use WD hitch. But, if I’m using light van or suv yes I should use WD hitch.
Problem with this video is there’s way too much info to catch. Within comments there’s a link to a video showing some engineers proving my theory along with info I got from Reese.
Thanks for watching and comment
They don't build them them the same these days. I'm glad you found this out without injury. While traveling at a steep incline the rear axle is overloaded. Doesn't matter if you have a wieght distribution hitch. The manufacturer stiffed you. I'd assume your RV sleeps 4.
Glad it went safe too. It sleeps 2 adults and one small dog. I never heard or read what manufacturer thought it sleeps, probably 3, but they'd have to be small
Good points. Should also mention that you want about 10% of the trailer weight on the tongue or stability issues can arise.
I tried to pass the info in this video to an RV forum I used to belong to and was locked out of the post with admin telling me I was giving the wrong advice and no way to respond. I quickly left that forum. THANK YOU for your great advice and doing the research as I myself do tow a single axle with a truck that is loaded down and am sure if I didn't find this video I would probably be doing exactly what u had to
As you can see in comments and some were so hateful I had to delete them. Many folks are closed minded and have no desire to accept what they’ve always thought to be best, can actually be worst. This lesson cost me about $700 in tires and axle. Glad to save others from the same issues
It's everyday Joe's like this man that carry weight with me(no pun intended)I too own a small single axle travel trailer and luckily my truck driving background with weight distribution really helped in my case.I use mine as a 3 season cabin on wheels where after Easter take it out of winter storage and live in it til mid October then put it back in winter storage.From storage to summer site and back truck and trailer is empty weight due to same limitations.I knew this but apparently not many do he's doing a good thing with videos letting people know what they should know if they use their trailer for travel with all their stuff.Is amazing how quickly it adds up,I bring my stuff in van in early May in separate trip to avoid this issue but know I'm an exception.Thanks for letting others know what they should on a critical thing like this.👌
Down to earth .... great information ....salesman never told me about the weight problem .... thank you
Shocking for sure and very educational. RV/Trailer tires are another shocking subject for me. Thank you very much.
I need to get a little more educated myself to make a video about tires, great subject.
We weigh our RV at a CAT scale which provides the weight on each axle. We always have it weighed with the weight distribution system in place. We have always been comfotably below the weight ratings for both the RV and Tow vehicle.
I know I just came across this video 5 years later but I can relate! My trailer is a little longer than your but noticed one tire kicking out. I had 3 AGM batterie's on that side for solar. I should of known better, with 210 lbs. on that side. I too am upgrading the axle to a 3500 lb. axle. I since then replace batterie's with Lithium but yes, the factory puts the bare minimum in these trailers. Very good video ... Thank you. P.S. I to use a weight distribution hitch but might reevaluate .
The only things I changed was going to stronger axle and no longer using the weight distribution hitch. Years later, still no issues
@@davesrvchannel4717 Ill be going through your channels videos.. looks like a wealth of info. P.S Even thought about replacing with a heavier axle but then would of had to get lager wheels and tires... cost goes up.
@@MarkfromArizona thanks for watching and great comment. I appreciate it!!
Dave,, you can modify that axle with a truss rod that might drop about 2 to 3 inches in the center of the axle, and is welded to the axle ends just before the hubs, and increase the weight cap by about 500 lbs. It will look like an upside down roof truss and have a block welded between the axle center and the rod. The ends need to be slightly flattened, and conform to the curve of the axle pipe for a good strong weld, but it will stiffen it up so it won't bow and let the tires roll at an angle.This will help the tire life as well. Simple mod that works. With the tires running straight up, it will take the side stress off the wheel bearings, and increase the bearing life as well. No real need to replace axle if done before damage is done to spindles.This is a simple inexpensive preventative mod for such units. If you understand the stress it would take to stretch that added rod, you'd know what i mean, just reading this, which I think you do. By the way, that 500 lb estimate is a very conservative number with a 5/8" steel rod.
I totally get what you are saying. I play guitar and do some repairs, and guitars have a truss rod in the neck, so I get it. Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
I tow a single axle R Pod with a 08 Toyota 4 Runner V6 . The R Pod has the 30 gal fresh water tank located aprox 36" behind the trailer axle along with the 6 Gal water heater.That's about 280 lb that cant be changed except for simply draining it.If Forrest River would have placed the tank closer to the hitch some of the weight could be transferred to the tow vehicle thru a WD hitch .I would not tow without a WD hitch and a sway control device . I've had the tail waging the dog too many miles with no way to correct the problem. I think safety first is the best plan. Good video Dave , I thought R Pods were the only ones with the water tank problem.
Thanks very helpful glad people like you are still around.
thanks a bunch, I really appreciate it!
Absolutely top notch video. Duel axel trailers could be overloaded too. Good job of explaining what could be complicated. I appreciated that you consulted experts,
thanks for taking the time to write. I appreciate your kind words
Very good info Dave. Thanks. I do have a single axle and pull with a E350 van and haul about 1000 lbs in the van. Never used a distribution hitch but do have a sway control bar which works great!
thanks Randy. I have never used a sway control bar, so you just helped me. I have E-350 with 1,000 lbs also. Thanks again!
I think it was less than $30.
Great advice. I feel same as you spoke, that for light vehicle a distribution hitch is a good idea, but heavy pulling vehicle and light trailer are not a good mix with the hitch.
I finally subscribed after watching more than a few of your excellent videos. Thank you for this alert. OMG, what important information!
thanks Juanita! Keep in mind this mainly applies to heavy vehicle and light trailer mixture. In most cases its best to use the weight distribution hitch.
You really have my attention here! I'm crawling under my 30 foot to get my axle ratings and stopping at the next truck stop that has scales. I'm only going to weigh the trailer axles first with the weight distribution connected then I'll disconnect the w.d. and rescale.
great idea Joe, Hope you have great news ahead.
Dave & Muppy It will be about a month but I'll post the results here.
I have to say this was AMAZING information. I can't begin to thank you enough. It is brilliant! It will inform my next purchase. Thank you so very very much!!!
your artic cooler from the other video is a "swamp cooler" which means it evaporates water to cool the air. It won't work in high humid environments such as in an enclosed trailer as the humidity level will rise and the evaporation effect quits working. This principle of evaporation is used in arid environment areas such as Arizona and New Mexico. Look up evaporative air conditioning units and you will see what I mean.
Right on Dave. Chinese stock tires are also a liability. Bought new for our 2015 TT from Discount Tire before hitting the road last year. Zero flats!
great call!! I went up a size from 13"-14" and I also got load E rated. Thanks for watching Bob,,,Happy Travels to ya!
I love the little driver's face!
Thank you so very much for the info... Since I am just now seeing a bit of "bent axle" wear I will quit using the weight distribution hitch and see how things go.
Nice video. I built my own camper and put it on a tandem modified boat trailer. It holds the camper well. It started on RUclips at mac136 camper build. I'm going to put on an up date soon
let me know when you get it done and uploaded and I will binge watch,,thanks!
A couple of observations: when I towed a single axel trailer with a midsize truck (Nissan Frontier) I did so without a WDH. JUST NO NEED FOR IT! Anti-sway, yes. But no need for a WDH. Further, how much does the axel and wheels weigh? That is inspiring weight, and should not count toward the 3000 lb. rating of the axel.
I agree you should never use a weight distribution hitch no matter what your vehicle is or how light your tow is on a single axil trailer if your trailer weight and axil rating will be the same .
Did I say that I really enjoy your excellent channel if not I should have. Very informative with great information. I love watching you show RV's of all types and the pro's and con's also. Thank You
Thank you very much!!
hello from the stormy ozarks dave!! thanks for exposing another rv industry expensive secret!! tight lines and cheers dave!! glad you are having fun!
Phillip Morris thanks Phillip!!!
Great explanation! Thanks! Wow 2000 miles on those tires! You can really see the wear!
Thanks Dave... I hope you continue to share your experiences.
I'm so glad I watched this video! You explained everything in such a way I could totally understand what you were saying. Thanks for the information! I learn something new every day, and am grateful to have this info before I buy and load up a trailer and my truck.
Judith Neeley thanks for great comment and watching. Glad we could help
You are welcome.
Thank you very much for this info! DOT could possibly bust us good or even ins. companies in the event an accident takes place due to this! Thanks once again!
Great info and vlog Dave..your info is gonna save some people some real bad damage..way to go my friend..... the way the tires lean out at the bottom is called negative camber..not something you ever want on a trailer...i would sooner have a root canal ...lol..lol
I will miss having the distribution kit on, it does make for better pulling. Thanks for your comment Laser!
Great info and Yes none of the sales reps Ever discuss. They don’t know, need to watch your RUclips channel.
I think the blooper shot and your response is a hoot. You should have kept filming adds to the show. Tks
They don't tell you, because the VAST majority of the dealers DON"T KNOW themselves! Most are just pushing a product and know almost NOTHING about what they are selling!
That's some fine business right there. Thanks for sharing this information this is the first time I've seen anything like it on RUclips.
I have gone thru three axles on my 2018 17' Coachman TT from stock 3000 lb axle with 14" tires, the new 3500 lb axle & 15" wheels collapsed day after installation now have a 6500 lb axle with 16" tires, almost totaled the frame from the spring mounts hitting the frame and caused a weak buckle point. frame wants to bend inward on collapse, completely boxed frame in steel added steel plates onto frame, then boxed whole frame in steel, now have jounce bumpers and added 4" x 6" box beam across frame above axle and adding shocks on the diagonal above axle for sway control. oh and the axle is "flipped" eliminating any clearance issues...
Very good information Dave! My 19 foot Aljo has tandem axles so I don't have a capacity problem. But I need the weight distributing bars on or she'll sway all over the road. Also squats down my 1/2 ton Silverado quite a bit without the bars.
19' with tandem, nice setup! I am jealous and haven't even seen it. Happy Trails!
I would bet that you could reinforce your axle because not only are you concerned about it say snapping but I am sure you should be concerned about it bending there for some angle iron with hose clamps should help that to never happen even with another 500 lb just figuring and I have studied architectural drafting which entailed some engineering which entails a lot of math, as well as a lot of trailer experience. I do have a single axle trailer as well as a double axle trailer and I thank you for your due diligence, because I use my single axle for storage I have to be concerned about taking things out before I move it.
Great information and tutorial. Saved me from investing in a weight distribution system. Thank you!
I am not totally anti distribution system, but there are certain scenarios where its more bad than good. Thanks for watching!
buddy your info just saved me a bunch of monney. my truck is heavier than the rv. people just keep telling me to buy a weight distribution hitch.
glad I could help!
I pull a small forest river wolf pup travel trailer that weighs 3000 lbs. The Nissan frontier has a towing capacity of 6400 lbs so I'm 50 % of maximum. I try to load the pickup truck with any heavier stuff … generator, fluids, tools. Tows fine without any major noticeable sway or issues so far. No weight distribution hitch .
You have to consider the weight of the axel and tiers minus total. In another hand when you’re driving on a bumpy road the weight will change each second...
Great video and information! Thanks.
The axle is rated to carry 3000 lbs , the gvm is including the weight of the axle so you need to deduct the weight of the axle off the gvm to work out if your overloaded
Thanks for the video, I’ve been shopping for a long time over a year now and what I found out is the RV world is kinda crap, none of the sale people really know anything like you have said and I checked out a lot of service departments at a lot of RV places and it looks like a lawn mower repair shop, I think I’m going to hop alittle longer and try to get more information before I buy, thanks again for the video
yes and no. In fact the WDH acts as a lever/torsion front to back to get the front of the tow vehicle to take some of the weight and not just the back by applying torsion force to the hitch ( that's why the hitch should be in good condition). So only 20% gets transferred back to the trailer. Use a scale and test it fot yourself you will see it is still an amazing system.
totally agree its an amazing system, but in certain scenarios it can do more harm than good, as in my situation which in grand scheme is more rare than common. Most scenarios are too small pull vehicle with too large of a trailer, that is why the WD system was designed. Thanks for watching.
Love the way you illustrated this information for us.
Had to do a work around since you disabled the comments on your “does the arctic air cooler work or not?” As seen on tv. This is a tiny evaporative cooler such as we have in the southwest. These only work in very low humidity. 10 or 20 % humidity and these work very well. They sit on the roof so of course the water in them is hot. They can keep your house about 25 or 30 degrees cooler than the outside. They don’t work well during our monsoon season when it’s humid. But when you only get 4 to 5 inches of rain per year evaporative coolers work wonders.
Great info! When I was hauling I had new empty trailers and empty truck bed etc. never thought about loaded trailer changing the dynamics. I wonder if you could have fit a 7k axle under there. Glad you got it fixed. ROFL on the blooper reel!!!! I am going to start keeping my bloopers and making them into a funny video by themselves.
Overloaded e 350 van with shingles,pulling single axle 4x8 trailer loaded ,lost steering ,had to put more on small trailer,now having to rebuild trailer
Even if your not loading your rv to the max switch to a 10ply E-load rated radial tire. It could save your life.
very good advice Robert. I went from 13" tires to a 14" E rated. I did that before the axle issues. Lucky I did, if I would have had the 13" China bombs on there it might've been a different outcome
great info explains why I was over heating I bet. thank you.
it should not affect heating/cooling. Feel free to give more info and I will try to help with ideas. Main thing is maintain safe speed, try not to use air conditioning, and never use overdrive.
You mentioned the angle of the wheels in an overloaded trailer stressing the bearings.
If you are an RVer and like water toys or fishing boats, Look into Expandacraft, a modular watercraft that stores in small spaces and converts into all sorts of different craft. Oh, and we ship all over the world.
Yea I don't think so i think it just put torque counter clockwise to lift the rear of your truck back up and help the ride.. it probably adds the weight of your hitch not decreases it. So it looks more even and is because of the torque it puts on it. Doesn't magically remove weight . or maybe it does lol And I know what your saying im not confused on the simple idea of what your saying I just dont see it happening.
This is because the weight of the axle is included in the gvwr. Axle is 300lbs and it's weight carrying capacity is 3000 for a total of 3300 lbs.
Thanx much Dave. O. M. G. this essential information for anybody towing. [I'm surely glad I run across this vid. Thank you again & again.]
I have a 17 ft single axle I am remodeling. It tows like two deep freezers and a anvil chained together on a 20ft rope behind my Silverado
LOL,,,,
Thank you , thank you again , so simple and so smart !!! Thanks for an honest explanation!!!
I really learned a lot with this video. My question is do you not want the trailer level for braking purpose? I will look at my axle when I pull it from storage. Also, what about sway control? With my weight distribution it is incorportated into it and Reese told me which light weight hitch they recommended. I have had this self contained unit for 2 years and lots of mileage and no tire wear. Like I said before I will look at the axles and closely look at the tire wear.
Please keep in mind Ron this totally pertains to heavy vehicle and light trailer. The reason you want trailer level is for smooth ride/pull. If the tail of trailer has too much weight the trailer will fishtail on you and have crazy sway.
@@davesrvchannel4717 You are right I have a light weight truck (Frontier) pulling a light trailer. The setup I have seems to fit my needs quite well. However saying that , I will check very closely my axle weight and tire wear. Thanks again for the information. Safe towing = Happy Camper
Awesome video! Great job
Thanks!!
check the tire rating as well. It's even less.
Yup, our Forest River is maxed out, when I did the math year's ago I was amazed...
We did upgraded our tires for more load but our axle should be upgraded also. Manufacturers should be jailed for this crap, Yes we love our floorplan and we have had to pull at 85 mph passing semi trucks in the flatlands. We go 4x4 in the dirt mountain roads where we like to camp, but I'm always ready for problems now and the trailer manufactures should be held acceptable for bad components and design problems like this...
Just takes the fun out of our family camping trips.
So look before you buy!
Thanks for the advice and very good work on the video...
Awesome information. Thank you for doing the research!
Excellent info and presented in an easy to understand format! Thanks
Hi Dave. Found your vidieo interesting. Let me tell you my story. It sometimes takes a lot of tuning the trailer set up to get it to tow well. Some 20 years ago, I had an 88 Jeep Comanche 4x4 longbox with a 4.0 six and 5 speed. I rode that puppy hard. I had the 1/2 ton model but Jeep offered a metric ton payload package (2200 lbs) option. Structurally and mechanically, the chassis was the same except for swapping out the rear axle for a Dana 44 and bigger rear brakes and springs, plus adding an auxiliary cooling fan to the radiator. We decided we wanted to get a travel trailer and go camping. We found a dual axle 23 foot terry travel trailer. I had previously installed a class III receiver hitch to use for miscellaneous towing, skidding logs to use for firewood and a place to hook onto when I got stuck. Worked great. Anyway, after checking everything out, I determined if I used a receiver hitch with equalizer bars I could tow up to about 5,000 lbs. the trailer data plate indicated it was 3700 lbs dry so I figured I was good to go. I purchased the trailer and an equalizer set and had the truck rigged by the dealer to tow it. They fully serviced the trailer, should me how to use it and take care of everything and told me the ‘proper’ way to hook it up to the truck. They said to set the bars to make the truck and trailer sit level. That all done, I towed it home and we set out to go camping. It towed terrible. It would start swaying badly at about 45 mph. When I looked at the towing instructions with the hitch, basically I had everything set up right. I found that a friction damped sway control device was recommended, and that the trailer and hitch had a provision to install one. So I purchased one an installed it. It helped, but did not fix the problem. So I dug deeper. My hitch had adjustments for height and pitch. The height was to set the ball distance from the ground and pitch set the angle for the equalizer bars. (It helped the height of the bars from the ground at the trailer tongue mounts.) i adjusted ball height and pitch, then I then took the truck and trailer to a scale to get some weights. The trailer (loaded with most of the gear we would be taking) came in right at 4700 lbs. 750 of that was on the tongue. (250 over 500 pound rating.) I then weighed the truck. With gas, it came in at around 3450. 2050 on the front and 1400 on the rear. When I added the trailer, hooked up as instructed, the weight of the truck went to this. 3275 front, 975 rear, for a total of 4250. I did not weigh the trailer axle hooked up. I was not concerned about that because it was well under axle gross weight. No wonder the truck was swaying all over the place! My front axle weight increased by 1225 lbs and my rear axle weight went DOWN by 425 lbs. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. The gross axle weight ratings for my Comanche were 2500 front and 2644 rear. I had not only put all my trailer tongue weight on the front axle, I had moved an additional 475 lbs of truck weight off the rear to the front. I was now 775 lbs over gross on the front axle and 1,669 lbs under gross on the rear. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to shoot for a 50/50 weight distribution for front and rear, with maybe 100 to 200 lbs to the rear. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours adjusting the tension on the equalizer bars and reweighing the truck on the scale. I did not scale the trailer because it’s axle weight was well below it’s weight rating. When I was done, I had 2175 on the front axle 2250 on the rear axle. Total gross weight of 4425. 425 lbs under 4850 GVW. Combined GCVW was 9264 lbs. the combined weight of this package was around 8350 without driver. So I was comfortably under combined weight. The 32 gallon water tank was in the front of the trailer so I could cut the tongue weight by almost 200 pounds by not filling it up and waiting until we got near the destination. The result of this setup drove and handled much better. You still knew you had the trailer behind you. It had a LOT of wind drag. It took a deep throttle to pull above 55 mph. I got 11 mpg pulling it. The one thing visually which many people commented on was the rear end squatted about 4 inches with trailer attached. So the truck had a tail down look. Most of that was due to the soft rear springs. When unloaded, it allowed for good axle articulation off road. It took about 500 to 600 lbs to settle down onto the overload leafs to stiffen them up to take a payload. So you would get quite a bit of squat when loaded. But it had around 9 inches of suspension travel in the rear, around 7 inches in the front. Even when loaded with 2200 pounds of rock in the bed, it was not bottomed out. Still had almost 2 inches of travel left. That Jeep was a pretty darn good light pickup. I got 288,000 miles out of it before it got a dent in it the insurance company would not pay to fix. Then someone bought it and used the drivetrain to upgrade their 4 cyl 2x4 Comanche to a 6 cyl 4x4. Sometimes, it takes getting pretty deep into the weeds to get things set up right.
Great story you wouldn't think as a driver you would have to go that deep. I think this is one area where regulations would simplify what you can and can't pull. And trust me I hate regulations. Nice job getting it all sorted out.
@@Ricky-eo5ym Actually, the towing regulations for towing are not that difficult or complicated. And they are there for our benefit and safety. But there are a lot of simplified rules of thumb and grandpappy did it that way so I will do it too traditions which don’t always work. And as a driver, it’s pretty easy to determine if you’re within the limits. You use a simple scale and the documentation of your vehicle ratings posted on the vehicle. But when things don’t turn out right, thats where most people stop. I just chose to figure out why my weights were off and diving into the weeds was what it took to work it out. I suspect most people would not have bothered to dig into the why they were not meeting the rules and ether would have towed the load as was or not towed it at all. I chose to understand where the problem was and make the additional adjustments to fix it. Years later when I changed jobs and got my CDL and started driving semi trucks, it became part of my job to better understand load and balance for truck and trailer weights and know how to adjust the truck and trailer to properly accommodate the different loads. Most of the time there was no problem. Occasionally it took more time and effort to make everything work out. And with the large fuel tank capacities and weights of the diesel fuel we could carry, that also sometimes became an additional issue for balancing the load. There were times when I had to restrict how much fuel I put in the tanks to remain legal on my weights. (Some of the trucks I drove carried as much as 2,400 pounds of fuel with full tanks.
You see a lot of people going down the road with unsafe load setups. Not everyone has the fortitude or ability to figure out what they need. I too have been driving class A for over 30 years up here in Canada and trust me I have seen some pretty unsafe setups.
Dave we have almost the same trailer from Forest River badge as a Viking 16b. When we bought our trailer, i was planning to buy a weight disttibution hitch, but the tech told me to wait until we experience towing without it. we never bought the weight distribution hitch. i plan to see if i can find the tag on our axle showing the max weight rate as you showed in your video. thanks again for the info
glad I could be of some help. To find the tag on axle, you can approach the back side of axle. If you have good smart phone cam you likely can selfie stick a video without having to crawl under there, watch your video and pause where needed to read weight capacity of your axle.
Excellent info. Not to add anything to your head-aches, except for the fly (lol), but what are the springs rated for? Generally they rate them with them with the axles.
That gets best question award!!! Honestly, I do not know,,,hmmm
Dave And Purdy
Look on the band that wraps around the spring pack should have a PN like PR4B, or AW3 etc etc and reply and I will tell you. Also you could tell me the number of leafs and how long it is and I can tell you
I replaced tires before this happened and went to 14" tires with load D. My Original axle was 3000#, I now have a 3500# axle
you should double the axle size to 6000 lbs. then hook up your weight distribution hitch and enjoy your driving down the road.
Get an axle that can fit 8 lug wheels. Then you can use the same 16" rims as 3/4 and 1 ton pickups. The tires for them are way sturdier and more durable as well as cheaper (you can run your old 10 ply truck wheels and tires and they'll last forever. They have more ground clearance and roll easier with their higher air pressure limits. The axles come with beefier springs that won't get flat from rough country. Bottoming on potholes is less likely to bend the axle beam camber "bowlegged". The electric brakes on 8 lug hubs are larger and safer too. Get the springs for 5k axles, too, not 3.5K. The trailer will sit higher, prouder and carry a lot more cargo and accessories. Heck, you are absolutely counting on just those single tires on each side....why not just have them be as big and as tough as possible??
before this happened I increased tire size from 13" to 14". I also bought E rated tires that are multi ply. As for axle, the width of RV is not a standard width. I got the highest rated axle I could find which is 3500#. I researched on the net for days and called numerous places. I would've bought 10K pound axle if I could have bought one, they are just not available at the width of my RV, bolt pattern etc
I see someone already said but I will add another note: The axle itself will commonly weigh about 250 - 300 pounds. That weight is not "on" the axle, it "is" the axle. It still is not much room to maneuver, but that is where the other 300# is coming from.
So your axle was over weighted due mainly to the weight distribution hitch. You explanation was outstanding for the average person to understand on how it works. I had a small trailer like yours and never used a weight distributing hitch. Just make sure that 60% of the loaded weight is in front of the axle or you might get some sway. Back in January I bought a 22' trailer (dual axle) that weighs about 4700 lbs when loaded and the salesman insisted that I needed to purchase a weight distributing hitch. I told him that I was going to pass and see how things go without one. I have a F-150 Supercrew and I've driven it in the windiest conditions and no sway at all. I'm guessing if you are at 25' or longer or weigh over 5000 lbs then that's when the weight distribution hitch is necessary.
Thanks for the kind words!! I had a 24' trailer with dual axle, that is when I purchased the distribution kit by Reese. Huge difference for the 24'. My main issue was my pull vehicle at that time was short wheelbase. That has a lot to do with how well trailers sway and travel. So your supercrew probably gives a great pull and ride. Downhill you may notice some issue without the distribution system so if you haven't pulled in hilly conditions, may wanna take the first few easy. Thanks again for comment and watching
It pulls it quite well. When big rigs pass me I get blown over less then when I had my previous 19' trailer. Kind of weird...maybe because it's 600 lbs heavier. In 3 weeks I'm going camping and the drive has a huge hill to climb. I'll be cautious on the way down.
sounds great! If you remember to, please give us an update as to how it pulled up and down the hill, and the rest of the trip. Happy Trails!!
Also consider that the axel weight itself cannot be included
Can you elaborate? Thx
Great video... it's a mystery to me why the manufacturer cannot build a 20% safety factor into an axle get..... I story I have heard in the past... you could use a WDH on the back of a large FWD (ex Olds Toronto) and remove the rear wheels and drive the vehicle... this was 60's engineering!!
I had a 68 Toronado,,that is hilarious story, never heard that before.
Don't forget the water weight in the water heater also.
Might also need to put heaver springs on
so helpful. thank you for this.
Good info and presented in a manor that is easily understandable. Thanks for taking time to make this video. Best wishes to you !
Excellent points! Here’s something else: Going over uneven roads with a weight distribution hitch can amplify the points you made. Picture a truck nose up coming out of a dip while the trailer nose down going into the dip. Imagine the forces at play in this situation.
Many RV dealers just want to sell add ons, or they just don’t know the physics involved. The answer: get a tow vehicle that well exceeds the trailer’s towing requirements. Thanks again - excellent video.
you make some very great points!!!!! Thanks