How A Weight Distribution Hitch Works
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- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2020
- Sometimes weight distribution hitches can be difficult to wrap your brain around everything that’s going on when you hook one up to your truck and trailer. This video will help give you a visual and further explain what a weight distribution hitch does for you and more specifically what our True Tow Weight Distribution Hitch offers. We’ve designed this hitch with an app on your smart phone that will calculate your exact DTW (Distributed Tongue Weight) that is required to have a truly distributed system. The DTW calculation communicates precisely how much weight the spring arms will load to in order to provide a true distribution which then gives the correct front axel load return to the vehicle and is reflected in an added amount of weight to the built-in gauge, called DTW. Check it out!
www.weigh-safe.com
www.weigh-safe.com/towing-saf... 
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This is a good depiction of WHAT the hitch does, not HOW it works. Seriously, how the heck does it work?
this guy does a better job of that.
ruclips.net/video/AkK9uktf32E/видео.html&ab_channel=AlexonAutos
Very good point. The physics behind it is based on the spring arms. Where the normal hitch has flexible connection that allows for a sag, the spring loaded arms push back and create more like a hard, rigid connection. It is like replace chain with a solid bar. Because it is not bendable, the rear axle does not squat as much as before.
people that can explain how things work are truly gifted, unfortunately they are rare these days
In the digital era, they call them science communicators. They make smart look easy.
I finally understood it watching this video. Think of it like instead of a ball coupling, you had a door hinge connection that could only swivel left and right. The joint between trailer and truck would not bend up or down, therefore the squatting could not occur.
The weight distribution hitch uses springs to achieve this effect, but with a little bit of give so that going over hills it can still bend up and down. Just requires extra force to do so. So you'd only sag going over bumps or dips.
The animation, although excellent, does not show how the hitch works. It only says it works.
It should work no different than a regular distribution hitch. It simply has a gauge and a torque bolt to adjust it. The biggest problem I see is it increases the distance from the rear axle t to the ball which gives more leverage to the trailer for both weight and sway that must be compensated by the distribution - sway bars. I would love to see a redesign that puts the ball as close to the bumper as possible.
Came here to make the same comment. Still don't know how it works.
@@heavymetalmechanicX Me TOO. I have yet to see ANY video tell you HOW it works, not just what it does. BUT. I will tell you how it actually works.
What these things do is restrict the downward pivot of the ball and hitch. IF you took a 2" square tubing and welded it to the trailer and stuck it in the receiver you would have NO sag at all. Of course you wouldn't be able to turn.
If you took a long leaf hinge, opened it and placed it on two round tubes, the hinge would just collapse. And the ends of the hinge go up. But if you took a paint mixing stick and clamped it to one leaf, of the hinge and took a rubber band and strapped it to the other leaf, it would straighten that hinge right back up. The two ends, pin and knuckles will all get straightened out. The two round tubes represent the tires of the trailer and the rear tires of the truck. The ends of the hinge are the front tires of the truck and tail end of the trailer. The hinge pin and knuckles are the ball and hitch. So you can see how it actually brings that front end back down
What all these videos never say is that when you are tensioning the bars with chains or like this one with a fancy tensioner is that all you are doing is getting the right stiffness so that the ball has SOME movement up and down.
That right there is why you will never see them putting these things on utility trailers because the weight changes way too much. Boats and travel trailers don't change much. OR at least enough to makes a difference.
I hope this makes sense?
Example of long leaf hinge or strap hinge.
www.lowes.com/pd/National-Hardware-11-1-2-in-Zinc-Gate-Hinge/1000510823?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-google-_-lia-_-213-_-doorandhomehardware-_-1000510823-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0fr_BRDaARIsAABw4EtH9SoBc1xXS6kuVeXzfRcsHPyoSl91NN6j6_QzY0Q1JWQ-3kiWAukaAvwVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
At the 1:40 mark, you can see how it torques upwards on the hitch. So applying force from the back of the trailer tongue hitch up and into the truck hitch which exerts into the truck frame basically, which makes the front receive some of the weight. It's just a lever from the trailer hitch tip to back sides of the trailer hitch where they connect that pushes outwards both ways and counteracts against the ball/hitch point. The truck front springs and trailer axle springs can absorb the force(weight).
That’s great, but how does it actually work???
Best video I've seen on this topic. Great job!
Very helpful, thanks!
He explains what it does but now how it does it.
How does this type of hitch compare to an overload spring and/or airbags?
How much is the moment on the frame rails near the front of the cargo box increased with this system?
I learnt something new today
Amazing
The animation is insane! how did you do that? Daimn! nice one
Not insane at all… Very simple animation. Welcome to the 21st century
How much strain does a weight distribution hitch put on the trailer tongue and frame?
This video does not explain how weight distribution hitches work. It only explains how to adjust their particular gadget and completely fails to explain how it works. It's almost funny how inaccurate the video's description is :-)
Here is a video that actually does explain how it works:
ruclips.net/video/AkK9uktf32E/видео.html
Sam is right that this video ruclips.net/video/AkK9uktf32E/видео.html shows the principle of how it actually works but he goes over it so fast and leaves out why the bars have chains. Look at my comment to the others here where I explain it.
Thank You, for not explaining the Physics (mechanics) of how it works.
How does this work when towing s trailer off road with an articulating hitch rather than a ball mount on level roads?
You would never use this off road, or at least you shouldn't.
This would be a lot better with a very basic model of how this works -- reduce it down to basics like those old 1940s videos with sicks and weights and demonstrate how changing the lever arm is actually changing things or whatever.
Waste of time! You should change the title to "I'll tell you that the weight distribution works".
I have yet to see ANY video tell you HOW it works, not just what it does. BUT. I will tell you how it actually works.
What these things do is restrict the downward pivot of the ball and hitch. IF you took a 2" square tubing and welded it to the trailer and stuck it in the receiver you would have NO sag at all. Of course you wouldn't be able to turn.
If you took a long leaf hinge, opened it and placed it on two round tubes, the hinge would just collapse. And the ends of the hinge go up. But if you took a paint mixing stick and clamped it to one leaf, of the hinge and took a rubber band and strapped it to the other leaf, it would straighten that hinge right back up. The two ends, pin and knuckles will all get straightened out. The two round tubes represent the tires of the trailer and the rear tires of the truck. The ends of the hinge are the front tires of the truck and tail end of the trailer. The hinge pin and knuckles are the ball and hitch. So you can see how it actually brings that front end back down
What all these videos never say is that when you are tensioning the bars with chains or like this one with a fancy tensioner is that all you are doing is getting the right stiffness so that the ball has SOME movement up and down.
That right there is why you will never see them putting these things on utility trailers because the weight changes way too much. Boats and travel trailers don't change much. OR at least enough to makes a difference.
I hope this makes sense?
Example of long leaf hinge or strap hinge.
www.lowes.com/pd/National-Hardware-11-1-2-in-Zinc-Gate-Hinge/1000510823?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-google-_-lia-_-213-_-doorandhomehardware-_-1000510823-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0fr_BRDaARIsAABw4EtH9SoBc1xXS6kuVeXzfRcsHPyoSl91NN6j6_QzY0Q1JWQ-3kiWAukaAvwVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I'm trying to understand how this works, the bars are acting as levers and pulling the tongue up. But I still can't figure out why the truck levels- the tongue weight hasn't changed. I guess using the lever arms effectively moves the hitching point backwards?
I think what it does is it kinda stops the rotation on the ball of your hitch, witch then pulls the trailer up. So it's pretty much putting tremendous pressure on the ball and chains of the hitch, aswell as I'm assuming off road the hitch doesn't work, as you no longer have the ability to go up and down hills, as your truck and trailer are sorta "one" object that can only rotate left and right..
A video about distributing weight that neglects completely to tell the viewer how it distributes weight.
So should you be targeting 10-15% of trailer weight on the tongue before or after weight distribution?
Don't buy it, I have one, it was broken out of the box
Before
Actually the front axle on the trailer also takes on more weight because now the Trailer tilted forward
Yo what if your rear has air suspension it automatically levels
So... How does it work?
Just so I understand this correctly, even though you set the scale to 2500 lbs, that doesn’t mean that 2500 lbs of weight is on the truck, correct?
Correct! The Distributed Tongue Weight (what you adjust the scale to be set at) is the amount of weight that is being distributed and isn't changing your actual/initial tongue weight.
@@weighsafe Please help me understand. If 15-20% of the tongue weight is redistributed to the trailer's front axle...then its actually reducing the weight of the tongue on the truck. Right? I understand that the tongue weight is still there, but the truck doesn't take 100% of that weight...Right? For example: It the tongue weight is 1000 lbs and 150 lbs are redistributed to the front axle of the trailer (the trailer is taking some weight off the truck), the truck will only received 850lbs of the total weight on it. Right?
There's no explanation, but I'm going to guess this:
The leveler works by pushing up on the hitch ball, and pulling down on the back of the trailer tongue, levering the whole trailer downward, and pushing all the weight toward the ends of the combined vehicle.
Is that about right?
No not really. I have yet to see ANY video tell you HOW it works, not just what it does. BUT. I will tell you how it actually works.
What these things do is restrict the downward pivot of the ball and hitch. IF you took a 2" square tubing and welded it to the trailer and stuck it in the receiver you would have NO sag at all. Of course you wouldn't be able to turn.
If you took a long leaf hinge, opened it and placed it on two round tubes, the hinge would just collapse. And the ends of the hinge go up. But if you took a paint mixing stick and clamped it to one leaf, of the hinge and took a rubber band and strapped it to the other leaf, it would straighten that hinge right back up. The two ends, pin and knuckles will all get straightened out. The two round tubes represent the tires of the trailer and the rear tires of the truck. The ends of the hinge are the front tires of the truck and tail end of the trailer. The hinge pin and knuckles are the ball and hitch. So you can see how it actually brings that front end back down
What all these videos never say is that when you are tensioning the bars with chains or like this one with a fancy tensioner is that all you are doing is getting the right stiffness so that the ball has SOME movement up and down.
That right there is why you will never see them putting these things on utility trailers because the weight changes way too much. Boats and travel trailers don't change much. OR at least enough to makes a difference.
I hope this makes sense?
Example of long leaf hinge or strap hinge.
www.lowes.com/pd/National-Hardware-11-1-2-in-Zinc-Gate-Hinge/1000510823?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-google-_-lia-_-213-_-doorandhomehardware-_-1000510823-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0fr_BRDaARIsAABw4EtH9SoBc1xXS6kuVeXzfRcsHPyoSl91NN6j6_QzY0Q1JWQ-3kiWAukaAvwVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
How are you supposed to drive through a creek crossing or turn around on a single lane mountain road or un level camping areas with one of those leveling devices binding up the hitch? Why not just get a truck that doesn’t squat when you put a trailer on it?
I still dont get it...does a weight disteibution hitch distributes the tongue weight to both the towing vehicle and back to the trailer? meaning out of for example 1000lbs tongue weight originally i now only have 750lbs tongue weight and 250 go back to trailer?
does that mean my vehicle about 20% heavier load?
why should i not ever use a weight distribution hitch then?
has anyone noticed that they completely ignored that hitch length that is added is going to dramatically increase trailer sway in cross winds,
Sorry if this is a dumb statement but I just don't understand how they work. I understand they are like handles to a wheel barrow and the higher you lift the weight gets distributed but, I don't know..... It seems like you are trying to pick yourself up while you are standing in a bucket.
Wait, so putting a weight distribution system increases tongue weight? I thought it was the other way around and weight would be put into the trailer instead of
hey man I swear by this
Cause and effect and how to correct it. Lacks description on how hitch works to achieve results ... only describes what is does.
And then if you attach another chain with a crossbar and hydraulic cylinder, it will improve your fuel economy. And make your breakfast too!
"How A Weight Distribution Hitch Works" These things are very wrongly named. They don't distribute weight at all. All these things do is restrict something from happening and that's it.
So does this mean that the tongue weight decreases when the weight distribution bars are in place?
No. Good question. The true tongue weight stays the same. When the weight distribution system is set up and weight is distributed correctly, then you will actually have more tongue weight applied to the tow ball. This is called Distributed Tongue Weight (DTW). Please reach out with any further questions. support@weigh-safe.com
thanks! it is a bit confusing but I believe I am starting to understand conceptually how it works (hopefully). The total weight in the truck hitch once the WD bars are in place has to be lower, but the total pressure on the tow ball is higher because of the combined effect of 2 leverages going in 2 different directions, down due to the original tongue weight and up due to the WD bars.
This is the second video i watched that shows the weight being distributed back to the trailer axle not the front axle of the truck I believe most people think its goes to the front axle of the truck . So who is correct ? When do you know when you need one ?
@@davidmatt904 Both. The WD bars produce an upward torque effect at the towing vehicle hitch, decreasing logically both the weight on front and rear axles. The WD bars also produce a downward torque at the tongue of the trailer, increasing the weight on the trailer axle.
@@larrykaberga5453 UM No. You guys are over thinking it. I have yet to see ANY video tell you HOW it works, not just what it does. BUT. I will tell you how it actually works.
What these things do is restrict the downward pivot of the ball and hitch. IF you took a 2" square tubing and welded it to the trailer and stuck it in the receiver you would have NO sag at all. Of course you wouldn't be able to turn.
If you took a long leaf hinge, opened it and placed it on two round tubes, the hinge would just collapse. And the ends of the hinge go up. But if you took a paint mixing stick and clamped it to one leaf, of the hinge and took a rubber band and strapped it to the other leaf, it would straighten that hinge right back up. The two ends, pin and knuckles will all get straightened out. The two round tubes represent the tires of the trailer and the rear tires of the truck. The ends of the hinge are the front tires of the truck and tail end of the trailer. The hinge pin and knuckles are the ball and hitch. So you can see how it actually brings that front end back down
What all these videos never say is that when you are tensioning the bars with chains or like this one with a fancy tensioner is that all you are doing is getting the right stiffness so that the ball has SOME movement up and down.
That right there is why you will never see them putting these things on utility trailers because the weight changes way too much. Boats and travel trailers don't change much. OR at least enough to makes a difference.
I hope this makes sense?
Example of long leaf hinge or strap hinge.
www.lowes.com/pd/National-Hardware-11-1-2-in-Zinc-Gate-Hinge/1000510823?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-google-_-lia-_-213-_-doorandhomehardware-_-1000510823-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0fr_BRDaARIsAABw4EtH9SoBc1xXS6kuVeXzfRcsHPyoSl91NN6j6_QzY0Q1JWQ-3kiWAukaAvwVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
This is WHAT happens not HOW
Don't put a leveling kit on your trucks people. The manufacturer has lots of hours in designing your vehicle
ya, but damn near all of the recommend using a load leveler at weights over 5klb
This only happens if you load the trailer unevenly.
It’s more necessary for a camper that you don’t “load” but could already be heavy on the tongue.
Whaaaaaa?
This video would be better if it described how a weight distribution hitch works.
It would be great if you could prove the physics with a live action video instead of a cartoon.
Or you can learn to load your trailer nice and evenly.
This video made me more confused about how it works
When you call the back of the truck "the back of the trailer"... just give up at that point.
This only happens if 1 = you have a poorly designed trailer with the axles set top far back, or 2, you are too cheap to buy a proper ball drop for your truck. Been towing my whole life and a weight distribution hitch does nothing for stability or safety
so it doesn't distribute weight... it puts tension on the hitch... bending against the weight... sounds like snake-oil to me
...or you could just load your trailer so that it's properly balanced...
This is totally useless, since you never explain how the darn thing works!!!
This does not tell us how it works. It only tells us "how to work it" - that is, how how operate the device. I clicked this thinking it would tell me how weight distributing hitches work. It does not.
Worst customer service ever. My scale leaked after 2 uses. They sent me out another one for me to install snail mail. When I finally got it they sent the wrong parts. Now waiting again for the right part. One of the most expensive distribution hitches and the worst customer service. Some guy working from home sending out the wrong parts. Instead of just sending me a new hitch and me sending mine back collect. Wouldn't recommend this hitch cause they don't stand behind their product.
did not explain how it works
As long as I've been pulling trailers, calling curt hitches, even their tech guru's which are impossibly poor explained, thus why I've never found a common sensible video just showing basis mechanical physics..Layman's terms using a damn pointing stick saying when you do this, that is what happens..Spring arms and chain is an entirely different concept than solid bars, yet achieves the same result. One fact needs to be understood. Marketing..Companies will heavily relie that the average(99.8% of people don't care how it works, just that it does work). This unit claims that weight is actually transferred back to the trailer verses transferring weight to the trucks front axles..Its a choice on how to explain.. I'll attempt to explain by basic mechanical physics..The clamped portion on the trailer frame has little to do with anything..That clamped portion has downward pressure, or it would be ripped right up and off..Until I'm capable of making a video on You Tube, it will seem impossible to explain. It's a push and pull aspect at two points. It's rather ingenious, yet no different than the principles of the late Manitowoc cranes. Hell even cantilever. A downward pressure creates an upward movement, or lets say more importantly a "lesser"downward pressure at a midpoint..weight transfer..Weight distribution..A common bridge made of precast concrete cantilevers. Internally they have the equivalent of spring steel..Yet the spring steel hitches aren't quite the same as solid bar hitches. People, one inch of hitch length to the ball means a lot, a lot!!!..Spring steel type are not the solid bar type, even though carrying loads..Remember, there only needs to be a compensation transfer on big trailers from 500 pounds. Maybe 7 or 800 pounds. Given the tongue weight of 1,000, to 1500 hundred..Every trailer by specs needs a minimum downward pressure to keep the ball hitch intact..But here we have both a unique in unison equilibrium of both upward and downward pressure. The downward pressure is more than enough to overcompensate upward pull. Notated upward pull..Something can in fact be pulled upward from the clamp/jaws of your locked tongue hitch, yet having substantial downward pressure exceeding that by about 66 percent. Anyone who has ever set their trailer knows you're lifting your entire truck and trailer just to set the weight distribution hitch. Rise and fall into place..You're tongue hitch is clamping in place momentarily to make that happen..The trailer manufacturer says, no, you need a minimum of downward pressure by common law on that ball hitch..But weight distribution is different that it's both controlling a modified push and pull effect. Engineers should not laugh at my limited engineering in sound acoustics with a dual voice coil speaker. (Transducer, ,which is actually a piston assembly). A mechanical assembly quite not unlike a car engine, a cam shaft pushing and pulling in unison..The dual coil speaker is like ,we don't want to extend too far that is blows apart..Because their friends in science are vigilantly monitoring the pull back..Equilibrium, the more power does not change the factor. Mechanical physics (mathematics), can not lie..Your weight distribution clamps 3 feet to the rear on the trailer frame from the ball point, is in fact pulling your entire truck rear upward. Why would people misunderstand that, I've explained, there is still greater downward pressure on the tongue, by at least two thirds. Perhaps religiously 60 percent. Your trailer might have a 1200 pound tongue weight, but in weight distribution it only needs to be 800. That's a huge fricking difference between your truck, be it 2500 ,3500hundred, or Ford 250/350. Or if you're dumb enough to pull a 38 foot travel trailer with a 1500, or 150...My f250 xlt diesel has the identical commercial towing package of the f350. Including rear 4 inch blocks. I'm not here to debate with Ford owners. I'll help you if Ford is confusing.. Same front and rear springs as f350, same anti sway bar, same 4 inch rear lift blocks. Only difference is the f350 frame that can tow beyond 19,000 pounds up to 30 plus. Off that subject. This video truck hitch is a bit unique. And I'll respectfully challenge them. Inside their hitch box that we can't see is a ,or better be a damn well engineered pivot point with crafted tensiled steel that can at center bear the weight repeatedly. Made by their claim of a simple rotary bolt adjustment. I'll claim BS, that it only has a 2 inch adjustment at best. Not 3 to 5.. And the scale, which most likely is faultable, isn't necessary. You just added 10 inches plus to my hitch, which means if your product fails, so does my trip. Blue oxe, over priced. Curt same technology yet a non chain assembly. Better for less money. This company hasn't even talked about sway control. There's no way their pivot point can capitalize on that. Give this Ford owner with a pulling machine, pulling a 35rlts grand design bumper pull, 3pull outs, 38 foot length, and I'll sell your product religiously for free if it works.
if you need this you better learn how to load a trailer properly or get a REAL truck! these WDH are just a bandaid on a broken arm!
Like all engineers, you talk a lot and you say nothing
you’re showing us examples of WHAT happens but
you don’t show us HOW !!!!!!
wasted time here.
This is absolutely snake oil
Morgan DOES NOT explain the mechanics of HOW the distribution hitch works. Annoying
I bought this and it was broken out of the box. Waste of money.
So… how does it work? What a waste of time.