Atlee
Mechanicsville, VA
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All the various WDH that I've seen come in weight categories. For example, the Equal-i-zer hitch comes in 400#, 600#, 1000#, 1200#, and 1400#.
What size should one get if the tongue weight could go from 550# to 650#.
Could a 600# Equal-i-zer hitch work in this instance, even though the hitch might go to 650#, or should one get the #1000 Equal-i-zer?
Erroll, Mary, Duffy the Badger Dog plus "Ollie"
2009 HiLo Towlite 2209T
2005 F150 Supercab 4x4, w/ 5.4L
1996 RoadTrek 210 Popular, on 1995 Chevy Chassis
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WyoTraveler
Powell, WY
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Reese makes an 800 lb. 550 to 650 is where my TT falls when loaded. I have the Reese 800 trunion bar
2012 Jay Flight 19RD TT/W thermal package
R19 walls, R22 roof, R24 floor
2008 F-250 Ford FX4 6.8L V10/4.10 rear axle
Curt class V hitch
Reese Trunion WD with dual cam
AC6CV/7 ex-W8RUR since 1954
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Dick_B
Palos Heights, IL USA
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I'd call the manufacturer for the best answer.
Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2011 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
Equal-i-zer Hitch
One wife, two bikes (both Electric Schwinn's with motor assist)
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skipnchar
Topeka or somewhere else
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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Size your spring bars for 15% of your trailers GVWR. Get as close to that weight as possible without being UNDER it. Sizing for your trailer ACTUAL weight means you're going to be under sized when the trailer is fully loaded.
Good luck / Skip
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR -
2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles)
2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
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APT
SE Michigan
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I would use the EQ 1000 or Reese 800 of 550-650. How do you know 550 to 650 is your range? Few RV owners know their actual TW in their lifetime, let alone what we all estimate before purchasing one.
A & A parents of DD 2005, DS1 2007, DS2 2009
2011 Suburban 2500 6.0L 3.73 pulling 2011 Heartland North Trail 28BRS
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Atlee
Mechanicsville, VA
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APT wrote:I would use the EQ 1000 or Reese 800 of 550-650. How do you know 550 to 650 is your range? Few RV owners know their actual TW in their lifetime, let alone what we all estimate before purchasing one.
It's a guesstimate based on the GVWR of the trailers I'm looking at times 15%. I do not plan on going over the 15% mark, nor will I go over the GVWR of what ever trailer I eventually buy.
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goducks10
Keizer OR
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Whats your tow vehicle and TT. If you have a 3/4 ton or more you may not even need WD. Depending on what TT you have you need to find the real dry weight add about 1000-1200lbs (average cargo) to the dry weight number. X it by 10-15% and thats what your tongue weight SHOULD be. Then depending on whether you have stuff in your TV you may need to compensate for that some with your WD bar size. In other words if you have a 1/2 ton and have a 550lb TW and add 500lbs to the truck you should go with 1000lb er's or more. Your WD bars have to lift the TT tongue as well as lift the xtra weight in the truck thats made it sag. On a 3/4 ton you could get buy with 600lb er's because the truck can easily support the xtra 500lbs in the bed. Using the GVWR can be misleading at times. My TT has a GVWR of 8400lbs, but has a dry weight of 6189lbs. (door jamb sticker). Wife and I only add about 1000lbs so we are at 7200+ or -. We would be hard pressed to add 2211 lbs to our TT. With that being said our bars would need to be 1260lb if we went buy the 15% of GVWR rule since our TW would be 1260lb. In reality our TW is 900 + or -. We still use 1200lb bars because we put stuff in the the truck and have a canopy on the truck.
* This post was
edited 01/26/12 10:49am by goducks10 *
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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over kill is not out of the question. if you decide to get a bigger TT than you will have to buy a new WDH down the road. I would buy at least a 1200 and save money in the long run
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Ron Gratz
full time RVer
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Joined: 12/27/2003
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Atlee wrote:What size should one get if the tongue weight could go from 550# to 650#.
Could a 600# Equal-i-zer hitch work in this instance, even though the hitch might go to 650#, or should one get the #1000 Equal-i-zer?
Quote:{The tongue weight of 550-650# is} a guesstimate based on the GVWR of the trailers I'm looking at times 15%. I do not plan on going over the 15% mark, nor will I go over the GVWR of what ever trailer I eventually buy. Most people do not load a TT to 100% of its GVWR. Most loaded TTs do not have a tongue weight as high as 15%.
Since your 650# guesstimate is based on 15% of the maximum GVWR you are considering, IMO it is not very likely you would exceed a TW of 600#.
Even if your TW does hit 650#, I would rather tow at 50# over the WD bar rating versus 350# under the rating.
For the conditions you've defined, I would choose the 600# bars versus the 1000# bars.
Ron
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Chuck&Gail
In the Colorado Mountains
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I use 13% of GVWR personally.
IMHO DO NOT get big oversized bars in case some day you may get a heavier trailer. Unless of course you are buying a Peterbuilt to tow a popup because someday ....
Also if bars are way oversize the ride will stink, dishes will likely not stay in place, and a few folks have reportedly bent their TT frame with way oversized bars.
Chuck
Wonderful Wife
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2010 Ford Expedition TV
2010 Outback 230RS Toybox, 5390# UVW, 6800# Loaded
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