Why a weight distributing hitch???

[jcmseven]

Fellow Posters:

I need a bit of advice and insight from the panel. My Ford 250 diesel has a moniker on the factory hitch that rates it as "12,500 pounds with weight distrubuting hitch and 6,000 pounds with load carrying hitch." I noted this when my truck was new and thought it seemed strange. It has not applied to me to this point as my current trailer already has a weight distributing hitch on it. I have an opportunity to buy a lightly used CornPro tilt top trailer, 22'. It does not have said hitch and has a large metal toolbox which I really like, but would have to be removed to accomodate a weight distributing hitch. I cannot determine why Ford says this, as the hitch from my view is extremely beefy, more so than the 2002 250 I regularly towed 9000-10000# with, and which had no such criteria. My owners manual does not address this. My friend's GMC, which has what appears to be the same type hitch, says nothing about this, nor does another friend with a Tundra. His hitch appears much less heavy duty than either mine or my friend's GMC hitch and does not even have any load rating noted on it. Assumably, Toyota would not mind someone hooking up the 10,000+ pound capacity load to this hitch. My questions are, first, why??? My Ford is a big truck and can handle a big load, so why the tiny rating without load distribution; and second, am I OK considering this a "suggestion" rather than a rule??? The CornPro tilt top weighes 4200# empty, so obviously one cannot pull much of a load without answering this question. Thanks for the help.

John M

 

[wushaw]

As you probably well know the weight distribution hitch is to put weight back on the ft. of the truck so you will have correct steering and braking ability.

If you get this trailer and hook it up with a heavy load and the ft. of your truck goes up considerably then this is where you will need the WD hitch.

 

[browns40]

Hi jcmseven,

The weight distributing hitch will help to smooth out your ride and negate the leverage that a bouncing/pushing tongue weight exerts on your front wheels... it also had the effect of stiffening the torsional action the 'one point attachment' a truck/trailer usually has with a 'modified three point'.

You can somewhat equate it to proper ballast for the FEL to prevent the rear of your tractor from popping up during loader work in the scenario of levering all the weight off your front tires, taking away your steering control...

On the other side, if the tongue bounces up & potentially picks the rear of your tow vehicle up with it, you are left with only front wheel steering/tracking until it see-saws back in the other direction.

Bird & some others definitely have more experience using them and can offer a lot more...

I think it is one of those safety/comfort features (like brakes some would say!) that you don't fully appreciate until things go south on you in a hurry, carrying a load approaching your trucks limitations when you are not using one.

I don't use one on the F-350 towing 7k, but have considered it... if I were to get up to 9 or 10, would decidedly look into one for the set-up. If I had that trailer/truck (especially on my roads!) I would get it on there before experience possibly threw me a hindsight moment... sounds like a sweet trailer!

 

[Mighty Dodge]

Does it state which class the hitch falls under? I'm not totally sure but I think most new trucks come with a class 4 hitch. I took the factory hitch off my Dodge and put on a Putnam class 5. All my trailers use pintle hitches, never had a problem.

M.D.

 

[Egon]

In many cases after the trailer exceeds 5000 pounds a weight distributing hitch is required legally for bumper pull.



Your total towing weight capacity will be listed in other places,

It distributes the weight between the truck and trailer tires more evenly evens out the load distribution.

It requires a ball type hitch with the proper rating which may be a class four.

Getting a hitch with higher rating doesn't change anything.

Please note; can and may are very different entities!

 

[jcmseven]

I appreciate the responses thus far. Having used a WD hitch I am familiar with their function; my main question is why with a Class V hitch would they need to write that?? As noted, my previous 250 had a 10,000 towing capacity from the factory with a weight bearing hitch, and it was a physically lighter truck without tow/haul; tow command and all those goodies on it. My friend's 2500 GMC has a 13,000 pound hitch towing capacity and has no delineation on his hitch stating to use a WD hitch for that weight. He does anyway and so would I. We have looked at the respective hitches and note that they are similar in size and durability. The new Ford hitch is really beefy and with the size of the truck I cannot see why a WD hitch would be needed up to 10,000 pounds or so. If I decide to buy this trailer, I will have to take off the fancy diamond plate tool box if I were to mount the WD hitch. I do not want to do this, but would if I am going to risk catastrophe by not doing it. I just cannot see why Ford would make such a disclaimer regarding towing a load which for this truck is like sneezing; i.e., is the hitch not capable or is it just legalize? Thanks again.

John M

 

[Egon]

Remember the Can and May.

Where I live the truck I drive has a bumper hitch trailer weight capacity of 10K. Any trailer above 5K on the bumper hitch must have a weight distributing hitch.

Check your local regulations and you may find these type of laws also apply to you!

Yes, I can pull my trailer without the weight distributing hitch but I may not do so legally!

 

[Builder]

I appreciate the responses thus far. Having used a WD hitch I am familiar with their function; my main question is why with a Class V hitch would they need to write that?? As noted, my previous 250 had a 10,000 towing capacity from the factory with a weight bearing hitch, and it was a physically lighter truck without tow/haul; tow command and all those goodies on it. My friend's 2500 GMC has a 13,000 pound hitch towing capacity and has no delineation on his hitch stating to use a WD hitch for that weight. He does anyway and so would I. We have looked at the respective hitches and note that they are similar in size and durability. The new Ford hitch is really beefy and with the size of the truck I cannot see why a WD hitch would be needed up to 10,000 pounds or so. If I decide to buy this trailer, I will have to take off the fancy diamond plate tool box if I were to mount the WD hitch. I do not want to do this, but would if I am going to risk catastrophe by not doing it. I just cannot see why Ford would make such a disclaimer regarding towing a load which for this truck is like sneezing; i.e., is the hitch not capable or is it just legalize? Thanks again.

John M

There's not enough room to type all the "legal ease" when it comes to trailer tow ratings.

You're not going to "risk catastrophe".

You guys are a worriesome bunch.

Simply put, Ford (and other manufacturers) do this to help them avoid law suits. They figure the more safety (in this case a WD hitch) you throw at the truck, the safer it will be and the less chance you'll wreck your truck when towing a trailer. The less chance you wreck your truck & trailer, the less chance you'll sue them. Think of all the idiots out there towing way above their trucks ratings. They also have no training, just buy the biggest trailer money can buy and hook it up behind their big bad one ton diesel. Ford knows this happens and they want you to throw all the saftey possible at the hitching system to help keep the truck under control.

It's also about paper ratings. Ford has often been the "brochure king" of trucks. They often boast the highest ratings and that their buyers will purchase based on what the glossy brochure says. They can "boost" trailer tow ratings compared to the competition when you deploy a WD hitch, thus rate them higher. One common misconception is GVWR's & GCWR's. Some pickups have awesome GVWR's, but their trucks also weight more. So their payloads may actually be similar to a truck with a lower GVWR/GCWR that also weighs less.

I pull 12K off my bumper with no WD hitch (max allowable) and the truck handles it OK, but I think a WD hitch would be better.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would check your friends owners manuals under towing and I am sure they are going to have a stipulation on WD hitches. It is just not printed on the hitch like your Fords is. Now that being said I bumper pull my boat, 15,600# with my F-350. I upgraded to a 15,000# 2.5" receiver with a matching ball and mount and have no problems. I have used this setup for over 10,000 miles in the last 3 years.

Chris

 

[Builder]

That boat & trailer weighs 15,600 lbs?

Man, what's in that thing...twin N-14 diesels? Concrete hull?