Safe towing--not!

[crashz]

Looks like the driver (over)tightend up the WD hitch bars so that he could level out the truck as much as possible, trying to not look dangerous. Probably hit one pot-hole and bent the hitch (also attached to the bumper on these models). Just the rebound from one bump, and the porpoising action of the huge trailer and light truck will bend parts, but couple that with over tightening the WD hitch and a known weak truck side mount = bad things to come.

One good panic stop away from sandwiching the whole mess.

Guys like these keep the DOT officers employed and our government agencies at war with the public.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Looks like the driver (over)tightend up the WD hitch bars so that he could level out the truck as much as possible, trying to not look dangerous. Probably hit one pot-hole and bent the hitch (also attached to the bumper on these models). Just the rebound from one bump, and the porpoising action of the huge trailer and light truck will bend parts, but couple that with over tightening the WD hitch and a known weak truck side mount = bad things to come.

That is the most plausible explanation I have heard so far.

 

[orezok]

The angle of the hitch is changed in the hitch head itself. Note that the stinger in the hitch is angled up, not adjusted with the two bolts on the head. In this case the angle is "changed" in the receiver on the TV. The receiver is bent up. I suspect that he has so much tension on the bars that it bent the receiver.

 

[hawkeye08]

We towed with a 2008 Yukon XL Denali for for several years. The hitch is integrated into the bumper and flexes like shown in the video above. It took extra washers in get enough tilt in the head to set the WD bars parallel and there was too much flex for me. We were not towing heavy, well within the tow vehicle limits. It is obvious that tongue weight is too heavy for that tow vehicle....

We tow with GMC 2500HD now and don't have that issue.

 

[joshuabardwell]

We towed with a 2008 Yukon XL Denali for for several years. The hitch is integrated into the bumper and flexes like shown in the video above.

It sounds like what you are saying is that the factory hitch on that vehicle is intentionally designed so as to defeat WD systems. When the WD tries to level the vehicle out, the bumper/hitch flexes instead of transferring the torque to the vehicle as a whole. I can't understand the point of such a design. It seems to me like the vehicle is simply not designed to tow anything that would require a WD system.

 

[Dutch445]

It sounds like what you are saying is that the factory hitch on that vehicle is intentionally designed so as to defeat WD systems. When the WD tries to level the vehicle out, the bumper/hitch flexes instead of transferring the torque to the vehicle as a whole. I can't understand the point of such a design. It seems to me like the vehicle is simply not designed to tow anything that would require a WD system.

if the hitch is only a bumper mounted hitch, factory or not, it certainly can not be designed for WD system, can it?
and again, what would that vehicle's tow rating be? that could all be part of it, if only rated for 5000 lbs i would
say they are overloaded from looking at the pic.

 

[joshuabardwell]

if the hitch is only a bumper mounted hitch, factory or not, it certainly can not be designed for WD system, can it?
and again, what would that vehicle's tow rating be? that could all be part of it, if only rated for 5000 lbs i would
say they are overloaded from looking at the pic.

I can't actual identify the vehicle to say what the tow rating is. Can anybody else? I don't think there's any doubt they're overloaded!

 

[foreman Etexas]

Cadillac Escalade looks like..
A trailering capacity of 7,600 lbs.29 when properly equipped

 

[joshuabardwell]

Cadillac Escalade looks like..
A trailering capacity of 7,600 lbs.29 when properly equipped

Wonder if those low-profile tires are factored in. Dry weight for a Fleetwood RV Gear Box toy hauler is 5,370.

 

[farmboy12]

Another thing you could point out, is that the trailer weight itself is not too much for the truck, but that the tongue weight is. Those trailers are designed for an extra 2k lbs to sit behind the rear wheels. So, if that's the case, than the trailer may not be over the truck's capacity by too much, and really just lacking the weight in the back to keep the tongue weight down.


Kyle