Should I upgrade my factory receiver to avoid needing WD?

[Lt CHEG]

I stopped at one of the two places where I will likely buy my trailer from yesterday. They were very nice, helpful people. However there was one suggestion that I almost found a little troubling. I mentioned that since I had a half ton truck with a class 3 hitch it was only rated for 10,000 pounds using a weight distributing hitch. They said that WD hitches aren't designed for equipment trailers, but rather for travel trailers. They also mentioned that most weight distributing equipment is not compatible with most of the trailers that I was looking at. They suggested that I just upgrade the hitch on my truck and then I should be okay without weight distribution. They recommended a Curt 14301 hitch as a direct replacement for my factory hitch.

So my question is, do weight distributing hitches really not work well on these trailers, specifically I was looking at a load right? Secondly will my truck be okay without weight distribution equipment? When I put my ATV in the back (weighs about 1,000 pounds loaded) the truck squats noticeably but not badly, certainly not enough that I'd worry about it. Also since most of the weight of the load will actually be towards the rear of the trailer (1,100 pounds of weight in the rear tires, plus an almost 700 pound brush hog on the 3 point, and the engine back a bit because the FEL is attached and keeping the tractor further back ) I'm thinking that I'm not going to be very tongue heavy. Bear in mind also that I'm not talking about driving more than about 20 miles at most with the tractor, mostly I'll be driving under 10 miles. Does this plan to go without WD in lieu of a beefier hitch sound doable, but unreasonable, reasonable or does it sound like a disaster? Thanks in advance for your advice as always.

 

[Patches]

It might be helpful to list the weight of the load you intend towing; not knowing that, it's very difficult coming up with a reasonable response

 

[brandoro]

You want to avoid being too light on the tongue or the trailer starts to wag the truck. Never a good thing. I had that happen once when a load of dirt started shifting itself towards the back of the trailer and what had been a nice stable tow got ugly quick. I got stopped still on the road but was glad there were no other vehicles near me.
Depending which attachment I have on the tractor I sometimes load it backwards to keep enough tongue weight.
I could be wrong but I think if your truck is rated for 10000lbs with a WD hitch then you would need to change the truck to go without the WD, not change the hitch.
My BIL used a WD hitch pulling several different equipment trailers for years with very good success.

 

[Lt CHEG]

Good points, I knew I'd forget to add something. I figure that the load is going to be around 9,300 to 9,500 pounds. The truck is rated to tow 9,500 pounds. If I can use a weight distributing setup on the trailer then cool, I'd have no problems towing under those circumstances. However, upgrading the truck is simply not an option. I'm not planning on towing more than about 250 miles per year and the wife is simply unwilling to accept a 3/4 ton's ride quality.

 

[CurlyDave]

You want to avoid being too light on the tongue or the trailer starts to wag the truck. Never a good thing. I had that happen once when a load of dirt started shifting itself towards the back of the trailer and what had been a nice stable tow got ugly quick. I got stopped still on the road but was glad there were no other vehicles near me.

I have had a similar experience with too little tongue weight and even with a trailer well within the rated tow capacity of the truck, it does get very ugly.

I now err on the side of too much tongue weight rather than too little and the WD hitch makes that easy. An anti-sway bar also helps with preventing wag-the-dog experiences.

Keeping your speed down is right up there with trailer safety measures.

 

[herd]

Good points, I knew I'd forget to add something. I figure that the load is going to be around 9,300 to 9,500 pounds. The truck is rated to tow 9,500 pounds. If I can use a weight distributing setup on the trailer then cool, I'd have no problems towing under those circumstances. However, upgrading the truck is simply not an option. I'm not planning on towing more than about 250 miles per year and the wife is simply unwilling to accept a 3/4 ton's ride quality.

I am not sure I understand your comment about "3/4 ton ride quality.'' I have a Sierra 2500HD with 8.1 and it is the quietest, smoothest riding truck I have ever owned. I think maybe the 3/4 tons with beefed up tires, loud mufflers, etc might ride rough but with my stock tires, it is very quiet.

 

[Lt CHEG]

I am not sure I understand your comment about "3/4 ton ride quality.'' I have a Sierra 2500HD with 8.1 and it is the quietest, smoothest riding truck I have ever owned. I think maybe the 3/4 tons with beefed up tires, loud mufflers, etc might ride rough but with my stock tires, it is very quiet.

My current 1/2 ton literally rides nicer than most cars that I routinely drive or ride in. In fact my wife prefers the ride of my current truck and prefers to ride in my current truck over her SUV. I put very few miles on my truck since I have a take home car from work, but she does really like driving in my truck.

By contrast, in my experience we find the ride quality in the 3/4 tons trucks to be not as smooth, with (as you would expect) much more jounce for lack of a better term in the rear with nothing in the bed. Honestly I can't speak of the current 2007 and up design GM 3/4 tons, nor can I speak of the 2010 Dodge 3/4 tons, but we've driven and/or ridden in the previous generation of both and the ride did not compare, particularly with nothing in the bed as my truck usually is. There's no question that 3/4 ton and up trucks are very nice and probably the best mannered that they've ever been, but since a truck for me is primarily for driving empty and/or recreation I want the nicest possible empty truck ride quality.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The advise your trailer guy is giving is not sound. The only trailers I have seen that WD hitches will not work with is most boat trailers. If your factory hitch is up to the task get a WD setup and be done with it.

What kind of truck is it? 1,000# in the bed and squatting seems a little excessive. Maybe its sprung very light and that is why the ride is so good?


Chris

 

[Dmace]

I hauled a mini-excavator on a heavy dual axle equipment trailer (~8k lbs total) with my 2003 RAM 1/2 ton and it barely squatted at all. The load was placed well over the axles with very little tongue weight but enough to drop the bumper about 2". I did not have or use a WD hitch with this setup and never felt the need for it while towing.

Fast forward to the past few weeks where I have been towing around a 27ft Travel Trailer that weighs just 5k lbs empty and it made the truck squat a good 4". The front master bedroom with queen bed, full LP tanks, marine battery, etc... all contribute to much more tongue weight. I found the WD hitch to make a huge difference on this setup and wouldn't tow without it.

A WD hitch may be needed more often on a Travel Trailer then an equipment trailer but that is just due to the increased tongue weight and not the trailer design. Legally you will need to have the WD hitch to tow that much with a class III hitch since they are rated for about 5k to 7k without the WD hitch. So if you plan on not using the WD hitch, it would be a good idea to upgrade to the class IV hitch but your class III hitch with the weight distribution setup would work just fine and make the ride much smoother than a class IV hitch without the WD setup.

The snap-up brackets I use for the WD setup on the trailer just slide over rails and snug up with a bolt in the rear making them easy to mount to many different trailers.

 

[Lt CHEG]

The advise your trailer guy is giving is not sound. The only trailers I have seen that WD hitches will not work with is most boat trailers. If your factory hitch is up to the task get a WD setup and be done with it.

What kind of truck is it? 1,000# in the bed and squatting seems a little excessive. Maybe its sprung very light and that is why the ride is so good?


Chris

This is pretty much what I was thinking. I don't see how a WD setup wouldn't work. The WD setup I was going to get was the round bar Reese WD only setup from etrailers.com. It uses the exact same snap up brackets that DMace refers to in his post. I couldn't fathom how they would not work on an equipment trailer or car hauler.

As for my truck, it's a 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500 Crew Cab Z71. It has the shortest (5.8 feet) bed length, so that it is the same overall length as an extended cab regular short (6.5 feet) bed. I do believe that it is sprung pretty light in the rear as was its predecessor my 2005 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab Z71. These have been the nicest riding trucks I've ever been in. Frankly they ride even nicer than the extended cab models with the slightly longer bed. The heaviest thing that I put in the bed is my ATV generally, so I don't mind losing a little payload capacity, since basically what I want is a 4x4 sedan with decent ground clearance, a bed to haul my ATV or a single snowmobile and be able to pull a trailer. So my current rig gives me the best overall compromise for my lifestyle. Maybe when my new house is complete and there is more garage space and parking space in general, I'll look into picking up a used 1 ton regular cab, long bed 4x4 pickup with a diesel to have as a work truck. We currently live in a city so parking space is at a premium and even if I could justify the cost of another pickup I wouldn't have a place to keep it.

Thanks to everyone for their input.