nikdfish
Veteran Member
The factory tow hitch on our 2008 Ford F-150 needs weight distribution (WD) for tongue weight (TW) > 500 lb. and/or towing > 5000 lb. With WD, it is rated for 1000 lb. TW & 10,000 lb. towed. We have stayed under the WD requirement limit with our 7k aluminum car hauler when moving our small tractors, but recently bought a 7K dual axle dump trailer & now want to add weight distribution to handle it's fully loaded weight potential. With an additional set of brackets, we can also increase the car hauler capacity.
Empty tongue weight on the dumper is 384 lb. & the unloaded weight is about 2200 lb. I want to accommodate a full load approaching 7000 lb. when moving gravel/top soil. I am looking at the Curt 17001 and Curt 17002 round bar weight distribution kits as a couple of economical (~ $210) possibilities. The 17001 has a tongue weight range of 600 - 800 lb w/8000 lb towed max, the 17002 has a tongue weight range of 800 - l000 lb. w/10,000 towed max (matching the factory hitch max WD limits).
I am leaning toward the 17002 as the top end TW seems more appropriate with the potential TW of 15% x 7000 lb being 1000 lb. I have not actually loaded the trailer to a max load & measured the TW (because that would be beyond the factory limits without WD) so I really don't know what it will be. I expect there will be numerous occasions when I am using the dump trailer with a tongue weight only modestly over the 500 lb. limit, i.e. in the 500 - 600 lb range, like when carrying lighter materials like cut timber, etc. but still need to have WD in place. Should I go for the higher limit, just in case, even though those times will be few & far between?
Nick
Empty tongue weight on the dumper is 384 lb. & the unloaded weight is about 2200 lb. I want to accommodate a full load approaching 7000 lb. when moving gravel/top soil. I am looking at the Curt 17001 and Curt 17002 round bar weight distribution kits as a couple of economical (~ $210) possibilities. The 17001 has a tongue weight range of 600 - 800 lb w/8000 lb towed max, the 17002 has a tongue weight range of 800 - l000 lb. w/10,000 towed max (matching the factory hitch max WD limits).
I am leaning toward the 17002 as the top end TW seems more appropriate with the potential TW of 15% x 7000 lb being 1000 lb. I have not actually loaded the trailer to a max load & measured the TW (because that would be beyond the factory limits without WD) so I really don't know what it will be. I expect there will be numerous occasions when I am using the dump trailer with a tongue weight only modestly over the 500 lb. limit, i.e. in the 500 - 600 lb range, like when carrying lighter materials like cut timber, etc. but still need to have WD in place. Should I go for the higher limit, just in case, even though those times will be few & far between?
Nick
