Is a weight distribution hitch needed on dually?

[ulvik]

I have a 1/2 ton truck to pull our 26ft. TT and absolutely need a weight distribution hitch to tow our camper. But a family friend is going to borrow out TT for a 500 mile trip and he owns a 3500 dually that when hooked up our TT does not even squat his truck.
Question is can he use my weight distribution hitch alone and not use the weight distribution bars for their trip or will just the sway control bar be all that he needs?

[Grit_dog]

Not sure why I’m still replying, but ^ yes I understand some /most TTs are not loaded optimally for tongue weight and that axle placement to help balance the tongue weight or maybe to keeping tracking of the trailer closer to the truck in turns leaves more tail to wag the dog.
I also have not said wdhs are universally not needed. They are in some or many setups.
What I did say is that it is not needed on a normal 26’ TT iirc the original post WITH a dually.
Can it be used? yes. Does it supply some greater factor of safety? Maybe.

[mkirsch]

Grit dog wrote:
There are 2 schools of thought. 1 is the typical RVer school where ALL TTs need a wdh with sway control.
2 is the rest of the world that haul trailers of all shapes and sizes day in day out without much concern, especially with reasonable and moderate loads like your camper.

First off you are doing no harm by using a properly sized and adjusted WD hitch and sway control in any application where it is not recommended against by the manufacturer of the trailer (such as popups and small single-axle TT's with lightweight tongue structures).

Second off travel trailers are a special breed of trailer. RV manufacturers like to put the axles as close to the center of volume (and sometimes mass) as they can, and run the tongue weights right on the bleeding edge of unstable, so you can tow them with your half ton truck or midsize SUV. It's the TRAILER that's unstable not the truck. You could be towing it with a D8 Cat and it would still need sway control.

You are correct in that most other trailers such as landscaping trailers, enclosed utility trailers, equipment trailers, livestock trailers, are all towed day in and day out by DRW trucks with no sway control or WD, but that is because axles are biased towards the rear of the trailer's center of mass, providing adequate tongue weight, and a relatively long tongue moment in relation to the trailer's overall length.

[tinner12002]

I don't recall ever seeing a WD hitch on anything but a camper in all the yrs I've been in const and pulling flatbed trailers.

[Grit_dog]

valhalla360 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
What advantage is there in not using them?

Because an unloaded dually WANTS some weight in back. 0 need unless it’s killing the hitch receiver. But to that point, I’ll point out the vast numbers of duallies that fire up every morning with Waaaay more hooked up than that.....every day every where.

Remember like 95% of the wdh users are RV ers and 95% of the trucks are not towing travel trailers.

95% of pickups are towing utility trailers with low sides and less than 3-4,000lbs.

I see duallies running around empty all the time. They seem to survive just fine. If it really needs extra weight, throw some sand bags in the back, so it will be happy when there is no trailer hooked up.

The effort to use them is negligible, they already have them and they do improve the ride & safety. So far you haven't provided any logical reason not to use them other than you seem to think it's more macho not to.

No, not macho and not trying to start an argument, unless going against the rvnet grain is considered that.
But after about 30 years now of seeing, repairing, driving or just managing work that requires trailer towing daily, I've seen some of the worst break the rear axle tongue heavy setups and worst no weight on the tongue all over the road setups possible. Would some benefit from a wdh? Absolutely. Will a guy go around snapping hitch receivers with a little too much tongue weight? Not likely unless there's another root cause. Back in high school, I plated and welded the frame back together on both sides of a new 1 ton dump truck, cracked the frame both sides, separate loads. Replaced both rear axle shafts, bent, different loads. Within a year or so that truck had more broke or wore out parts from abuse than I've ever seen. Not my truck, my job to keep it on the road, though. The one thing that didn't break was the OE 1989 model 2" square tube receiver.
That is really extreme, but in the OPs scenario, why would one NOT want to have a healthy 1000lbs or so on the back of a dually for a road trip rather than buck boarding all the way to the campground?

AND to the other comments about RV hotshotters and construction, yep all day, every day. To add, there are a couple hot shot drivers on another forum, one with a 2500 Ram mega cab. 2014 model truck, over 300kmiles hauling new campers. Guy doesn't even own a wdh for the travel trailers he pulls daily......but by some peoples metric he should not be able to accomplish this without being a blatant road hazard and simultaneously destroying his truck.

[carringb]

Second Chance wrote:

I highly doubt that 6,000 lbs. tongue weight capacity. A class 5 hitch - the heaviest pull-behind hitch made, is rated for a maximum of 2,000 lbs. pin weight. The Ford towing guide for 2000 shows that some of the E350 wagons with the V-10 had a 6,500 lb. max trailer weight. I think you've gotten max trailer weight and tongue weight mixed up.

Rob

mmmmkay.... Glad you know my rig better than I do.

https://reunel.com/rear-bumpers/

This load was ~2,500 pounds tongue weight. No WD used. 700 mile trip. Like I said in my original post... WD isn't always needed (although it would have been if I had a weeny standard-issue class 5 hitch).




My TT has a more reasonable 1,800 pounds of tongue weight, but it's brakes barely do anything and it has a lot of sail area, so it simply pulls way better using WD.

[tinner12002]

I had a 28ft bumper pull living quarters trailer that I used to pull with a dually years ago. I never had a WD hitch so I didn't use one. I don't recall ever having issues with swaying or anything so I figured It was ok. As has been mentioned though, if one is available use it, might be the difference between a good pull or a bad one.

[djcjc]

I pull 35 ft TT with dually and WD reese dual cam. Why would you not do everything you can to make the towing experience as carefree as possible rather than let see what happens. Just my opinion.

[JIMNLIN]

joshuajim wrote:
Look to the construction world and you will see that almost no one uses a WDH. I don’t recommend it, but it’s real world.

Nor does commercial haulers using the same one ton DRW or 4500/5500 CC pulling a heavy bumper hitch or pintle hitch trailer carrying box containers/etc. Having been in the trailer tow business (non rv) I've never owned any.
Just yesterday as I was filling my blue tractor at the truck stop a F350 DRW with a dot number on the door pulling the longest enclosed triaxle trailer I've seen had no bars.
I've yet to see the guys and gals transporting the same TTs many rv with using bars.

Will the OP need them ??. Only actual experience of using the truck/trailer combo without can answer that.

[Chuck_thehammer]

I love some of the answers....

handling is based on a balance... front and rear... left and right..

bumper mounted trailers. UNLOAD the front wheels of truck... NO Question...

what does the most breaking and steering.. the truck front wheels... removing some weight reduces both steering and braking...

just because 90 percent does it incorrectly does not mean its good or safe..

my opinion, and worth what you paid for it.

[joshuajim]

Look to the construction world and you will see that almost no one uses a WDH. I don’t recommend it, but it’s real world.

[valhalla360]

Grit dog wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
What advantage is there in not using them?

Because an unloaded dually WANTS some weight in back. 0 need unless it’s killing the hitch receiver. But to that point, I’ll point out the vast numbers of duallies that fire up every morning with Waaaay more hooked up than that.....every day every where.

Remember like 95% of the wdh users are RV ers and 95% of the trucks are not towing travel trailers.

95% of pickups are towing utility trailers with low sides and less than 3-4,000lbs.

I see duallies running around empty all the time. They seem to survive just fine. If it really needs extra weight, throw some sand bags in the back, so it will be happy when there is no trailer hooked up.

The effort to use them is negligible, they already have them and they do improve the ride & safety. So far you haven't provided any logical reason not to use them other than you seem to think it's more macho not to.

[Grit_dog]

While there is a need for wdh in some applications, much of their use can be viewed as training wheels for towing newbys IMO. The RV industry has a patent on their sales pitch.....

[Grit_dog]

valhalla360 wrote:
What advantage is there in not using them?

Because an unloaded dually WANTS some weight in back. 0 need unless it’s killing the hitch receiver. But to that point, I’ll point out the vast numbers of duallies that fire up every morning with Waaaay more hooked up than that.....every day every where.

Remember like 95% of the wdh users are RV ers and 95% of the trucks are not towing travel trailers.

[BarneyS]

valhalla360 wrote:
What advantage is there in not using them?

Simpler hook up. It might take 60 seconds longer to use the WD. :E
Barney