Blue Ox - Beginner Gut Check & Help

[Rooman]

Beginner RV'er here, with a few questions about weight distribution hitches. My trailer is a Rockwood Roo 21SS hybrid and will be pulled by a Toyota Tundra. The the official weight specs on the trailer are:

• Hitch Weight: 616 lbs
• Ship Weight: 4854 lbs
• Gross Weight (GVWR): 6316 lbs
• L.P. Capacity: 40 lbs

I'm looking at either the Blue Ox track pro or the sway pro hitch. My questions are as follow:

* Is the blue ox track pro or sway pro the better option? Any major reasons why I should go with one over another?
* Am I right to think that I should use the 1000lbs bars?
* I have a tight driveway off a main road. I'll need to back the trailer into its permanent parking spot by making a sharp 90 degree turn. Is the correct procedure to park and remove the WDH and then attempt to back in? I believe you can reverse with this system but would a 90 degree turn be pushing it?
* My hitch jack is manual, I'm guessing I should replace it with an electric jack?
* Anything else I should be considering?

Thanks!

[CharlesinGA]

Too late I see. I am a fan of the Sway Pro. It is designed to try to force the trailer to stay straight behind the tow vehicle, vs other hitches such as the Equalizer, Track Pro, etc, that use friction to dampen the sway but do nothing to stop it from occurring in the first place.

Charles

[valhalla360]

pitch wrote:
It is not necessary to unhook the WDH when backing. You will want to loosen of remove your friction sway control.

With the Track Pro, it's built in so nothing to disconnect but no harm in backing up.

[pitch]

It is not necessary to unhook the WDH when backing. You will want to loosen of remove your friction sway control.

[Rooman]

valhalla360 wrote:
I would expect the hitch weight to be around 750-950 loaded (use 12-15% of the GVWR as a good starting point). If you have it already and can swing by a CAT scale, you can get the real tongue weight (brochure is useless as it's based on the empty rig and you don't go camping with an empty rig). Then just call up blueox and ask.

We have the Track Pro and it's done well but it's what they threw in when buying the trailer. It is nice that sway is built in with no separate items to hook up. That said, no reason to believe the sway pro won't do just fine.

You can back up. It will make a bit of noise as the bars are designed to slide across the L-brackets but no harm in doing so.

Unlike a 5th wheel, I would not expect to have the trailer at 90 degrees to the truck no matter what hitch you use as the trailer will hit the corner of the truck before you hit 90 degrees. About a 45 is the most you can do. Once the trailer is at an angle to the truck, it really doesn't matter how far you back up, so if you were in a big parking lot you could do a full 180.

You can do it without an electric jack but it sure is nice. Especially with a WDH, once the ball is connected and locked in, by raising the hitch, you can put the bars in place without needing any leverage. The problem is with a manual jack, it's a lot of cranking. With electric, you just hold the button for a few seconds. My Dad never got one until my brothers and I were out of the house, suddenly when he had to do all the cranking it was worth it.

Thanks Vahalla, appreciate the thorough reply. I decided to go with the Trackpro and a Husky Brute 4500 jack.

[valhalla360]

I would expect the hitch weight to be around 750-950 loaded (use 12-15% of the GVWR as a good starting point). If you have it already and can swing by a CAT scale, you can get the real tongue weight (brochure is useless as it's based on the empty rig and you don't go camping with an empty rig). Then just call up blueox and ask.

We have the Track Pro and it's done well but it's what they threw in when buying the trailer. It is nice that sway is built in with no separate items to hook up. That said, no reason to believe the sway pro won't do just fine.

You can back up. It will make a bit of noise as the bars are designed to slide across the L-brackets but no harm in doing so.

Unlike a 5th wheel, I would not expect to have the trailer at 90 degrees to the truck no matter what hitch you use as the trailer will hit the corner of the truck before you hit 90 degrees. About a 45 is the most you can do. Once the trailer is at an angle to the truck, it really doesn't matter how far you back up, so if you were in a big parking lot you could do a full 180.

You can do it without an electric jack but it sure is nice. Especially with a WDH, once the ball is connected and locked in, by raising the hitch, you can put the bars in place without needing any leverage. The problem is with a manual jack, it's a lot of cranking. With electric, you just hold the button for a few seconds. My Dad never got one until my brothers and I were out of the house, suddenly when he had to do all the cranking it was worth it.