Posted 2006-04-03 11:09 AM (#39920) Subject: Explain weight distribution bar installation
Member
Posts: 5
Location: New England
I've got some questions that will probably make everyone else hope to God my family stays off the road in the future. I am attempting to purchase a two horse bumper pull with hubby tagging along to advise me. Twenty years ago he used to pull a 4000 lbs boat on a trailer with no brakes behind a Ford LTD. Consequently, he knows everything about towing.
The truck, a Silverado, has some sort of factory installed tow setup. Hubby is sure it will tow 6400lbs as is. I'm not convinced. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a weight distributing hitch, sway bars, yada yada installed in the truck. Hubby is willing to concede that a weight distribution setup is a good idea. I want to go out and get the truck set up now, even though I'm still looking for a trailer. Hubby is trying to convince me that trailers come with the weight distribution bars, and they are specific to the trailer, so I should wait. I have never heard this before. Can someone explain what I should be doing as far as setting up a hitch? I'm hoping to get something like a Hawk with dressing room.
Posted 2006-04-03 1:04 PM (#39923 - in reply to #39920) Subject: RE: Explain weight distribution bar installation
Veteran
Posts: 222
Location: Kaufman, Texas
Welcome Carp - For a bumper pull trailer, your truck should have a receiver (square hole) under the rear bumper. A WDH will have a bar that slides into your receiver just like a regular hitch. It attaches to your trailer but they usually are not already installed on trailers. There's an article by Mr. Truck somewhere on this site that shows a picture of a WDH and how it is attached. Maybe someone else can point you to it.
i would buy the trailer first. your pickup will certainly get an empty trailer home safely. you may not "need" a WDH at all, of course you cant go wrong with one. a heads up though, a lot of horse trailers have tongues to short for a WDH. usually need a 36" tongue to use a WDH.
Posted 2006-04-03 3:29 PM (#39930 - in reply to #39920) Subject: RE: Explain weight distribution bar installation
Member
Posts: 5
Location: New England
Thanks for the advice and the article link. I hadn't known I needed to worry about the trailer tongue being too short. I know there's a possibility I could get away without a WDH, especially since I'll mostly be towing one horse, but I want to build in a safety margin in case I unexpectedly find myself giving a ride to an extra critter.
I've driven a truck with a floating front end once. I'd rather not do it again. I had gotten suckered into running an errand for a friend--dropping off a backhoe axle at the heavy equipment dealer. (I think the idea was that the dealer wouldn't hassle a girl.) The guys were able to lift the axle into the truck using a little Kubota front end loader, but they weren't able to push it far enough forward to balance the weight properly in the truck bed. I briefly lost steering every time I went over a bump. Whee!
Posted 2006-04-03 4:19 PM (#39932 - in reply to #39920) Subject: RE: Explain weight distribution bar installation
Expert
Posts: 2953
Location: North Carolina
Originally written by carp on 2006-04-03 10:09 AM
The truck, a Silverado, has some sort of factory installed tow setup. Hubby is sure it will tow 6400lbs as is. I'm not convinced. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a weight distributing hitch, sway bars, yada yada installed in the truck.
Welcome to this forum ... You might show Hubby the GM trailering guide. The footnotes (fine print) says a WDH is REQUIRED for BP trailers over 5,000 pounds. A lot of people do not have WDH with heavy trailers. But do you really want to let the GM engineers & lawyers deny design responsibility? Besides, two horses are not nice stable, secured cargo like a boat.