what weight do you need equalizer bars????

[nickd]

TT is a 2013 bullet premiere 22brpr dry weight 4500-4600pounds. tow vehicle is a 2012 1500 ram outdoorsmen with 3.55 rear end and 6speed trans. really just want to know if i need the equalizer bars or if it is just a good thing to use them anyway. if i do need a equaliser what size would be best?(tx)

[SteveC7010]

TT is a 2013 bullet premiere 22brpr dry weight 4500-4600pounds. tow vehicle is a 2012 1500 ram outdoorsmen with 3.55 rear end and 6speed trans. really just want to know if i need the equalizer bars or if it is just a good thing to use them anyway. if i do need a equaliser what size would be best?(tx)

I do not find that model listed on Keystone's website under the Bullet section. Please verify the model number for us, and also provide the carrying capacity of the trailer and the tongue weight. Without those numbers, your question can not be answered.

It's not a question of whether or not you need them. With a 1500 (1/2 ton) truck you need a weight distribution hitch. But we need to know the numbers so we can tell you which size you need.

If you are buying Equalizer brand, you are all set for sway control. If not, you need to seriously consider sway control, too. The time to buy a sway control is when you buy the WD system, not after a scary or worse experience on the road.

There are several current threads on the "which hitch is best" and "which sway control is best." There are also many other threads on the same topic going back months and months. Everyone has the same questions. I suggest you find them and read them carefully.

[nickd]

it would be under premier the premier is the higher end of the bullet line.

shipping weight is 4638pounds
carrying capacity is 1862pounds
combined is 6500 max loaded
hitch weight is 500pounds

website say's Premier ultra lite by bullet

[SteveC7010]

it would be under premier the premier is the higher end of the bullet line.

shipping weight is 4638pounds
carrying capacity is 1862pounds
combined is 6500 max loaded
hitch weight is 500pounds

Loaded hitch weight will be much higher; probably around 750#. You will want 1,000# weight bars in your WD hitch.

Not sure which cab you have. Payload for your truck is about 1,600# and max tow is 6,750# or so. Your truck is a good match for the trailer even if you have 4x4 which changes payload and max tow a bit, but not enough to matter.

I didn't find the rear axle weight rating on Dodge's website, and that number may or may not be important. Even if your actual tongue weight pushes 800#, you still have adequate payload capacity for you, your passengers, and gear. You will want to determine if you'd be overloading the rear axle.

Here's why you should have a WD hitch: Placing that much tongue weight on the very rear end of the truck drastically alters the weight on both axles. Add "stuff" in the bed of the truck and the change is even worse. The first concern is that you can unload the front axle to the point that you may lose steering control. A secondary concern is that you can overload the rear axle even if you have not exceeded payload or max tow. A properly adjusted weight distribution hitch system moves a lot of that weight from the rear axle forward to the front axle of the truck. It levels things out and gives you a greater degree of control over the rig. And it pretty much eliminates the bouncing of the rear of the truck and the nose of the trailer on the highway.

Sway control is generally a must, too. Very few folks pull TT's without it.

[nickd]

Thanks Steve i know the truck can handle it and it is a crew cab.the 3.55 rear end i think is what brings my rating down to 8600# i believe the 3.92 rear end rates the truck at 10,100#. and payload of just under 1500#.

[x96mnn]

Before this camper I was towing a rVision 27ft that was around 6000pds loaded up and there was no difference with the bars on or off. Truck did not squat enough for the bars to be effective in transfer of weight but with that said I usually put them on and they cannot hurt.

[nickd]

Before this camper I was towing a rVision 27ft that was around 6000pds loaded up and there was no difference with the bars on or off. Truck did not squat enough for the bars to be effective in transfer of weight but with that said I usually put them on and they cannot hurt.

thats what i was getting at my truck doesn't even look like the trailer was there hitch doesn't drop much at all thats why i was wondering if i should have them. im gonna get them anyway just because it cant hurt.
im sure having it loaded might be a different story

[campingcpl]

I agree with everything that Steve has told you. But here is a little food for thought on why and why not to use the bars.

Most 1/2 ton vehicals are equiped with a class III hitch which is explained below.

■Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.
■Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
■A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

According to the numbers you gave you would probably excede the weight limit of the hitch itself as a weight carrying hitch.

Most 3/4 ton and 1 ton vehicals are equiped with a class IV hitch.

■Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
■Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.
■A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

From time to time you might fine a vehical that might be equiped with a class V hitch, which isn't all that common.

■Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.
■Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.
■Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
■A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.

[IdahoSRT10]

I also agree with Steve's suggestions. What engine is in your Ram? I have towed your weights with my Gen 4 Ram and there is a weak point. (The rear end). I'd suggest upgrading to a MagHytec oversized cooling diff.cover soon, especially with 3.55 gears.

[Inherentwired1]

For the peace of mind....and on a windy day you'll need a good 4point anti sway, and if you don't want to be stressed out on the highway, just get a good equilizer/antisway hitch...you will thank me later.

[nickd]

I agree with everything that Steve has told you. But here is a little food for thought on why and why not to use the bars.

Most 1/2 ton vehicals are equiped with a class III hitch which is explained below.

■Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.
■Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
■A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

According to the numbers you gave you would probably excede the weight limit of the hitch itself as a weight carrying hitch.

Most 3/4 ton and 1 ton vehicals are equiped with a class IV hitch.

■Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
■Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.
■A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

From time to time you might fine a vehical that might be equiped with a class V hitch, which isn't all that common.

■Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.
■Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.
■Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
■A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.



hitch on my truck is class IV but good info!

[Bob Landry]

I agree with everything that Steve has told you. But here is a little food for thought on why and why not to use the bars.

Most 1/2 ton vehicals are equiped with a class III hitch which is explained below.

■Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.
■Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
■A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

According to the numbers you gave you would probably excede the weight limit of the hitch itself as a weight carrying hitch.

Most 3/4 ton and 1 ton vehicals are equiped with a class IV hitch.

■Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
■Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.
■A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

From time to time you might fine a vehical that might be equiped with a class V hitch, which isn't all that common.

■Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.
■Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.
■Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
■A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with part of your post. Most if not all of the newer 1/2 ton trucks are going to come with Class IV receivers. Class III is only rated for up to 5000 lb. and no truck maker is going to assign the tow ratings these new trucks have and then only install a hitch that is safe to 5000 lb..

[Bob Landry]

thats what i was getting at my truck doesn't even look like the trailer was there hitch doesn't drop much at all thats why i was wondering if i should have them. im gonna get them anyway just because it cant hurt.
im sure having it loaded might be a different story

How much the truck squats in the rear when hitched is pretty much irrelevant when deciding whether to use a WD hitch. What is important is if the front end rises and how much. If it does ride and I think few truck would not when coupled to a 5000 lb trailer, then a WD hitch is needed to return the front end height to the manufacturers specification. At the least you would need sway control and I haven't seen a sway control setup that functions independently of a WD hitch.

[MISailor]

I'm suprised the Ram manual does not specifcally address this. The manual for my 2013 Silverado says max tongue weight for a "weight carrying" hitch is 800# and for a "weight distributing" hitch the limit is 1100#.

I have not scaled my rig yet, but my 19FBPR has a factory tongue weight of 410lbs. Even if it's almost 2x that number once loaded I still supposedly don't "need" the WD system. I plan to use it for trips anyway, but I might not bother for the 3 miles on city streets between home and the storage lot.

[SteveC7010]

I'm suprised the Ram manual does not specifcally address this.

If it is not in the manual, there should be a sticker on the receiver with the weight limitations for
weight carrying and weight distributing.

This is the label from receiver on my '01 Dodge Ram:

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_69728_0_253d43166abab139837ce9d9cfd2efb3.jpg

[nickd]

no one said it wasn't in the ram manual. i have not looked in the manual i started this post because i wasn't sure if i needed to have distribution bars because my truck doesn't seem to have any issues towing the way it is and as far as i can tell the only thing they would help with the most is the hitch bouncing and even out the load on the truck. i have hauled longer heavier trailers with the truck and the weight distributing bars were needed and worked well. i do appreciate all the feed back. and will be using the distributing hitch and sway control.

and the dry hitch weight is 500lbs on keystones website 4638 dry weight and 1862 cargo making a total of 6500max