New Hitch

[UsTwo]

Just bought a new Husky Center line weight distribution hitch, up from the Pro Series chain w/ sway bar..As I am putting the thing together, I read on Social Media that one should load their truck up like you would going camping..As I pour over the directions, they say nothing about doing this. Nor can I find it on a search here..I can see the pros and cons of both ways. aka Loaded truck vs empty truck. I do not have air bags on the truck. So what do you all think would be the way to go. :banghead: Thanks in advance for your advice...:popcorn:

[MarkEHansen]

The hitch should be adjusted for the load you plan to carry - both tow vehicle and trailer.

[sourdough]

Mark is right. You want the hitch to distribute the weight you are carrying, not the empty truck/trailer and then load them. It wouldn't serve any purpose.

[racetech]

Good question as I just bought the same hitch. I have air bags on my truck, and it was explained to me to load the truck set the air bags, then hookup to trailer and set up bars. Id imagine the same applies to no air bags.

[UsTwo]

Good to know Racetech.. in watching the vids on set up.. none I have seen say anything about having the truck loaded..Thats all I am wondering about as the camper has to be level for set up..

[racetech]

Good to know Racetech.. in watching the vids on set up.. none I have seen say anything about having the truck loaded..Thats all I am wondering about as the camper has to be level for set up..

Its confusing. Say you load the bed of the truck and you have a 2 inch squat. The hitch is designed to take the squat out and keep truck and trailer level. But is it designed to level the truck and cargo in bed of truck and trailer all at once. Thats the million dollar question.

[MarkEHansen]

The WD hitch is not intended to level the truck or trailer. It is designed to distribute the weight placed on the hitch to both the front wheels on the truck and the axles on the trailer. You want the truck to be level, but it usually doesn't get back to level when things are set up.

When setting it up, you want both the truck and trailer loaded as much as possible to match the load you will see when towing. Then adjust the hitch to distribute the weight. When you do this right (and sometimes it takes a little trial and error) you will be able to level the trailer (or get close to it) and almost level the truck.

The installation/setup instructions for my hitch (a Fastway E2) cover how to do the setup and adjustment to get what you want. I suspect other hitches have similar instructions.

[02camp]

I have the Husky Centerline pulling a Passport 2521RL with a 2016 F-150 3.5 EB. When I purchased the camper, we traveled about 350 miles to pick it up. We left all of our gear at home so needless to say the dealer set the hitch up to match an empty trailer. Pulled it home like a dream. On our first shake down we loaded everything in the truck and trailer. It didn't pull terrible but there was a noticeable difference. We were only about 60 miles so I didn't make any adjustments until we got back home. Between reading the directions and calling their customer service, all is well again. Moral of story; load her up before setting the hitch up. BTW, I also had the old chain bars with a friction bar, you should feel a huge improvement.

[racetech]

I have the Husky Centerline pulling a Passport 2521RL with a 2016 F-150 3.5 EB. When I purchased the camper, we traveled about 350 miles to pick it up. We left all of our gear at home so needless to say the dealer set the hitch up to match an empty trailer. Pulled it home like a dream. On our first shake down we loaded everything in the truck and trailer. It didn't pull terrible but there was a noticeable difference. We were only about 60 miles so I didn't make any adjustments until we got back home. Between reading the directions and calling their customer service, all is well again. Moral of story; load her up before setting the hitch up. BTW, I also had the old chain bars with a friction bar, you should feel a huge improvement.

The confusing part for me is my air bags. I can put whatever I want in my bed and get my ride heights right back to where i want them with a few pounds in the bags, pretty much cancels out any cargo I add to bed. Im gonna Load truck set bags, then add hitch and hook up loaded trailer and set up bars. If it feels out of whack ill go at it a diffferently.

[sourdough]

Many have tried to advise on the proper procedures. LOAD the trailer. LOAD the truck. Adjust the Wdh per instructions. At that point, at times the truck may have some squat....inflate the air bags, or, in the case of a 1/2 ton truck, on bad roads, twisty turneys, etc. the suspension isn't up to the task; the bags will help somewhat. Airing them up first then adjusting the wdh is counterproductive....but, give it a whirl...you may love it right or wrong.

[racetech]

Many have tried to advise on the proper procedures. LOAD the trailer. LOAD the truck. Adjust the Wdh per instructions. At that point, at times the truck may have some squat....inflate the air bags, or, in the case of a 1/2 ton truck, on bad roads, twisty turneys, etc. the suspension isn't up to the task; the bags will help somewhat. Airing them up first then adjusting the wdh is counterproductive....but, give it a whirl...you may love it right or wrong.

I kinda thought it was counter productive also. I have contacted my hitch manufacturer along with the air bag company and im getting conflicting info from both. I guess i just have to set aside a saturday and try a few things.

[chuckster57]

When we hitch up a vehicle that has auto ride leveling, we hitch up and stand back til the air pump shuts off. Then hook up the W/D. Sort of sounds like airing up the bags first.

[Just chillin]

I had a suburban with the auto air ride. The bars had to be adjusted first with the car at normal ride height and then allowed to air up. If done the other way around the *** end would raise up more , due to the bars transferring weight forward to the front, and the air ride would sense the *** end up too high and dump all the air pressure to the rear axle , in an attempt to lower the ride height, resulting in extreme loss of down pressure to the rear axle. This would happen automatically while driving down the highway. Talk about stability one minute and none the next. I wound up having to let it air up and then disable the system .

[sourdough]

I kinda thought it was counter productive also. I have contacted my hitch manufacturer along with the air bag company and im getting conflicting info from both. I guess i just have to set aside a saturday and try a few things.

There's not really any conflict that I've ever read. I've had air bags and here is an excerpt directly from Air Lift - the concept would be the same across the board for others as far as I know:

"In many situations, heavier weight distribution bars are used to remedy weak suspensions or when additional cargo in the vehicle causes it to sag. Doing so will result in an unbalanced vehicle, excessive tire wear, and an uncomfortable ride. Add and adjust the correctly sized weight distribution bars to solve your weight balance problems and then add and adjust Air Lift air helper springs to fix your suspension problems."


Not a lot of ambiguity there IMO.

[racetech]

There's not really any conflict that I've ever read. I've had air bags and here is an excerpt directly from Air Lift - the concept would be the same across the board for others as far as I know:

"In many situations, heavier weight distribution bars are used to remedy weak suspensions or when additional cargo in the vehicle causes it to sag. Doing so will result in an unbalanced vehicle, excessive tire wear, and an uncomfortable ride. Add and adjust the correctly sized weight distribution bars to solve your weight balance problems and then add and adjust Air Lift air helper springs to fix your suspension problems."


Not a lot of ambiguity there IMO.

This is the same response I received from airlift when I inquired. It makes sense, I was just worried about the bags taking away from the bars and making things unbalanced. But it seems like if you do the bars first and note the ride heights and use the bags to return to those same heights at bar setup you wont be taking anything away.

[Northofu1]

I air up after loading and hitching, my truck didn't squat without the airbags, I just needed it to stiffen it a bit. Not sure when or if you have ever changed your shocks, if you do, I recommend the bilstein 5100's, they are a difference maker. Cheap from Rock Auto.

[racetech]

I think one of the main concerns is to much air in the bags will take weight off the bars, and if you have a hitch with sway control built in you would be taking away from the effectiveness of the sway control. And thats bad.

[racetech]

I air up after loading and hitching, my truck didn't squat without the airbags, I just needed it to stiffen it a bit. Not sure when or if you have ever changed your shocks, if you do, I recommend the bilstein 5100's, they are a difference maker. Cheap from Rock Auto.

Are the 5100's adjustable? I didnt think the rear shocks were but you tell me? Do you like them as far as towing? What do you think improved when you installed them? Ive been thinking about adding them to my truck.

[Northofu1]

Are the 5100's adjustable? I didnt think the rear shocks were but you tell me? Do you like them as far as towing? What do you think improved when you installed them? Ive been thinking about adding them to my truck.

You can adjust them to 2" higher than OEM. The ride is very smooth with or without trailer. A lot less bounce over bumps. I wish I bought them before air bags.

[Mainer]

Looks like there is a who;e lot of advice on this subject so thought I'd chime in. Been towing various pull behind TTs with various TVs for over 45 years, plus a bit of CDL towing Long time ago. Used my Daddy's advice he used when I was a kid, trailer camping all over the West. Bring the TV front bumper down to it's unloaded height (or slightly below), you want at least the design weight on the front wheels for steering stability. Use air bags or overload springs to level things up if you don't want the squat. The distance from the rear wheels to the hitch ball is a long lever un-weighting the front wheels, re-weighting the front wheels to me is the only reason for a weight distribution hitch. Full weight on those steering wheels generally makes everything else fall into place if tongue weight is proper and other weights are within limits.

My first cross country TV was a 4WD 1600D International with a cab-over camper in the bed and pulling a loaded 21' TT, it didn't squat, although I did use 2nd gear on some hills.