Setup opinion

[NWTTrailer]

Howdy Folks,
When we purchased our trailer the dealer setup the WDH with my 04 Tundra that we towed with at the time. Shortly after that We moved to a 2010 Tundra for a TV. I never changed the WHD setup due to the fact that the ball height was about a 1/4" higher than the 04. When hooked up to the trailer and bars installed the front drops about a 1/2" and the rear almost a 1". No problems with sway and the steering never feels "light" and responds fine. I attached a picture of TV and Trailer. Should I redo the setup up or just let it be if everything feels fine

[2011 keystone]

I'm no pro when it comes to setting up a hitch but it looks good to me in the pic.
BTW that combo looks great together.

[SteveC7010]

I like my rigs dead level if possible. There are two things you could try.

First, try taking up another link and see if the difference between the front and back of the TV decreases.

Or, if you have a tilt ball platform, tilt it down one notch so that the tips of the weight bars are just a bit closer to the ground. Then take it up the same number of links that you do now.

Either should level up things just about dead on. I prefer the tilt adjustment, but then not everyone has the 1 1/8" box end wrench needed for that.

[NWTTrailer]

I should of included the Hitch type. It's a Fastway E2 pretty much the same as the Equalizer. I might move the brackets up one hole on the frame

[f6bits]

The OP stated that the front *drops* ½”. All the installation tips I’ve seen recommend that you try to get the front close to the way it was, but not lower.

When setting mine up, I measure the trailer frame front and rear to make sure it sits level, then I measure my TV front wheel well height before and after hookup to try to get it close to restored. Those are really the only two things you should be controlling with a WDH. Any other measurements are just FYI.

[Bob Landry]

Redo it. The Tundra manual states to return the front end to the unhitched height. You are transfering too much weight forward and while the truck may appear or "feel" more stable, it really is not, plus by transfering too much weight, you are accelerating front end component and tire wear. Return the front to the unhitched height and let the rear take care of itself. After you have that correctly set, you can go back and raise or lower the trailer tongue without changing the WD.

[LittleJoe]

To get most accurate results, weigh your truck without trailer and get front and rear axle weights. Now hook up trailer with it loaded as you would head out on a camping trip. Try and get trailer as near level as possible but not higher than level at front . Now weigh truck front and rear axle weights again.
You should not under any circumstance have less weight on front of truck with trailer attached than you did without if you want truck handling to be optimum.

[NWTTrailer]

Thanks for all the info. Looks like I'm going to redo the setup this weekend. We are doing a long trip cross country the end of next month and if I get this done it will be one less thing on my mind for 2000 miles.

[fla-gypsy]

I don't really see a problem with it and it looks better than 85% of the ones I pass on the road.

[Bob Landry]

I don't really see a problem with it and it looks better than 85% of the ones I pass on the road.

Anytime the hitched front fender height is lower than the unhitched height, that indicates a problem, specifically, too much weight is being transfered to the front axle. Looks do not account for a whole lot, measurements do, unless you don't care about stability or increased front end wear.

[ktmracer]

Anytime the hitched front fender height is lower than the unhitched height, that indicates a problem, specifically, too much weight is being transfered to the front axle. Looks do not account for a whole lot, measurements do, unless you don't care about stability or increased front end wear.

x2. and with many tow vehicles, if you have the front end lower than unloaded, you'll find that if you go to scales you'll find the front end is at or over it's GAWR.

[fla-gypsy]

Anytime the hitched front fender height is lower than the unhitched height, that indicates a problem, specifically, too much weight is being transfered to the front axle. Looks do not account for a whole lot, measurements do, unless you don't care about stability or increased front end wear.

It may be true for the Tundra, IDK, it is not true of all tow vehicles. Having been through these setups a number of times I have found that every maker and vehicle is a little different. The OP stated that it worked fine when used. It would be wise to check axle weights to see before undoing the set up.

[NWTTrailer]

After taking some measurements today I'm going to need to raise the hitch head one hole due to the trailer exceeding the 1 and 1/4" max difference between front and rear per the setup directions. This will also take some of the weight from the front axle. After I get the hitch height set I'll drag it across the scale here and check everything out. I was able to check the old truck against the new since we still have it. I should of looked at the setup closer when we got the new truck

[NWTTrailer]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I worked on my setup today. The trailer is close to level. The TV drops 5/16" in the front when hooked up. I think I'm going to stop before I start going backwards. Thanks again

[f6bits]

Glad to hear that the trailer is leveled out. A quarter inch drop in front isn’t much to complain about and is most likely well within GAWR. Did you take it out for a test drive?

[Bob Landry]

It may be true for the Tundra, IDK, it is not true of all tow vehicles. Having been through these setups a number of times I have found that every maker and vehicle is a little different. The OP stated that it worked fine when used. It would be wise to check axle weights to see before undoing the set up.

Can you provide a link or reference that says where a truck manufacturer recommends loading the front axle to more than the unhitched weight. I have not seen one. Also, the fact that the OP said the setup worked fine indicates that he is tweaking and going by "feel". An overloaded front end may seem to be more stable, but it is going to cause accelerated wear on the tires and suspension, and there's simply no way around that. While axle weights are the only way to guarrantee what you have, a measurment indicating a lower than unhitched height at the front fender will indicate a problem before he even gets to the scales. There's a reason why the truck manufacturers don't tell you to just tweak it until it feels right.

[NWTTrailer]

Glad to hear that the trailer is leveled out. A quarter inch drop in front isn’t much to complain about and is most likely well within GAWR. Did you take it out for a test drive? Sure did feels fine. I'm going to run it across the scale this week. The last time I had it on a scale it was 400lbs under max front weight with me in the cab and fully loaded up for a 3 day trip. I was mainly concerned about the trailer being unlevel


..........Also, the fact that the OP said the setup worked fine indicates that he is tweaking and going by "feel".

I never indicated that I was tweaking by "feel". I made the measurements per the directions provided by the manufacture of the WDH. I would never "tweak by feel" considering I'm carrying the most important things I have...My family. That's the whole reason I began looking at the way it was setup.

To be honest I was unsure about posting this to begin with, but I was hoping to get the "opinion" of a few people who might have gone through this before. What I didn't what or need is be made out to be some joker just running around tightening bolts and moving pins just to see what "feels" good.


Sorry for the rant

[LittleJoe]

IMO you have the setup pretty close to perfect as your trailer sits now.

Consider this: Most 5th wheel hitches install with the pin forward slightly of rear axle center. This will add some weight to front axle. Just sayin.

If you have less weight on front axle with trailer hooked up than without it, your truck handling will not be at it's optimum.

[Bob Landry]

Sure did feels fine. I'm going to run it across the scale this week. The last time I had it on a scale it was 400lbs under max front weight with me in the cab and fully loaded up for a 3 day trip. I was mainly concerned about the trailer being unlevel




I never indicated that I was tweaking by "feel". I made the measurements per the directions provided by the manufacture of the WDH. I would never "tweak by feel" considering I'm carrying the most important things I have...My family. That's the whole reason I began looking at the way it was setup.

To be honest I was unsure about posting this to begin with, but I was hoping to get the "opinion" of a few people who might have gone through this before. What I didn't what or need is be made out to be some joker just running around tightening bolts and moving pins just to see what "feels" good.


Sorry for the rant

Sorry. I don't think mine or anyone else's responses were meant as derogatory. What we are trying to do is get you set up for the safest pull with minumal wear on your truck. In your first post, you stated that the front end of the truck was 1/2" lower hitched which indicated too much weight being transfered forward. In post #14, and after many responses about setting it up using both scales and fender height measurements, you were still at 5/16" low in the front, but that seemed to be OK and your attention was focused on getting the angle of the trailer right and accepting "close" on the hitch setup.

Two points.....

First if you start the process with the tongue angle close to level, which the Reese instructions and probably others say to do, changing that slightly after you complete the WD setup is going to have a negligible effect on weight transfer. What it does is help with towing stability and sway, but little on WD.

Second, as per the Toyota manual, at 5/16" inches of front end squat, you are still overloaded on the front end. The owners manual specifies that the front end needs to be returned to the original height. With some trucks, it can be a little higher, some even say to split the difference between hitched and unhitched height, but we are talking about a Tundra here, not other trucks. I can speak with a little bit of knowledge, because I'm towing a 277RL Outback with a Tundra and have set the hitch up a couple of times in the process of dialing it in. Given the option of slightly higher or slightly lower, higher would be better, and the difference in handling characterictics would be minimal. I can't speak to the mechanics of setting up your hitch because I'm using a Reese with DC, but you may have to experiment with different combinations of bar tension and hitch tilt if yours does in fact set up that way. I spent the better half of an afternoon witha lot of cussing and knuckle busting setting mine up.

Again, no offense meant, we are just trying to help.

[f6bits]

I have a hard time believing that having the front end ¼” lower is a horrible thing.
1) As I said, it’s probably still within GAWR. OP is going to hit the scales to find out for sure.
2) Adding something heavy, such as a winch and/or HD bumper will drop the front end some.

[Bob Landry]

I have a hard time believing that having the front end ¼” lower is a horrible thing.
1) As I said, it’s probably still within GAWR. OP is going to hit the scales to find out for sure.
2) Adding something heavy, such as a winch and/or HD bumper will drop the front end some.

1. I don't know. I'm not an automotive engineer and I don't write the specs and instructions, I just read them and try to be as compliant as possible. No one ever got in trouble, or at least very much trouble, following instructions.

2. Yes it will, winch, bike rack, water carrier, anything added to the front end will drop it some, and every set of hitch instructions I have ever read state that when anything is done to change the weight of the front end, the WD needs to be readjusted because it's being added to or subtracted from the weight being transfered by the hitch.