Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Tech Forums > Towing
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 02-22-2015, 04:01 PM   #1
BlueThunder34
Senior Member
 
BlueThunder34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Washington
Posts: 242
Dealer Supplied WDH is it enough???

We purchased a 2015 Springdale 240BHWE that has an empty weight of 5,660 carrying capacity of 2,030 and a dry hitch weight of 690lbs. The WDH that they fitted my truck (2014 RAM 1500) with is the E2 WDH with max. 8,000lbs weight and 800lbs. max tounge weight. Is this WDH enough for this trailer without being at risk of failure? Seems that empty tounge weight of 690 is going to climb pretty quickly once propane, batteries, water, cargo is added. I'm new to this so not sure if I'm being overly cautious or if they should have included a heavier duty WDH?
BlueThunder34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2015, 05:04 PM   #2
chuckster57
Site Team
 
chuckster57's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Modesto
Posts: 20,238
Empty weight of 5660 and cargo capacity of 2030 equals 7690.

With a GVWR of 7690, that means the most your trailer can weigh is still under the max of the WDH, and the hitch should be 770 at most.
At our dealership, that close would have warranted a 1000/10000 WDH. You should be fine, but I would ask nicely and see what they say.
__________________

2012 Copper Canyon 273FWRET being towed by a 1994 Ford F350 CC,LB,Dually diesel.
Airlift 5000 bags, Prodigy brake control, 5 gauges on the pillar.Used to tow a '97 Jayco 323RKS.

Now an RVIA registered tech. Retired from Law enforcement in 2008 after 25+ yrs.
chuckster57 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2015, 05:44 PM   #3
wahoonc
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Spring Lake, NC
Posts: 181
I would say that the hitch will do the job, but it is close to the limits.

Better than my dealer did... They gave me an 800/8000 hitch for a trailer that grosses 4000# I gave up fighting with them and ordered lighter bars for mine. Just to show you how ignorant they are: I picked up my trailer after some warranty work with my F350 DRW, CC, PSD. Truck weighs over 7,000# I just dropped it on the ball with just a friction sway control. The service writer was upset that I wasn't using the WDH.... REALLY? I have to wonder just how much experience these clowns really have.

Aaron
wahoonc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2015, 06:13 PM   #4
x96mnn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 502
Quote:
Originally Posted by wahoonc View Post
I would say that the hitch will do the job, but it is close to the limits.

Better than my dealer did... They gave me an 800/8000 hitch for a trailer that grosses 4000# I gave up fighting with them and ordered lighter bars for mine. Just to show you how ignorant they are: I picked up my trailer after some warranty work with my F350 DRW, CC, PSD. Truck weighs over 7,000# I just dropped it on the ball with just a friction sway control. The service writer was upset that I wasn't using the WDH.... REALLY? I have to wonder just how much experience these clowns really have.

Aaron
If I understand correctly you went down in WD bars from 800pd bars to say 600pd bars. Is there any reason behind doing that? I understand that lighter bars are enough, is there disadvantage to having larger bars? Would they have caused too much weight to transfer?
__________________
2008 Jeep Liberty
RVision TS25s
2011 Ram 4x4 Hemi, Airlift 1000' e rated tires
2012 Sprinter 266
2014 RAM 6.7 Cummins Diesel
2015 Sandpiper 30IOK

All I care about is camping, maybe three people and beer!
x96mnn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2015, 06:48 PM   #5
wahoonc
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Spring Lake, NC
Posts: 181
Quote:
Originally Posted by x96mnn View Post
If I understand correctly you went down in WD bars from 800pd bars to say 600pd bars. Is there any reason behind doing that? I understand that lighter bars are enough, is there disadvantage to having larger bars? Would they have caused too much weight to transfer?
Made the ride way too stiff. To get the WDH to work properly the bars need to be in tension. In some cases it could damage the trailer tongue, break welds etc. With the heavier bars they didn't have enough give to them. Truck and trailer handle much better now. I have seen an Airstream have the front frame nearly destroyed because of the use of too heavy a bar. Admittedly that is an unusual situation, but the closer the match the better. Most dealers only stock one or two sizes of hitches and they are going to use what they have in stock. It took me a while to find the lighter bars. One came from Texas the other from VA. Nobody had them in stock locally, they would be happy to order them at full retail plus shipping.

Aaron
wahoonc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 07:59 AM   #6
Bob Landry
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 1,910
13% of the gross trailer weight, which is a reasonable figure for tongue weight, puts it right at 1000 lbs. I would like to see the heavier bars.
There is no problem using bars that are rated higher. You are only adjusting them to transfer the right amount of weight to the front axle, so heavier bars adjusted properly offer no more stress than light bars capable of doing the same thing. The bars are not flexing or exerting force to the trailer or acting as a shock absorber, they are only transferring weight.

Alo, keep in mind that the WD is used only to return the front axle weight and not to level the TV.
__________________
2011 Outback 277RL
2013 F250 XLT Crew Cab 6.2L

Bitter Gun Owner
Bitter Clinger
Armed Infidel
Bob Landry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 09:29 AM   #7
sourdough
Site Team
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,601
Personally I would get the 1000lb hitch. At 15% of your GVW the hitch will weigh 1153lbs. If you hit that you have overloaded not only the bars but the hitch itself. IMO it's much better to be safe than sorry.
sourdough is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 10:55 AM   #8
BlueThunder34
Senior Member
 
BlueThunder34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Washington
Posts: 242
Thanks all for the feedback. I have emailed the dealer and expressed my concern, I'm not holding my breath though. I'm sure the response will be that the hitch they set me up with will be fine but I'm welcome to buy another heavier duty WDH if I would like. We shall see....
BlueThunder34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 11:05 AM   #9
x96mnn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 502
Quote:
Originally Posted by wahoonc View Post
Made the ride way too stiff. To get the WDH to work properly the bars need to be in tension. In some cases it could damage the trailer tongue, break welds etc. With the heavier bars they didn't have enough give to them. Truck and trailer handle much better now. I have seen an Airstream have the front frame nearly destroyed because of the use of too heavy a bar. Admittedly that is an unusual situation, but the closer the match the better. Most dealers only stock one or two sizes of hitches and they are going to use what they have in stock. It took me a while to find the lighter bars. One came from Texas the other from VA. Nobody had them in stock locally, they would be happy to order them at full retail plus shipping.

Aaron
Thank you sir, I did not know this!
__________________
2008 Jeep Liberty
RVision TS25s
2011 Ram 4x4 Hemi, Airlift 1000' e rated tires
2012 Sprinter 266
2014 RAM 6.7 Cummins Diesel
2015 Sandpiper 30IOK

All I care about is camping, maybe three people and beer!
x96mnn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 11:07 AM   #10
{tpc}
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Berkley
Posts: 750
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueThunder34 View Post
Thanks all for the feedback. I have emailed the dealer and expressed my concern, I'm not holding my breath though. I'm sure the response will be that the hitch they set me up with will be fine but I'm welcome to buy another heavier duty WDH if I would like. We shall see....
I would ask them if you did buy a different hitch, how much would it affect the price of the deal as well. I would also ask if they are giving you the round bar or the trunnion style one, and then do a bit of research into what people are saying about each style.

I just "took" whatever the dealer gave me with mine, and I wish I had paid a bit more attention to it. I would have paid more in the "deal" to get a blue ox or something a bit nicer. Granted mine works just fine, but I can't help but feel that I should have made a better decision when it came to that.
__________________
2022 Ford F150 3.5 Ecoboost SCrew 4x4 MaxTow
2020 Salem Hemisphere Hyper-Lyte 25RBHL
{tpc} is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 11:26 AM   #11
sourdough
Site Team
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,601
From your post it sounds like this is a done deal and they have already installed the hitch and it's been used. If so, I doubt they will swap it out.

If they will there are a lot of good, nice hitches that would work for you. They will cost more but as in everything else you get what you pay for. Good luck.
sourdough is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2015, 11:46 AM   #12
Bob Landry
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 1,910
Depending on the brand, you can buy different bars without having to replace the entire hitch. Put your bars on Craigslist.
__________________
2011 Outback 277RL
2013 F250 XLT Crew Cab 6.2L

Bitter Gun Owner
Bitter Clinger
Armed Infidel
Bob Landry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2015, 05:18 PM   #13
BlueThunder34
Senior Member
 
BlueThunder34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Washington
Posts: 242
Just a quick update and shout out to Tacoma RV for stepping up and correcting the error they made. They admitted that I should have been setup with the 1000/10000 WDH and not the 800/8000. They swapped it out for no charge and no hassle. Nice when a company takes care of the customer even after the sale, they have earned my future business😄
BlueThunder34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2015, 03:16 AM   #14
notanlines
Senior Member
 
notanlines's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Germantown, TN
Posts: 6,309
Not to mention a shout out to you also for keeping us in the loop. Not many posters come back with an update.
__________________
Jim in Memphis, Wife of 51 years is Brenda
2019 F450 6.7 Powerstroke
2018 Mobile Suites 40RSSA
2021 40' Jayco Eagle
2001 Road king w/matching Harley sidecar
2021 Yamaha X2 Wolverine 1000
notanlines is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 05:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.