WDH Setup on Bullet 1800RB

[SouthTexas]

New guy with a towing question. Any and all suggestions appreciated.

I have a brand new Bullet 1800 RB that I'm pulling with my old F150. First outing today was up the road to the CAT scales.

Trailer weight is 3780 lbs - gross is 4400 so I'm good there. I was loaded today roughly the same as it will be when going camping.

Trailer axle weight is 3180 - axle rating is 4400 so I'm good there.

And I have 700 lbs on the back of the truck - which is a little more than I want. With the trailer, my steer axle is 100 lbs lighter.

I have an ez lift 800 WDH which had two loose links when weighed. The hitch has as much forward angle (screw is extended to the max) as I can get. Also a friction sway bar. Back bumper drops just over an inch and the front stays the same height with or w/o the TT.

These weights were with empty tanks, nearly full LP, two full TV fuel tanks and two T105 6v batteries on the tongue. The rig pulls great, I couldn't ask for better and I don't even feel any sway from passing traffic

Clearly, I need to shift as much cargo as possible to the rear. Perhaps run with a few gallons in the black tank. How do I adjust the hitch to shift weight as far forward as possible?

[Bob Landry]

I'm not familiar with the EZ-lift hitch, nor the hitch adjustment spec on your particular truck, but...

It sounds like you are pretty close. Some manuals say to return the front to the original height, on the newer Ford trucks the height is split between unhitched and hitched height. When your hitch instructions specify a number of "links", it is referring to the number of links under load. Since chains can be different lengths, the number of loose links is irrelevant.

Moving the hitch ball to the rear will increase the weight transfer to the front axle and if you run out of adjustment, you can get more by moving to a different link.

Don't make the mistake many do, and it doesn't look like you have, and that is trying to get equal squat, front and rear, using the hitch adjustment. Equal squat indicates you are transferring too much weight. Some rear sag is perfectly normal. Also keep in mind, if you add air bags to eliminate rear sag, this will increase weight transfer and you'll have to re-adust with the bags inflated the way you will tow.

[SouthTexas]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

I'm not familiar with the EZ-lift hitch, nor the hitch adjustment spec on your particular truck, but...

It sounds like you are pretty close. Some manuals say to return the front to the original height, on the newer Ford trucks the height is split between unhitched and hitched height. When your hitch instructions specify a number of "links", it is referring to the number of links under load. Since chains can be different lengths, the number of loose links is irrelevant.

Moving the hitch ball to the rear will increase the weight transfer to the front axle and if you run out of adjustment, you can get more by moving to a different link.

Don't make the mistake many do, and it doesn't look like you have, and that is trying to get equal squat, front and rear, using the hitch adjustment. Equal squat indicates you are transferring too much weight. Some rear sag is perfectly normal. Also keep in mind, if you add air bags to eliminate rear sag, this will increase weight transfer and you'll have to re-adust with the bags inflated the way you will tow.

Thanks, Bob, I think you may have answered my question. I don't think I want to transfer more weight, in fact, I may try transferring less (I think I'm at 22% TW, now). What I'm concerned about is taking weight off the front axle when towing. It sounds like I have the ball moved the wrong direction (to the front). While, as you say, equal squat front and rear, is not the goal, I was concerned about taking weight off the front axle. I'll try adjusting the ball to the rear (straight up and down rather than tilted forward).

I appreciate the hand holding.

[Bob Landry]

If your height is where the truck manual says it needs to be, you are within 100# of original axle weight, and it steers OK, I think I would leave it alone.

[Mike484]

Originally Posted by SouthTexas

Thanks, Bob, I think you may have answered my question. I don't think I want to transfer more weight, in fact, I may try transferring less (I think I'm at 22% TW, now). What I'm concerned about is taking weight off the front axle when towing. It sounds like I have the ball moved the wrong direction (to the front). While, as you say, equal squat front and rear, is not the goal, I was concerned about taking weight off the front axle. I'll try adjusting the ball to the rear (straight up and down rather than tilted forward).

I appreciate the hand holding.

I would think that tilting the ball forward would make it where the tongue could contact the hitch during sharp turns, mine is level and I can see where the tongue has hit the corners of the hitch, slightly, but it has hit, so I will be tilting mine back a notch or two.