Did my dealer short me on my hitch?

[CampinDad]

I just picked up a new TH TT last week and was so worried about how to hook up/remove the WDH that I didn't pay attention to what they gave me.

Here's my set up:

2015 F250 6.7L pulling a 2016 Keystone (sorry! We loved our HW276, but needed more room) Carbon 33 with ship weight of 9000#, hitch weight of 1300# and carrying capacity of 4000#.

I have a 10,000# e2 round bar hitch right now, which looks to be fine as long as I keep the camper empty.

My set up is level, but I noticed some bouncing/bucking while driving. Seemed like the camper was see-sawing some.

Should I go back to the dealer for a different hitch?


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[TURBS]

Hey no reason you can't hang with us even tho you own a s.o.b

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded, 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "4 nights"

[CampinDad]

Here are the weights I got I the way home (though I'm not sure I did it right):

Truck only:

Truck and camper:

Camper only:


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[vinmaker]

What? You sold your High Wall? NOoooooooo.

[CampinDad]

Well, traded it in. Good luck on your sale though - I e been checking on your listing.


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[youroo]

Being a Round Bar sounds like it is W/D Only! With a Unit that Heavy what are you using for Sway Control? When loaded you will be over your Bar#? Youroo!!

[CampinDad]

Round bar with the L brackets instead of chains. Apparently helps with sway control as well as WD.


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[Dave_Monica]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you did the weigh-in properly. When you weigh the truck alone, it has to be unhooked from the camper and preferably positioned so that you get a front and rear axle weight. It's suggested that you also weigh the set-up with the W/D disconnected and again connected. For these weighings, the truck's positioned on the front 2 plates to get front/rear axle weights and the camper axles on the 3rd plate.


If your hitch is rated for 10000#, the spring bars are most likely 1000# which I think are too low for your anticipated loaded tongue weight...hitch should be 1200/12000# or 1400/14000#.


Dave

[Happy Vibe]

This is the problem with these dealers. They seem to have the 1000/10000 lb WDH in stock and use them on everything. That is what they gave me on my 3500 lb trailer. In your case I can see you being over on the WD bars and on the hitch weight. They should have given you the 1400/14000 setup. I also would want the equalizer (4 point sway control) not the E2 (2 point sway control) for a trailer that big.

[thebrakeman]

Sounds like he was towing this home new/empty. So it's reasonable to assume that it does not weight much more than the 9000lb ship weight from the sticker, which he stated. 8000 lbs on the axles, plus TW...sounds about right.

Yeah, 1000 lbs bars are not enough. You are probably right there (see above calculation), and it's already porpoising. Classic reaction when you are at or near the springbar rating. Same thing happened to us when we used a 400 lb Single Bar WDH to tow our old 3000 lb camper (375lbs TW).

Also, the E2 is not going to be as good for sway control, compared to the full-blown 4-point Equal-I-zer.

By the time you load this beast, you will likely be at or over 1100 lbs TW. That's actually too close to 1200 to me. I'd go with a 1400 lbs Equal-I-zer 4pt sway control hitch kit.

[CampinDad]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I'm going to contact Fastway tomorrow and have them recommend a hitch for my setup. Assuming they recommend a higher rated hitch I'll take that back to the dealer and try to get a new one.


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[bikendan]

Fastway and Equal-i-zer are the same company.
The 4 way EQ is made in US, while E2 is made overseas.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by CampinDad

2015 F250 6.7L pulling a 2016 Keystone (sorry! We loved our HW276, but needed more room) Carbon 33 with ship weight of 9000#, hitch weight of 1300# and carrying capacity of 4000#.

I have a 10,000# e2 round bar hitch right now, which looks to be fine as long as I keep the camper empty.

Ship weight of 9,000 with available cargo of 4,000 equals a max load of 13,000 pounds. At 13,000 pounds, your pin weight range equals (15-25%) 1950 to 3250 pounds. Optimum 5th wheel loading is right at 20% so if you load properly your pin will sit about 2600 pounds.

Yes, I think you have too light a hitch if you run near your max loadout (very easy to do). Go back and complain.

[thebrakeman]

Herk,
With those weights, I thought this was a 5th wheel at first, too. But 5ers don't use a WDH. Pretty sure this is a pull-behind.

[CampinDad]

Originally Posted by thebrakeman

Herk,
With those weights, I thought this was a 5th wheel at first, too. But 5ers don't use a WDH. Pretty sure this is a pull-behind.

Yep. Pull behind toy hauler.

I called Fastway today and they confirmed that the hitch is insufficient. Working with the dealer now to get the 1400/14000# Equal-I-zer.


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[thebrakeman]

If the dealer gives you a hard time with the swap, get back with Progress customer service.

[CampinDad]

I e told the dealer that I'm okay paying the difference, but I want them to foot the bill for Camping World to install it. Only because CW is 5 minutes from me and the dealer is 3 hr.


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[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by CampinDad

Yep. Pull behind toy hauler.

I called Fastway today and they confirmed that the hitch is insufficient. Working with the dealer now to get the 1400/14000# Equal-I-zer.


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Ah, toyhauler. That explains the 4000 payload.

Just for your info, the tongue weight spread is much lower for a travel trailer.

However you should also be careful with load distribution (toy IN and toy OUT).

The range of acceptable tongue weight for a travel trailer is 10-14% of total camper weight with 12% optimum).

So empty (9,000 pounds) the range will be 900 - 1260 pounds with 1080 as the target. Maxed out it would be 1300 - 1820 pounds with 1560 pounds as a target.

I believe you are incorrect about the spring bars. The 14,000 pound rated hitch should have bars rated at 15% of the hitch rating; minimum (2100 pounds).

I suggest you contact one of the following folks for Pullrite 5th wheel hitches

Scott Rasely
Priority Account Specialist (Eastern US)
13790 Jefferson Blvd.
Mishawaka, IN 46545
Cell: 574-850-3924
PullRite: 800-443-2307
E-Mail: scottr@pullrite.com

Leslie Ashby
Customer Service Representative
Pulliam Enterprises, Inc.
13790 E Jefferson Blvd
Mishawaka, IN 46545
1-800-443-2307
LeslieA@pullrite.com

[CampinDad]

I'm not sure I follow you on the bolder section - can you expand upon it?

Are you saying that the 14,000 lb hitch is too much?


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[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by CampinDad

I'm not sure I follow you on the bolder section - can you expand upon it?

Are you saying that the 14,000 lb hitch is too much?


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Absolutely NOT. The 14,000 pound Equalizer is what you need for the trailer weight. I was only saying the spring bars that come with the 14K hitch are rated MUCH higher than 1400 pounds you stated. You will be fine with the 14K.