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Old 05-24-2018, 07:56 AM   #1
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Question WDH Question...

Picking up a new Hemisphere 300BH Saturday but want an opinion on our WDH...


Currently have a Reese Strait-Line setup with the 1200# Trunnion bars that we got used when we bought our current TT 3 years ago ...



So I know the dry number is meaningless, but at 880lbs dry hitch, and just under 10K GVWR, do I need to be worried about stepping the bars up to the 1500# bars?


I don't have any complaints about the hitch otherwise that I think would warrant a whole new setup...I've never had any sway issues with our current TT at 29' and 6750 gross...
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Old 05-24-2018, 12:45 PM   #2
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Don’t guess at tongue weight. Either hit the scales or make a cheap home made scale for your tongue weight. I bet loaded you are pushing 1000# So without you knowing actual weights your just guessing. I guess for a guess weight get your gross weight rating of the TT and get your 10% from that but that is a guess. So minimum if you are at 10k gvwr for your TT you would need 1000# bars. It’s a crude way to do it but you get the idea. Good luck

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Old 05-24-2018, 01:05 PM   #3
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Trailer is just under 10K GVWR...my current bars are rated for 1,200 tongue/12,000 gross...so I know I'm good on the gross...just wondering how likely it would be to end up over 1200 tongue wet and loaded since it seems like the 300BH has a higher than average TW % compared to the other models in the Hemisphere lineup.


I plan to hit the scales once we get loaded and ready for our first trip, but I can get a 20% discount on anything I order the day of delivery so if I need them, I should order now, but this isn't something mechanical we're talking about, its a carefully constructed and rated (with I'm sure a significant safety factor) 1,200# steel bar...so if I'm under with at least 50 or so lbs wiggle room based on changing load factors I'm confident it will be fine...
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Old 05-24-2018, 01:41 PM   #4
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You should be good. You are not exceeding the capacity of the bars with that tongue weight.



Tim
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Old 05-24-2018, 03:32 PM   #5
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Looks like dry weight is around 8250. I usually recommend 1000 lbs over dry for loaded estimate, but for such a large trailer, let's use 1200. So that's 9450 estimated loaded weight.


x 12.5% for estimated TW. 9450 * 0.125 = 1181lbs
I like to stay away from the upper limit of any WDH kit, to avoid bouncing/"porpoising", so add 100 lbs, pushing things to 1281
Round up to the next available size = 1400 lbs kit.


I do not think you would be happy with 1200 lbs bars. That long trailer, with heavy TW, will have those bars really bent, acting more like springs and less like bars. Makes for a very bouncy, nauseating, porpoising ride.
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Old 05-24-2018, 07:53 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thebrakeman View Post
Looks like dry weight is around 8250. I usually recommend 1000 lbs over dry for loaded estimate, but for such a large trailer, let's use 1200. So that's 9450 estimated loaded weight.


x 12.5% for estimated TW. 9450 * 0.125 = 1181lbs
I like to stay away from the upper limit of any WDH kit, to avoid bouncing/"porpoising", so add 100 lbs, pushing things to 1281
Round up to the next available size = 1400 lbs kit.


I do not think you would be happy with 1200 lbs bars. That long trailer, with heavy TW, will have those bars really bent, acting more like springs and less like bars. Makes for a very bouncy, nauseating, porpoising ride.
Thanks for laying it out like that. Do you know of 1400# bars? I wasn’t even aware of 1500# bars until I went on the Reese site. The guy in the service department at the dealer told me if I needed to move up it would be to 1700# bars which seemed like a lot of overkill.

With my current setup I’m like 875 loaded so I was just barely over the 800# bars. I guess I’m used to them stuff so might as well take the discount.
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Old 05-24-2018, 09:07 PM   #7
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My trailer gvwr is 9650# and it's current tongue weight is almost 1300#. Dealer sold me a 10k that I eventually replaced with a 14k as I was whipping the heck out of the undersized hitch. Go with 11% of gross as tw estimate would be my recommendation.
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