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Old 09-08-2009, 09:38 PM   #1
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What size bars do I have?

All

I bought a used 2007 27' WolfPack last year and it came with a weight distributing hitch setup. I have adjusted the hitch head nine ways from Sunday and still can not get the ass end lifted at all.

I am wondering if the bars for the weight distributing hitch are simply too small or do not have enough capacity but do not know how to tell which bars I have. There are no markings on the bars themselves.

Any ideas on how to tell?

Thanks
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Old 09-09-2009, 03:18 AM   #2
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The WD bars wont lift your ass end, all they do is throw the weight of the camper on your truck back to the camper if you need to raise the ass end you may be too high in the front. Can you lower your hitch a notch? That will bring the back up.
Is the wolfpack a toy hauler?
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Old 09-09-2009, 07:05 AM   #3
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Got a picture of your hitch setup?

Which rear end are you trying to lift? The RV's or the TV's?
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Old 09-09-2009, 07:29 AM   #4
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I can get a picture. It is the Husky round bar type weight distributing hitch.

I have too much sag on the back of my truck - it goes down 4 inches. I thought the purpose of the WD hitch was to shift some of the load to the front axles of the tow vehicle and the axles of the trailer (rather than concentrating it all on the rear axle/hitch) thus effectively reducing the amount of sag in the back of the tow vehicle.

When I measure the hieght of my front end (from the ground to the center of the wheel well) it is 36.5 loaded or unloaded. When I measure the rear, it is 40 unloaded and 36.5 with the bars snapped up.

I have adjusted the hitch, both up and down, and played with the number of washers that adjust the head angle. I can get the bars parrallel by playing with the head angle but it does nothing to change the rear ride height, it is 36.5 with the trailer on the hitch with or without the bars snapped up.

I know these Toy Haulers have tremendous tongue weight and am just wondering if my round bars are undersized.
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Old 09-09-2009, 07:53 PM   #5
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To pick up the rear of the tow vehicle, increase the angle of the hitch ball, in other words, more tilt away from the tow vehicle. Change the height of the ball to get the trailer level, once all is connected, and measured. Takes a little while, and some patience. At least this works for a Reese Dual cam. Don't know how to tell what size bars you have unless you could find a published diameter that corresponds to a weight rating.
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Old 09-10-2009, 06:35 AM   #6
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My best advice is to go weigh the unit loaded and ready to camp. Windrider gave you the correct procedure to get the weight to distribute. It sounds like you're not bowing up on the bars enough. I'd tilt the head as far back as it will go and then take the bars up till they are parallel with the tongue.

It could quite possibly be that your hitch IS too small for your RV. Also, give us a bit more info on your TV.
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Old 09-10-2009, 07:54 AM   #7
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Bama, I have the same truck as you - Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab 2wd with the 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesel. LOOONG HEAVY tow vehicle.

Yeah I really need to go to the scale and check the weight because we haul a Yamaha 700 Grizzly, Yamaha 125 Breeze, a Honda TRX 250 and a Kazuma 110 atv. But the sag is the same loaded or unloaded...which I find kinda weird.

The hitch came with 7 washers to adjust the head angle - can I go with more than that? I think I tried it at the max tilt back and I could not get the trailer to latch (the part that goes under the tongue) due to the angle of the head.

I am definately considering air bags for the rear and that will resolve this issue. I really wish they would have labeled the round bars with the capacity and that way I would know if they are undersized or not.
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Old 09-10-2009, 10:39 AM   #8
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Try something: Hook up the trailer, no bars, tongue jack off the ground, and measure your height. Then hook up the bars and measure again. I hope there's a difference, at least you'll know the bars are trying to work. On a reese, with the head height set, put the bars on, and they should be 1 inch off the ground at the end when pointing back, as a starting point. Snap them up in the #5 chain link, which is the minimum for my set up, if it's not enough, then increase the ball angle, which changes the bar angle, and get's them closer to the ground. Do your bars go down when you change the ball angle? We're telling you to increase the ball angle, but you really want the bars closer to the ground, before you snap them up. Also use another link, just for testing, and see if it helps. Different configurations and hitches have different minimum chain links. My 1000 pound aren't quite enough for my trailer, but that's as big as they come with my dual cam setup. Might find a husky dealer, and take your bars in to compare sizes with some new ones and maybe you can determine what you have.
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Old 09-10-2009, 03:44 PM   #9
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Man! If you got that truck and you drop the rear 4", you got some serious weight on that tongue. I put 700lbs on mine and with no WD and it only drops 1".

Do the bars have anything stamped on them?

It sounds like you have the 400-600 lb bars and they're just not stout enough for your TW. It looks like from Husky's website that the head is common to all setups just the bars are different.
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Old 09-11-2009, 09:35 AM   #10
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Okay so I went out and measured the truck unloaded. From the ground to the center of the fender wheel well on the front is 36.5 inches and the back is 39.

When the trailer is on the truck (with or without the WD bars snapped up), the rear measures 36.5 and the front either remains the same or goes up to like 37 (I don't have the trailer here so I can't hook it up and measure it.)

So the drop in the rear is only 2.5 inches rather than my overstated 4 inches.
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Old 09-11-2009, 01:50 PM   #11
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2-1/2" is still a lot but not out of realm. It's hard to believe that hooking up the bars makes no difference. I believe you but there's definitely something wrong there.

Next time you get a chance take some pictures of the rig hooked up with the bars snapped up and some with them not snapped up. Then post them here and we'll see if we can help figure out how to fix it.
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