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Old 06-30-2014, 03:14 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by steamboatscott View Post
@Anaro - I'm not ignoring other's advice, but all the "official" sources (distributors and manufacturers) I've talked to on a WDH confirm that it is designed to distribute weight evenly to the front and rear axle of the tow vehicle and will distribute very little (if any) to the camper axle since the camper already rides even.
Man, I had hoped to avoid this, but here is the force vector analysis of a WD hitch. Whoever your "official" sources are you must either have misunderstood what they said or they tried to "simplify it" so you had some idea of why you needed one. Unfortunately they conveyed a lot of bad info.
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Old 06-30-2014, 04:39 PM   #22
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@MtnGuy and @Herk7769 - you just talked me into a WDH. The "official sources" I talked to were probably just reading from a phone script. I will report back with my numbers similair to how MtnGuy did.
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Old 06-30-2014, 04:59 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by steamboatscott View Post
@MtnGuy and @Herk7769 - you just talked me into a WDH. The "official sources" I talked to were probably just reading from a phone script. I will report back with my numbers similair to how MtnGuy did.
Beware, as stated in my previous post, you may only put 100 lbs. back on the trailer axles. You will also be adding about 75 lbs. or so to your hitch with the added weights of the WDH and spring bars. The WDH is not a cure all. It is great that you are aware of your weights, and seeking solutions. I would never advise anyone going over the GVWR or the GCWR, but the Tundra is a stout truck, made to do some hauling.
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Old 06-30-2014, 05:03 PM   #24
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@MtnGuy - I just noticed the weight of the WDH as you posted your reply. That is a concern then: transfering 75-100 lbs to my TT axle in exchange for 75 lbs on my rear axle (weight of WDH itself) isn't really helping my payload issue.

But I did learn a lot from your explanation and the PDF attached. The concept of transfering weight to the TT axle makes sense if it's tongue and the tow vehicle's rear were sagged. Leveling them up would distribute the load across all three more evently. But with mine fairly close to level, I don't think I'd get even 75 lb transfer.

Thanks again!
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Old 06-30-2014, 05:33 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by steamboatscott View Post
@MtnGuy - I just noticed the weight of the WDH as you posted your reply. That is a concern then: transfering 75-100 lbs to my TT axle in exchange for 75 lbs on my rear axle (weight of WDH itself) isn't really helping my payload issue.

But I did learn a lot from your explanation and the PDF attached. The concept of transfering weight to the TT axle makes sense if it's tongue and the tow vehicle's rear were sagged. Leveling them up would distribute the load across all three more evently. But with mine fairly close to level, I don't think I'd get even 75 lb transfer.

Thanks again!
You are correct that you are not going to get a big lose in weight reduction using a WDH. What you would be doing is getting some weight back on the front axle. 300 to 400 lbs. of tongue weight is not critical, but can make your truck drive a little squirrely. The passenger load that you have will help settle the front end some, as well as add a percentage of that weight to the back end as well, so your front axle may be OK. Adding the topper, camping gear in back, a percentage of passenger weight, then hanging 400 lbs. on the rear of the truck behind the bumper could send your rear axle over the weight rating. If that would tend to be much over the rating, then a WDH would help that situation by reducing that weight and sending it to the front TV axle, and the trailer axle.
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Old 06-30-2014, 06:16 PM   #26
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Thanks @MtnGuy. I've done all the calcs for rear axle weight and loss to front axle and feel completely comfortable there. My frustration with the WDH suggestions were that some seemed oversimplified and solved a front/rear axle problem that I'm not having while not solving my problem of getting close to overloading payload capacity. I appreciate your analysis and hopefully this thread is useful to others in the future.
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Old 06-30-2014, 07:56 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by steamboatscott View Post
Thanks @MtnGuy. I've done all the calcs for rear axle weight and loss to front axle and feel completely comfortable there. My frustration with the WDH suggestions were that some seemed oversimplified and solved a front/rear axle problem that I'm not having while not solving my problem of getting close to overloading payload capacity. I appreciate your analysis and hopefully this thread is useful to others in the future.

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Old 07-01-2014, 08:41 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by Herk7769 View Post
Man, I had hoped to avoid this, but here is the force vector analysis of a WD hitch. Whoever your "official" sources are you must either have misunderstood what they said or they tried to "simplify it" so you had some idea of why you needed one. Unfortunately they conveyed a lot of bad info.
Lou, do you have a higher resolution image of your force-vector analysis? I'd love to save that for reference.
Thx, BB
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Old 07-01-2014, 09:57 AM   #29
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Lou, do you have a higher resolution image of your force-vector analysis? I'd love to save that for reference.
Thx, BB
See if This helps you.
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