WDH's are a PITA. I have a 2007 2500 HD with a 5.9 CTD and a factory class IV hitch. I towed my race car (3500#) with a 18' Bri-Mar open car trailer (2000#) tandem axle electric brakes. I live and race in South FL and will never tow in the mountains. Can I get away safely with towing a 20' enclosed trailer without using a WDH? The enclosed will weigh max 3700# unloaded, I carry the majority of tools and equipment in the truck bed. It seems that with an added 1700#, I should be ok. It towed the 18" loaded open like it wasn't even back there. What say you?

 

Ok, this is probably going to be more information than you were directly looking for...but in cases like towing, too much is better than not enough, I say.

If your truck is even similar to mine in weight (I don't know if you have a 4x4, Quad Cab, long bed, etc..) it weighs about 6850lbs with just fuel and fluids...no passengers (I have a 4x4 quad cab short bed sport...)

Ok, you GCWR (gross combined weight rating, or how much you can have in your truck, in your bed and hooked to your receiver by Dodge's ratings) is 20000lbs

GVWR (how much weight your truck will support minus the weight of your truck) is 9000lbs

Truck weight is approx 6850lbs

So your payload (how much you can put in the bed AND have for passengers) is 2150lbs...you are putting rougly 1700lbs in the bed meaning that you can only put 450lbs of people in the truck (most over do this though without caring) so say three people or two bigger folks

Now, right now behind you, you are talking 3700lbs for trailer and 3500lbs for car, totaling 7200lbs. Your Class IV hitch is rated at 8000lbs max WITHOUT weight distributing hitch and 12000 with...so technically you will be under in those regards. However, a WDH with sway control arm will keep your load under control MUCH better and make for a MUCH better towing experience in mine, and many other's opinions.

Your truck will be FINE regardless...

6850 roughly for your truck
1700 roughly for your tools
3700 roughly for your trailer
3500 roughly for your car
plus whatever weight you will have in people

= 15750lbs

20000lbs - 15750lbs gives you 4250lbs left over to do whatever you please with...not to mention your truck will laugh at what you are doing to it...keep in mind that these numbers are all superficial to an extent and just put out there by Dodge as a disclaimer to you and the courtrooms that they will not take responsibility for anything that happens that is negative over those numbers...but most folks tow way....WAY more than that every day.

 

honestly i hate WDH too. they do serve their purpose, but they can be a PITA. last weekend we went camping and towed a camper that was about 6500 empty, so probably 7000 to 7200 with all our stuff. this was a rented camper and the guy we rented it from couldnt find the WDH he had for it (which we later found under the bed in the camper) so i towed without. my truck (see sig for specs) towed it no problem with zero sway problems. the biggest problem i had was the headwind both ways! got 9mpg but towed at 70 with plenty of power to spare. i think that if i was going to be towing any more than what i was id probly go with a WDH for peace of mind, but otherwise ill go without

wes

 

Thanks for the responses. It's a 4wd, short bed, quad cab.

 

I tow this in the summer. The boat is a 24' and weighs somewhere around #6500 empty, the tongue weight is around #600 (10%). Runs fine down the highway, winds, hills ( Illinois & Wisconsin hills ) no problem what so ever.. I do not have a WDH and doesn't need one for me. But the boat has a 70 gallon tank (just behind the last axle)and if it is more than 3/4 full it will want to oversteer just slightly. But I think it's kind of dumb to drag that much fuel down the road anyways. Sounds like your trailer would be somewhere less than mine. Just watch your tongue weight and you will be good to go IMO. Now if it ever warms up here I can get it out again this season ..

 

I tow everything without WDH and common sense will let you know how fast is fast enough.
Pulled a 15k 40' shower unit from Los Angeles to Portland,and back again,no sweat,I've got a dually though.
But that little trailer you've got will be fine!

 

If you do not use weight distributing hitch be sure to check the ratings of your ball and stinger. Most are rated for 5000 lbs so be sure to get one rated for the load you'll be pulling.

Now, as for WDH being a PITA. I disagree but then I use an electric tongue jack and have an Equal-i-zer brand hitch so no hooking or unhooking issues at all.

 

I have a WDH for my camper, but havent used it yet... I want the sway control from it...but dad tows his 16' stock trailer at 10-12K w/out WDH w/out issues... but he has a Reese Class V tow beast... thou that wont make a HUGE difference.

 

you know what gets me, is that typically everbody goes for all the heavy stuff like wdh's, big hitch ***** and stingers, but it all pulled by the same little pin. alot of people even use the stainless locking ones and ss is a soft metal. I to have pulled alot of trailers so far in my life, (for one i'm a truck driver), and have never had anything break wether it be a hitch ball or pin or ball mount. The only tyhing i have done is in chicago, a car pulled out in front of me and i had a 1250 gallon water tank on a seven thousand lb trailer and when i hit the brakes, it folded that reese hitch up underneath the truck. i dumped the clutch it came most of the way back out finished the day.

 

Most pins are rated for something like 30K... much more than the rest of the setup.

 

I personally don't see what exactly is the PITA part about them. It takes me longer to get the hitch ball lined up than to attach the spring bars. Besides, only with WD can you get to heavy tongue weights, unless you're willing to ignore the receiver ratings.

 

I used to have a '98 Dakota 4X4 pulling a bumper pull with two horses on a well worn and wet road. Traffic started to come to a stop for a light and when I hit the brakes, the front wheels locked up. Fortunately, the oncoming traffic lane was clear so I was able to let off the brakes and move over. It was like being on ice. Right after that, I went out and got the WDH. Never had a problem after that and the rig handled much better. Was a slightly bigger hassle to hook up but well worth it after the close call.

 

The hitch is nice for another reason. If you don't use the leveling bars - you can still attach the sway bar (takes about 15 seconds to do this) and you don't have to worry about sway.

But the bars only take me about 1 minute to hook up. Not a biggie really. Its more of a pain where to store the bars, cotter keys, sway bar, receiver, etc.

I recommend one just for safety.

Mike

Mike

 

Just remember that most, in fact all that I have seen except the equalizer, cut there ratings in half if the bars aren't hooked up... so say you have a 1200/12000 resse, its only rated for 600/6000 w/out bars.

 

A very good point,they are an added safety feature,brakes work alot better if you have WDH on,I've never had that problem with my ram,it's got abs that keeps the front tires rotating.

PaulDaisy wrote: I personally don't see what exactly is the PITA part about them. It takes me longer to get the hitch ball lined up than to attach the spring bars. Besides, only with WD can you get to heavy tongue weights, unless you're willing to ignore the receiver ratings. end quote.

Get a superhitch/titan.
the classs IV POS that came with my tuck was a joke,10k I think was the max,and thats with a WD hitch,I like my 15k superhitch I've got now.(1500 tongue weight without WD if I remember correctly)