Are those weight stabizer bars and that friction plate thinky necessary for a 24-26 ft travel trailer being towed behind a 2500 4x4 CTD truck?

I know that friction plate that clamps is supposed to help swaying / steering...

What about the 2 bars that attach to the truck ball hitch and then chain up to the trailer frame.

I remember my father had those weight bars on a travel trailer but he was pulling with a car in the old days.

Is all this hitch "stuff" necesary for a big 2500 pick up?


Rick

 

I've got a 3500 SRW and it pulls my 30 enclosed trailer fine. When the trailer is loaded it gets a little bouncy if I hit a bump and if I get above 65 mph then I start to get some sway. If I slow back down to 65 or below it stops. I just bought a Weight distribution hitch and haven't even used it yet but I'm sure it's worth it. I also picked up a sway control bar too. Rick D just drove about 9000 miles with one on his 3500 SRW pulling his toy hauler and said that when he got back and hooked the trailer up without the hitch he was amazed at how differently it felt.. I picked mine up on E-bay pretty cheap.

So, I guess the answer is no you don't have to have it but it may make your long drive more comfortable..

 

Thanks Dodgezilla ,,,, That makes sense . I hadnt even thought about the driveing comfertable thing. Fitghting something your pulling wouldnt be fun.

I have a guy that wants to trade a 26ft pop out travel trailer for my lance camper. I dont think he has the hitch add ons.

Ill check out ebay. I know they arent cheap new what $400 500 ?

Free is best ! ! !

 

IMO, it really depends on the tongue weight of the trailer. A heavy tongue can really bully the rear end of the truck around and make for an unpleasant and unsafe drive. I use a weight distributing hitch on my car hauler when I have my slide-in on the truck. Without it, it is just too much weight on the rear axle of the truck and it does not drive great. With the W-D hitch on it tows beautifully and the truck handles exceptionally well. With just the car hauler trailer (800 lb tongue) and no slide-in I don't use the W-D hitch because I don't feel much of a difference and the trailer tows fine.

 

Well, my problem now is that my truck appears to be too tall even with the hitch adjusted to the lowest setting. It's still about 3-4" taller than my regular reciever which, when hooked up, keeps the trailer sitting nice and level. I've got a 12" drop hitch adapter that I am thinking about getting cut down to about 6" drop and that along with the WDH should work out just fine. The bad thing is that it's gonna cost me about $85.00 to get it done!!

 

I use weight distributing hitches for hauling anything over 3k lbs. I know at times this is overkill, but then again, those weight distributing bars give you one more attachment point between the trailer and the vehicle. Hauling heavy, if you must tow a tag style trailer, you cannot beat the ride and stability you get from the bars. Much better than having the truck thrown around.

As far as $85 dollars to get a hitch modded to work, by a professional shop. How much is a dead person worth? Going out of control due to excessive sway, and hitting something or someone can really bugger up your whole day.

I know that I have a lot of coin tied up in hitch products for my trucks and trailers, but I would rather spend a little and save a whole lot of grief. Comes back to the motocross days when someone told me, if you have a $10 head, wear a $10 helmet.

Good luck in your choices, and happy towing

 

Depends on hitch wt. If you got 3-400 lb or more hitch wt the equalizers are worth it. Get bars that are rated 2-3oo lb more then your hitch wt.
Remember setting still your trailer may have 400 lb hitch wt. But when you go through that little dip in the road and your rig dives in the rear that 400lb turns into 800 before your tow rig can bring it back to level.
The equalizers ,properly set up, do just that as they put some wt on the ft axel also. And this alone mackes for much better handeling.