Help Selecting Weight Distribution Hitch

Justintoxicated · 04-23-2005, 02:57 PM

This weekend my Dad and I went down to the trailer Hitch store. We need to find a weight distribution hitch for out 21 Foot Toy Hauler. The Tongue weight is 650 lbs + the blackwater tanks in the front when full. The trailer weight is 5620 dry holds 100 gallons of water and 16 gallons of gas + my quad and camping stuff.

1) We want a hitch that can be used on both his 05 Dodge 3500, and my 05 Titan.

2) We were looking at a Drawtight hitch and they wanted 290 for the 1,200# version. However they recomended a 1,000# for the titan.
Is this a good setup for the both of us? Is it a real pain in the *** to adjust a Shank every time we want to tow with a different vehicle?

3) Is this too much trailer for my Titan?

4) The guy said it would be a bad thing to get a 1400# because it would not properly distribute the weight for the titan (Puts too much weight up front) and could possibly bend my trucks frame because I would be too tempted to pull something with 1,400# tongue wieght (I dunno how he knows me so well lol)

5) Is Drawtight a good brand? Should we look for a better deal elsewhere?

6)Should we both get a different Shank and forget about adjusting it every time?

I did a search but did not find answers to many of these questions specificaly since this is sorta a more detailed case having 2 trucks.

ptgarcia · 04-23-2005, 03:17 PM

I just bought the Reese High Performance WD Hitch with the High Performance Dual-Cam Sway Control and a Reese shank (all the 1200-lb version) from RVSupplyWarehouse.com for $552 shipped to my door. From the research I did on this web site and at RV.net I got a good setup. Another setup thats recommended and about $100 cheaper is the Equal-I-Zer hitch, also available at RVSupplyWarehouse.com.

Don't worry about the trailer weight. Again, from research I've done you won't have a problem. I have a 6900-lb (empty weight) Thor Jazz travel trailer on order and I've been told by several Titan owners with heavier trailers that I won't have a problem. Good luck!

Justintoxicated · 04-23-2005, 05:10 PM

I was mostly concerned with tongue weight not over all trailer weight. I will look into that hitch thanks!

I'm also worried about te difficulty if adjusting the shank, for 2 different vehicles...Is it better to just buy 2 of them or are they fairly easy to adjust? neither of us have any experience towing something this large.

the sales guy also recomended we get a removable brake controller so we could swap it between vehicles, but I'm not crazy about the idea of drilling holes into the dash on my brand new truck. It will look like crapola

cttitan · 04-23-2005, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justintoxicated

This weekend my Dad and I went down to the trailer Hitch store. We need to find a weight distribution hitch for out 21 Foot Toy Hauler. The Tongue weight is 650 lbs + the blackwater tanks in the front when full. The trailer weight is 5620 dry holds 100 gallons of water and 16 gallons of gas + my quad and camping stuff.

1) We want a hitch that can be used on both his 05 Dodge 3500, and my 05 Titan.

2) We were looking at a Drawtight hitch and they wanted 290 for the 1,200# version. However they recomended a 1,000# for the titan.
Is this a good setup for the both of us? Is it a real pain in the *** to adjust a Shank every time we want to tow with a different vehicle?

3) Is this too much trailer for my Titan?

4) The guy said it would be a bad thing to get a 1400# because it would not properly distribute the weight for the titan (Puts too much weight up front) and could possibly bend my trucks frame because I would be too tempted to pull something with 1,400# tongue wieght (I dunno how he knows me so well lol)

5) Is Drawtight a good brand? Should we look for a better deal elsewhere?

6)Should we both get a different Shank and forget about adjusting it every time?

I did a search but did not find answers to many of these questions specificaly since this is sorta a more detailed case having 2 trucks.

The drawtite hitch is a good brand. I would get two shanks and heads then you just have to swap the bars over, might not be that much more though to get two hitches with bars and everything then it would be easy to tow with either truck. I guess it depends on how often you will be towing it with each truck.

I would go with the 1200# bars. It sounds like you could be pushing 7000-8000# if fully loaded and depending on your tongue weight the 1000# bars might not be enough to do the job. Having a bigger bar won't hurt anything.

And go ahead and install a brake controller in each truck. They are cheap ~$100. And don't worry about drilling a few small holes in the truck to mount it. Do a search on brake controller and you will see some mounting options.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 04-23-2005, 06:12 PM

I went with the Reese 1200 LB bars. Actually, that's what the trailer place GAVE me when I bought my TT...along with the Reese sway control unit. (Yes, Drawtite is a good brand) You're not towing more than the Titan can handle and 1200 LB bars....even 1400 LB bars will not bend a thing. You won't use either to their full abilities but it's good to have a little overkill if needed.

ptgarcia · 04-23-2005, 06:36 PM

If you will be changing tow vehicles often I would buy two shanks and two balls.

If I'm not mistaken Reese and Drawtite are the same, they are both owned by the same parent company, or something like that. I guess what I'm trying to say is both Reese and Drawtite are good equipment.

I second cttitan's opinion about going with the 1200-lb bars (that's what I did), especially since your pops has a 1-ton. If you decide to get a larger trailer you can move the WD setup to the new trailer.

Don't worry too much about drilling into your new ride. I just wired up a set of offroad lights into my wifes 4Runner this afternoon, and I had to drill to mount the switch. I found an incospicuous spot low on the dash area and bolted it up. It turned out nice and if I did remove the switch you'll never see the holes unless your laying on the floor, looking up. I'll be doing the same to my Titan tomorrow with my new Prodigy brake controller. I would buy a separate brake controller for both vehicles also because each may need to be adjusted differently because of the different capabilities and characteristics of the Titan and Dodge.

Do you plan on adding air-bags or an add-a-leaf or something?

Anyway, good luck and be sure to post a picture of your Titan with your trailer hitched up.

Justintoxicated · 04-24-2005, 03:03 PM

I may look into air bags but probably not right away. I'm going to show my dad this post since he is buying all this stuff anyways, I may end up having to buy my own brake controller but we could use the changable one untill I owuld affor my own and I could get the same exact thing anyways, it was like $150 but I have not looked for it online.
Thanks for all the advice I'll post our final desicions once he decides.

Justintoxicated · 04-24-2005, 04:43 PM

Ok I been looking all over the net for information of the difference between the reeseand drawtight. They might be made by the same place but what are the differences? Everywhere I look the reese is over $100 more. The Rees Dual Cam HP Sway Control is marked down from $400 to 300, but the plae in town sells the drawtight for $290 with no sale...The place in town also has the Prodigy brake controller for about 150 and from the same website with the reese it is only 116. So Is Reese a better hitch and what makes it better?

I don't fully understand this stuff yet without having it sitting in front of me.
It sounds like we need
2 brake controllers (even if I get the prodigy with 2 moutns so we can ove it between vehicles?)
2 Shanks
2 Hitch Heads?

ptgarcia · 04-24-2005, 09:46 PM

I bought my Prodigy from RVWholesalers.com for $99, $109 shipped to Rancho Cucamonga. It comes with 2 mounts, by the way. Maybe you could use one in your truck and the other in your Dad's. You will need and additional wiring harness however. I'm sorry but I can't help with the difference between the Reese and Drawtite. I just heard they were the same.

QWIKWHIP · 04-25-2005, 05:33 AM

One more to consider is the Equalizer brand. Mine works great and I find they are much easier to use. They have no chains and the sway control is integrated into the hitch. And there is no need to disconnect when backing or turning. They cost a little more but it's well worth it in the end I think.

Justintoxicated · 05-03-2005, 06:50 PM

Well we went with the Reese thinking it was pretty standard stuff so there would not be any suprises but sure enough the hitch does NOT fit ! It's only a 21 foot trailer I don't get it.

Worst of all this is THE LAST trip of the season untill next november. We need something Installed and ready to go by Thursday! Any Ideas?

I'm not there to help but I wanted to post these pis for my Dad.

Just found out 20% restock fee from RV supply warehouse too.

And we found out the hard way that you have to drill holes to install the reese! The Drawtight just bolts on!

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 05-03-2005, 08:38 PM

Well from those pics, you're holding it on there upside down. I have the Reese and yes, you have to drill to install it. My dealer did it all for me when I bought my TT so I was thrilled. What are those gold pieces for though? Don't look familiar.

Justintoxicated · 05-03-2005, 10:26 PM

ok so it does not need to go over the entire hitch? Yea I think my dad was holding it upside down. I can't help cause im over 2 hours away. However the directions say to install it like the second pic acording to my dad. So far he is wishing he got the Drawtight.

The gold things are for the Dual Cam Anti Sway bar.

Where is a good location to drill holes in the Dash for a Brake Controller?

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 05-04-2005, 03:51 AM

This is how it should sit. It sits on top of the rail and is bolted on:

Oldfordowner · 05-04-2005, 09:13 AM

The "Spring Bar" rating should be close to your tongue weight. if you have a tongue weight of 600-700 # and use the 1200# bars it will be very likely that you will "over-equalize" the weight. The purpose of the load distributing hitch is to spread the extra weight on the hitch between the front wheels and the trailer axles. Oversized bars will overstiffen the connection and cause "porpoising" whenever you encounter rough road. Eaz-Lift and Reese both have some information on their sites that help pick the best weight distribution setup. Bigger is not necessarily better. I have been towing traveltrailers in the 5000-7000# range for 30+ years. Bought my titan for towing and it's a great vehicle. (Just got back from a 1500 mile trip) Get the proper sized hitch and enjoy the ride.