WDH or not on 1-Ton Trucks

UWSkier · February 27, 2023

5 hours ago, Polo08816 said:

This is one of the considerations of why I might go with a 1 ton HD SRW gas for trailering a track car on a tilt bed trailer.

At 6,000 to 7,000 lbs and 25 % of it on the hitch, I can probably get away without using a WDH. That's a significant reduction in time required to hitch up on a Sunday afternoon as we finish up at the track.

IDK, I have a ProPride for my RV and I can hitch that up just as fast as I can my ski boat trailer.

UWSkier · February 27, 2023

13 hours ago, 64BAwagon said:

I would disagree on the 1000# not being on the hitch. Theres literally nowhere else it could possibly be. If the trailer weigh 8k and the axles weigh 7k then by default theres 1k on the tongue of the trailer.

It's a little bit of a mind-screw but this isn't true. Ideally, one should weigh the trailer and truck with and without WDH engaged. Without, your rear axle of your truck will be heavy. With it engaged, you will see an increase in weight born by the front axle of the truck and the trailer axles.

This video is probably the best explanation of this concept I've seen.

Jettech1 · February 27, 2023

15 hours ago, 64BAwagon said:

I would disagree on the 1000# not being on the hitch. Theres literally nowhere else it could possibly be. If the trailer weigh 8k and the axles weigh 7k then by default theres 1k on the tongue of the trailer.

I agree with you to a point. But here's where its get muddy. The CAT scales didn't differentiate what weight was on each axle of our camper. So there's a chance the front axle could have had say 4k and the rear could have had 3k. Or visa versa depending on nose low or high. That would change the weight on the actual hitch. If the camper was nose high the weight would have been on the back of the camper. Nose low it would be on the hitch. See what I mean? This stuff gets really confusing and muddy without actual weight sensors. So we look at the front and rear axle of the truck loaded and unloaded. And those figures only bring more confusion into the equation. Do you see what I mean or am I just a dumb ass about this stuff?. And trust me that's a real possibility.......I'm a total newbie to all of this so there's a really good chance here I'm missing something obvious about the weights.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Jettech1

Jettech1 · February 27, 2023

8 hours ago, Another JR said:

The factory seems to adjust the headlights for the empty attitude. They are very easily adjustable with a long 6mm Allen wrench. I keep the wrench in the glove compartment in case I ever want to change it on a trip.

When I installed the lasfit LEDs on my truck I had to adjust them down big time when empty. 2.5 turns clockwise on the drivers side and 2 turns clockwise on the passenger side. Super easy to do, I'm glad you mentioned that because regardless if you have the factory or the lasfit LEDs, it's super easy to adjust them.

Jettech1 · February 27, 2023

1 hour ago, UWSkier said:

It's a little bit of a mind-screw but this isn't true. Ideally, one should weigh the trailer and truck with and without WDH engaged. Without, your rear axle of your truck will be heavy. With it engaged, you will see an increase in weight born by the front axle of the truck and the trailer axles.

This video is probably the best explanation of this concept I've seen.

Great video, thank you for posting it. Very educational.

andycaroll124 · February 27, 2023

Interested in

Jettech1 · February 27, 2023

13 minutes ago, andycaroll124 said:

Interested in

Very cool, it could use a bath but who cares when off roading. Thumbs up!!!!

64BAwagon · February 27, 2023

8 hours ago, Jettech1 said:

I agree with you to a point. But here's where its get muddy. The CAT scales didn't differentiate what weight was on each axle of our camper. So there's a chance the front axle could have had say 4k and the rear could have had 3k. Or visa versa depending on nose low or high. That would change the weight on the actual hitch. If the camper was nose high the weight would have been on the back of the camper. Nose low it would be on the hitch. See what I mean? This stuff gets really confusing and muddy without actual weight sensors. So we look at the front and rear axle of the truck loaded and unloaded. And those figures only bring more confusion into the equation. Do you see what I mean or am I just a dumb ass about this stuff?. And trust me that's a real possibility.......I'm a total newbie to all of this so there's a really good chance here I'm missing something obvious about the weights.

Youre correct in that the scale will not give you a weight for the individual axles BUT it will give you the total weigh for both. You could get the hitch weight one of 2 ways, drop the trailer on the scale with the trailer axles on one section and your tongue jack on another. Or you could weigh the entire unit with the splits between steer, drive and trailer weight and then drop the trailer and weigh just the tow vehicle subtracting the drive axle weight empty from the measurement of that axle with the trailer connected. If you really wanted to get into the weeds you could find someone with portable scales and have each individual wheel weighed on the trailer. Not only would this give you accurate front to rear weights but it would give you side to side which on some trailer designs is likely an issue due to slides and storage. It gets real easy to overthink this issue.

Which Lasfit lights did you use ? I am going to buy some for my 24 since the LT trucks still have the plain Halogen bulbs.

Edited February 27, 2023 by 64BAwagon

64BAwagon · February 27, 2023

9 hours ago, UWSkier said:

It's a little bit of a mind-screw but this isn't true. Ideally, one should weigh the trailer and truck with and without WDH engaged. Without, your rear axle of your truck will be heavy. With it engaged, you will see an increase in weight born by the front axle of the truck and the trailer axles.

This video is probably the best explanation of this concept I've seen.

My understanding is that the WDH will not lessen the tongue weight, it will divide it between the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle by a torsional force. It will not lessen the overall weight of the tongue. This could be confirmed by doing 2 weighs on the scale, one with the WDH assembly under tension and one with it not.

the wanderer · February 27, 2023

10 hours ago, Jettech1 said:

I agree with you to a point. But here's where its get muddy. The CAT scales didn't differentiate what weight was on each axle of our camper. So there's a chance the front axle could have had say 4k and the rear could have had 3k. Or visa versa depending on nose low or high. That would change the weight on the actual hitch. If the camper was nose high the weight would have been on the back of the camper. Nose low it would be on the hitch. See what I mean? This stuff gets really confusing and muddy without actual weight sensors. So we look at the front and rear axle of the truck loaded and unloaded. And those figures only bring more confusion into the equation. Do you see what I mean or am I just a dumb ass about this stuff?. And trust me that's a real possibility.......I'm a total newbie to all of this so there's a really good chance here I'm missing something obvious about the weights.

How is your trailer suspension set up? I have a dual axle, but it's basically an inverted Y, meaning, both axles always get 100% identical load and the trailer weight just pivots front to back on top of a joined pivot point that sits on top of both axles.

UWSkier · February 27, 2023

3 hours ago, 64BAwagon said:

My understanding is that the WDH will not lessen the tongue weight, it will divide it between the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle by a torsional force. It will not lessen the overall weight of the tongue. This could be confirmed by doing 2 weighs on the scale, one with the WDH assembly under tension and one with it not.

That's what they do in the video. They weigh tow vehicle and trailer axles with and without WDH engaged. With it engaged, a couple hundred pounds are transferred back to the trailer axles. There's tongue weight, then there's "effective" tongue weight.

Jettech1 · February 27, 2023

5 hours ago, 64BAwagon said:

It gets real easy to overthink this issue.

Which Lasfit lights did you use ? I am going to buy some for my 24 since the LT trucks still have the plain Halogen bulbs.

That's a fact. I know I'm overthinking it big time.

These are the ones I bought and love them!!! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087QFSQC2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You will need 2 packs of them so for 80 bucks you can't beat it. Also the high and low beam use the same bulb.

Jettech1 · February 27, 2023

4 hours ago, the wanderer said:

How is your trailer suspension set up? I have a dual axle, but it's basically an inverted Y, meaning, both axles always get 100% identical load and the trailer weight just pivots front to back on top of a joined pivot point that sits on top of both axles.

That's a good question. I'll have to look under it the next time we go see my relatives. It's being stored on their property.

64BAwagon · February 27, 2023

1 hour ago, Jettech1 said:

That's a fact. I know I'm overthinking it big time.

These are the ones I bought and love them!!! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087QFSQC2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You will need 2 packs of them so for 80 bucks you can't beat it. Also the high and low beam use the same bulb.

Great, those are the ones I was looking at. Thanks

For the money I dont think you could beat those with a big stick.

asilverblazer · February 27, 2023

4 hours ago, UWSkier said:

That's what they do in the video. They weigh tow vehicle and trailer axles with and without WDH engaged. With it engaged, a couple hundred pounds are transferred back to the trailer axles. There's tongue weight, then there's "effective" tongue weight.

This is accurate, and depending on the length of the trailer will alter how much gets picked back up by the trailer with weight distribution bars engaged.

Tandem axle trailers usually have an equalizer so that both axles carry the same amount of weigh at all times. Some - do not, usually ones with torsion axles. Without an equalizer the trailer must be dead level (regardless of weight distribution) for the axles to be evenly loaded. In addition, traversing steep roadway transitions, can temporarily unload one of those axles (where either the lead or tail axle's tires are off the ground) to the point where the remaining axle, including tires, springs, etc. is overloaded.

Engaging weight distribution systems 'distributes' the tongue weight (I think of it as the amount the trailer jack lifts when hitching up) across "three" axles:

1. Tow vehicle front axle

2. Tow vehicle rear axle

3. Trailer axle(s)

Since some of the tongue weight gets put back on the trailer when engaging weight distribution, the final weight put on both axles of the tow vehicle is less (fractionally) than without weight distribution.