Weight distribution hitch required?

[mikeschn]

We traveled some really nasty roads this weekend. Typical for Michigan. Anyways, with the heavy tongue weight we have, it tended to bounce the truck quite a bit.

So we removed the propane bottles for the journey home. Again on the nasty roads it bounced the truck a bit... not as bad, but still bad enough not to like it.

Has anyone else experienced a problem like this? What's the fix? Something like this?
http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/WD/sing ... _hitch.htm

Mike...

[campadk]

Seems like a bit of overkill for a tear Mike.

I know our tongue weight was a bit high since I had added a Delta box on the front for storage. So I just put light stuff only in it, and try to keep all the heavy stuff in the back.

I'd think the Draw-Tite bars would be a bad idea for rough roads anyhow.

How much tongue weight do you have?

[mikeschn]

After I took the bottles back off, the tongue weight should have been back down to 275#.

Yes I know it seems like an overkill for a teardrop, but I don't have any other ideas...

Mike...

[jimqpublic]

After I took the bottles back off, the tongue weight should have been back down to 275#.
...
Mike...

Wow! That's really heavy for a teardrop. I presume that WITH the propane bottles it is more like 350 pounds?

Definitely a candidate for either moving the axle or a WDH. I'd first look into moving the axle though. It looks like you could move it up about 3" before you interfere with the door. Also do you actually need two propane bottles?

On to the WDH-
We have the unit you cited above. It's made by Cequent Towing Products and sold under their two brand names- Reese and Draw-Tite. Be aware that you can't buy direct from Reese or Draw-Tite so any website that sells them isn't the manufacturer. There are lots of sites like "reesehitches.com" or similar that are just dealers. We bought ours from etrailer.com and were quite pleased with the service.

The WDH smoothed out the suspension in the car and is a big ride/handling improvement with our small car and almost 300 pounds of hitch weight.

[Chip]

Mike ,,WOW ,,thats a bunch of tongue weight,,,you hauling moonshine to pay for ya trip???? just kidding of course,,Mike you might consider mounting a receiver or two on the rear of the tear and putting a removable rack there,,I have seen a lot of tail-gaters using them to haul their goodies,,then you could put all the extra weight as far to the rear as possible. When you get to the camping area set your tank(s) and other equipment off and put in a useable place and take the rack off,,,heck incorporate the rack into a table for camp use after its disconnected from ya tear,,,just cyber thinking,,,,,,

chip

[tdthinker]

I myself plan to put air ride on my tear that way it will be a smooth ride going down the road. When I need ground clearance from rocks, water, or mud all I will do is push a button to add an additional 22 inches to my height (biggest air bags I could finde) and I am set to go. Fully raised my tear should be 36 inches off the ground. That is grate for when I go on are back trails when the creeks are up and large trees block the path. There is just something about deep mercy water I just cant resist! I wanted the grate groud clearance of a Jeep, the smooth ride of a cadilac, and the strenght of a tank for my grass hopper, so I chose the air bags. It will be better than a large camper because it can go out back and still handle the rough trails and all the things I pack on the roof racks. That is just my idea, it isnt cheep but It will work, bye

[denverd0n]

Push a button and gain 22 inches!?! How are you going to do that? Will the tear sit ONLY on the air bags? That will mean you must have control arms to keep the axle centered. The geometry of these will get very complicated very quickly.

And what about the hitch to the vehicle? Will it move too? If not, you're going to have problems there. Mount it high enough for when the tear is all the way up and you'll be draggin' in the back when the tear is down. Mount it low enough for when the tear is down and the tear will have its butt sticking way up in the air when you pump up the bags.

I just can't envision how this can possibly work. Of course, that doesn't mean it CAN'T work; it just means I can't envision it. I'd really be interesed in a further explanation of this, with pictures if possible, if you don't mind. I suppose it should go into a separate thread of its own.

Good luck making this all work out.

[tdthinker]

We own a large company that sells large trucks and other vehicles, most of the big trucks we have have two hitch possitions. One of the trucks we own even has a hitch that raises and lowers wich origonaly was used to pull large boats out of the water in Key west. They didnt like having to switch the hitch every time for a different boat trailer. I like that truck rather well becase it is big but not to big. I plan to have control arms to hold my axe in place just like a car does when they put air bags on them. If I cant figure it out I will hire someone to do it for me. That is one perk of being the gradson of the man that owns are town.