I need some help please
Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 8:41 pm
We got a new truck, well, not new, but new for us. my husband is of the "hitch it up and drive" school of thought, except he doesn't drive due to some vision problems. neither does he do much hitching up because he has a bad disc in his back. I don't mind doing it at all, in fact I kind of like it. But I can't figure some stuff out here.
So the new truck has 20" wheels. Our old truck had (I think!) 16" wheels. The man we bought our Avion from set up the WD hitch on that truck for us. It's a Reese WD hitch, and towing the Avion was very nice the way he set it up.
I've gotten a lot of help from the facebook Avion group, but I need more! Here are my questions, and I'm sorry for the long and probably boring post!
I figured the ball had to be lowered and since we have neither the tools or the strength to do this, I took it to a trailer business and asked them to lower it, which they did, buy about 2". I hitched up the trailer and towed it a few miles and it felt too high, and the steering felt vague and wandering. so lowered it another 2". it is now what I believe to be the right height, but the way it was set up before, the ball shank was at a slight angle away from the truck and now it is more of a 90 degree angle, straight up and down. I know this matters, but don't know how much.
then we got the trailer level, hitched up and all appeared to be good. It felt more stable to tow, and I've been very curious about the weight of the trailer and truck, so finally went to a truck scale with the trailer hitched up and then with the unloaded truck alone. we are within all our trucks weight limits, but I am dismayed to find the front axle is 100# lighter with the trailer hitched up than it is with the unloaded truck. The unloaded truck rear axle is 800# heavier. I need help with knowing how to balance the tongue weight properly.
I am reluctant to go back to that trailer business I went to. They were too busy with horse trailer and farm equipment to bother with an RV. If my hitch needs to have the height or angle of the ball shaft changed, I need to take it somewhere like U Haul or another trailer service place. If the angle isn't a big deal, I can adjust the WD bars and weigh it again. my limited physics sense says the bars need to be under more tension to push the front axle down. But I called a friend at a trailer sales, and he said less tension should balance the load.
I've measured and weighed and checked level till I'm confused and would really appreciate advice. thanks!
So the new truck has 20" wheels. Our old truck had (I think!) 16" wheels. The man we bought our Avion from set up the WD hitch on that truck for us. It's a Reese WD hitch, and towing the Avion was very nice the way he set it up.
I've gotten a lot of help from the facebook Avion group, but I need more! Here are my questions, and I'm sorry for the long and probably boring post!
I figured the ball had to be lowered and since we have neither the tools or the strength to do this, I took it to a trailer business and asked them to lower it, which they did, buy about 2". I hitched up the trailer and towed it a few miles and it felt too high, and the steering felt vague and wandering. so lowered it another 2". it is now what I believe to be the right height, but the way it was set up before, the ball shank was at a slight angle away from the truck and now it is more of a 90 degree angle, straight up and down. I know this matters, but don't know how much.
then we got the trailer level, hitched up and all appeared to be good. It felt more stable to tow, and I've been very curious about the weight of the trailer and truck, so finally went to a truck scale with the trailer hitched up and then with the unloaded truck alone. we are within all our trucks weight limits, but I am dismayed to find the front axle is 100# lighter with the trailer hitched up than it is with the unloaded truck. The unloaded truck rear axle is 800# heavier. I need help with knowing how to balance the tongue weight properly.
I am reluctant to go back to that trailer business I went to. They were too busy with horse trailer and farm equipment to bother with an RV. If my hitch needs to have the height or angle of the ball shaft changed, I need to take it somewhere like U Haul or another trailer service place. If the angle isn't a big deal, I can adjust the WD bars and weigh it again. my limited physics sense says the bars need to be under more tension to push the front axle down. But I called a friend at a trailer sales, and he said less tension should balance the load.
I've measured and weighed and checked level till I'm confused and would really appreciate advice. thanks!