Weight Distributing Hitch?

[kjohnson709]

All,

I recently bought a new F150 XLT FX4 3.5L ecoboost and this prompted me to do a ton of research relating to towing, max hitch weight, and tongue weight. Does anyone use a "weight distributing hitch??? I have visions of a hitch with the large side stabilizer bars like when towing a travel trailer?

The reason I ask is because while the max trailer rating of my truck is 10,700 lbs found here. It also says the max hitch weight to be towed is 5,000 lbs (not to be confused with tongue weight) unless a "weight distributing hitch" is used.

Here is the math on my weight.

Boat = 05 24v 4,325 lbs
Extreme trailer = approx. 1,400 lbs
fuel = approx. 280 lbs
gear = 100 lbs or so

total: approx. 6,100 lbs. This is well within the 10,700 lbs the truck can to but over the 5,000 lbs listed on the hitch receiver when used with a "dead weight" hitch.

Any thoughts?

IMG_9249.jpg

[JohnnieMo]

Weight Distributing Hitch?

Ah ha! You’ve fallen in to the trap. I also fell into this quandary years ago.

Our boats come from the factory pre balanced for their trailers. As such they don’t have the “normal” tongue weight we are accustomed to. As such a WD hitch is not needed. Since these boats are both balanced and aerodynamic (as well as dual or triple axle) they tow great without the WD.

So why does Ford and GM sell trucks with hitches not matched to their specs? Great question. I think it’s because they are cheap SOBs. I ended up changing my hitch but in retrospect just don’t worry about it. Our boats are unicorns that expose the flaws of the big 3’s reasoning.

They assume any trailer over 5000lbs will have a tongue weight of 15%. Our boats just don’t do that. My boat is about 6500lbs with <500lbs tongue weight max. That is 7.5%. It tows better than any other trailer I’ve ever had.

[kjohnson709]

Ah ha! You’ve fallen in to the trap. I also fell into this quandary years ago.

Our boats come from the factory pre balanced for their trailers. As such they don’t have the “normal” tongue weight we are accustomed to. As such a WD hitch is not needed. Since these boats are both balanced and aerodynamic (as well as dual or triple axle) they tow great without the WD.

How why does Ford and GM sell trucks with hitches not matched to their specs? Great question. I think it’s because they are cheap SOBs. I ended up changing my hitch but in retrospect just don’t worry about it. Our boats are unicorns that expose the flaws of the big 3’s reasoning.

They assume any trailer over 5000lbs will have a tongue weight of 15%. Our boats just don’t do that. My boat is about 6500lbs with <500lbs tongue weight max. That is 7.5%. It toes better than any other trailer I’ve ever had.

Thank you very much for the response! This makes perfect since with respect to tongue weight. I just wanted to make sure the fact that the sticker on the under side of the hitch that says 5,000 lbs max trailer weight w/ "weight carrying hitch" wasn't an issue.

I have towed the boat already on 4 hour trips and it tows great! Just had me worried for a minute.

[bsreid]

I haven’t weighed my tongue weight but it is definitely a lot more than 500lbs. 3500 Chev squats with the Rzx3 on tandem. For the larger boats the triple and tandem makes a huge difference. On a G for example, tandem axle trailer is 700-800lbs tongue and triple is close to 200lbs. With that being said I don’t think the WDH is necessary, especially since the smaller boats or the newer ones on triple axles have super low tongue weights.

[JohnnieMo]

As a side note, I'd be willing to bet your trailer weighs more than 6100lbs with the boat on it. Tige usually lists a dry weight which has no fluids, and generally is spec'd without any accessories (even the tower). This is so they can get on lakes with weight and size limits. For peace of mind I suggest weighing your boat at a truck scale or a road side scale. You can also do before and after to determine your actual tongue weight, if you really want to know. If it does surpass 500lbs, you can consider buying a Class IV or V hitch. It's not a big job to replace. It depends how much you care about the paper trail.

[UNSTUCK]

The main purpose of a WDH is to move rear end weight to the front end of the truck. You need to ask yourself why Ford is suggesting this with these low numbers. The hitch isn't the only thing carrying the load. The rear suspension, rear axle, and tires also come into play. Maybe your truck came with low weight carrying passenger tires? In that case a simple move to E rated tires would fix everything, but possibly loose some ride quality or MPG. What is your gross rear axle weight rating? Are you still under that number with all the boat gear you put in the truck bed? How much does your suspension squat once loaded up? What's your steering feel like? Maybe axle to frame airbags are all that's needed because you have too soft of a suspension (This was the fix for my Ram 1500). These are all good reasons why Ford would say just use a WDH to help spread the load to the front. This is a simple fix for electric brake trailers, but a bit more complex with surge brakes.
Converting your trailer to electric brakes, installing a solid tongue, and then installing a WDH is probably the only way Ford will back you in an accident. Ask yourself how important that is to you.

[sandm]

So why does Ford and GM sell trucks with hitches not matched to their specs? Great question. I think it’s because they are cheap SOBs. I ended up changing my hitch but in retrospect just don’t worry about it. Our boats are unicorns that expose the flaws of the big 3’s reasoning.

just as an fyi, lots of info on the moomba forums on this same topic and I would consider changing your response to just ford.
in my driveway currently sits a 99 f250 4x4 with factory tow package off the 250. it's a v10gas. hitch is a v5 but only rated for 500lbs tongue and 5000lbs tow. on a 250 no less.
the other main tow rig is my '16 chevy 1500 5.3 4x4 with the z71 package(offroad shocks and tow pack). it's factory hitch is a v5 as well but rated for 1200lbs tongue and 12000lbs tow WITHOUT a weight hitch.

ford is widely known for selling all their rigs with hitches that are undersized. in my example anyway gm put in the correct hitch on this tow pack- and maybe I have the unicorn of a truck but I doubt it. just a plain white chevy ride with the z71 pack.

*side note, I don't have any loyalty to any of the big 3 and frankly my next truck will be a ford despite the mismatched hitch

[sandm]

ford hitch off a 99 f250:


chevy '16 z71 tow pack:

[JohnnieMo]

just as an fyi, lots of info on the moomba forums on this same topic and I would consider changing your response to just ford.
in my driveway currently sits a 99 f250 4x4 with factory tow package off the 250. it's a v10gas. hitch is a v5 but only rated for 500lbs tongue and 5000lbs tow. on a 250 no less.
the other main tow rig is my '16 chevy 1500 5.3 4x4 with the z71 package(offroad shocks and tow pack). it's factory hitch is a v5 as well but rated for 1200lbs tongue and 12000lbs tow WITHOUT a weight hitch.

ford is widely known for selling all their rigs with hitches that are undersized. in my example anyway gm put in the correct hitch on this tow pack- and maybe I have the unicorn of a truck but I doubt it. just a plain white chevy ride with the z71 pack.

*side note, I don't have any loyalty to any of the big 3 and frankly my next truck will be a ford despite the mismatched hitch

Fair enough. My GM's are all over ten years old, so my data might be old. I do remember around 2013 I went into the GM dealer and climbed under the back end of a Silverado 1500 and showed the decal to the salesman and asked "how does this truck pull >10.000lbs when the hitch is only rated to 5,000lbs (i.e. Class III)" He didn't have an answer.

[TigeFamily]

ford hitch off a 99 f250:


chevy '16 z71 tow pack:

Just an FYI....I also had a 2016 Chevy 1500 with tow package, 3.42 gears and the 5.3 engine. My hitch said the same thing as yours which was 12k total and 1200lb tongue. However when I looked up my specific truck....the tow rating was actually 9200lbs. Still plenty but well short of the 12k they have on that hitch.
I now have a 2019 Ram 1500 with 3.92 gears and tow rating is 11,500

[kjohnson709]

ford hitch off a 99 f250:


chevy '16 z71 tow pack:

that is crazy to me that your 250 hitch has the same weight carrying hitch max rating as my 150.

[kjohnson709]

The main purpose of a WDH is to move rear end weight to the front end of the truck. You need to ask yourself why Ford is suggesting this with these low numbers. The hitch isn't the only thing carrying the load. The rear suspension, rear axle, and tires also come into play. Maybe your truck came with low weight carrying passenger tires? In that case a simple move to E rated tires would fix everything, but possibly loose some ride quality or MPG. What is your gross rear axle weight rating? Are you still under that number with all the boat gear you put in the truck bed? How much does your suspension squat once loaded up? What's your steering feel like? Maybe axle to frame airbags are all that's needed because you have too soft of a suspension (This was the fix for my Ram 1500). These are all good reasons why Ford would say just use a WDH to help spread the load to the front. This is a simple fix for electric brake trailers, but a bit more complex with surge brakes.
Converting your trailer to electric brakes, installing a solid tongue, and then installing a WDH is probably the only way Ford will back you in an accident. Ask yourself how important that is to you.

All good questions! I will investigate. Truck barley squats and sterring feels fine. It tows way better than my 06 ram quad cab this truck replaced. I need to look up the gross rear axle weight though!

[sandm]

it's a ford thing. they are known for putting lower rated hitches on trucks. I have found this out from the many towing threads over the years.

I do realize with the chevy that they put a 12000lb rated hitch but you are still limited to the capacity plate which is NOT 12000 but at least they are not selling a truck rated at 9kish and putting a 5k hitch on their "tow package" equipped option pack.
my old '99 ford f150 was the heavy half 7700 package. basically an f250 under the skin of an f150. it was the same story. rated at 9kish and hitch was only for 5k and it had trans coolers and all the other tow goodies.

I have learned from others to watch both the hitch and truck tow ratings.

when I bought the chevy in '17 I drove all 3 and will say if I had to tow with any regularity, the dodge with the tow pack and different rear gears would have been my choice. I didn't roll with it as the tach ran 1k higher at freeway than either the ford or chevy and I saw $$ flying out the window from reduced gas mileage day in and out but it felt like a beast for a 1/2ton gas.

[h2o-ski]

One more thing to take into account is that tongue weight counts against your payload. My '06 Expedition with the towing package is rated to tow 8,900lbs but the payload is only 646lbs. If I am am towing my boat, I can only have 1 person in the vehicle and not be over the payload capacity.

My hope is that we as consumers and some of the informed media can get manufacturers to stop this nonsense and clearly define how much weight we can tow/haul on a stamp on the vehicle itself.

[UNSTUCK]

This years reunion (last week) was the first time I towed my heavy boat (8600 pounds loaded) any real distance with our Ram 1500 Ecodiesel. Last year we had a loaner 3/4 ton truck as mine was in the shop. I was really impressed with how well it did. Driving through the Rockies did slow us down to 55 on some of the larger climbs, but overall I was blown away at how well it did. Honestly I would pick our half ton over the brand new 3/4 Ram cummins we drove last year. It had terrible brakes. Like SCARY BAD! We also did 1-2 MPG better in our little truck, at 12-13mpg for the trip. Probably double what a Hemi would have got.
These new half ton trucks are the new 3/4 tons of yesterday and a perfect match for our mid-weight boats.