Rate my rig - newbie

[epeddy1]

Originally Posted by ThePlumber

LOL I was talking to myself. I came off pushy. Good luck.

No worries, I didn't think you were being pushy. As I've said, I appreciate the honesty and bluntness (and pushyness?) that this forum provides. I'm grateful for the advice in this thread and getting myself in a position where I'll feel much more safe!

[adlereins]

Originally Posted by epeddy1

Rims are 20". Tires are all season (not LT). That will be one thing I'll look at after taking the rig to a CAT scale - to make sure the tires are rated for the weight. Seems like they should be, but I'll double check. Rear axle ratio is 3.92.

All season just indicates the type of tread. I'm sure you have the same tires I do as well as the same axle ratio. As I type this you are probably pretty excited as you pick it tomorrow. I'm sure everything is going to work out just fine for you. Please make a signature Keep the shiny side up

[tuffr2]

Did you pick up the Ram yesterday?

[epeddy1]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Did you pick up the Ram yesterday?

I did! Relaxing in the camper right now! Fun little place about 30 min from home with river tubing. Looking forward!

Realizing this is the towing sub, I'll get back on topic, lol... I took the day off from work today to adjust the WDH, take the rig to the CAT scale, adjust the trailer braking, get things situated, etc. I'll post the wt slips after my trip, but things were looking good. I have about 500# payload to spare! That should be enough for a week-long SD trip.

The ride was good. Just a short trip, so still hasn't really been tested. I could definitely feel the power boost! I will say that I could tell the difference stepping down from the 10 speed that the Ranger had. Am reaching 4k RPM a lot more before it changed gear. I guess one reason I noticed is the fact I have a louder engine now, lol. Also, backing the hitch into the coupler was a LOT more touchy than the Ranger, when backing uphill on my driveway. Will take some getting used to.

The ride was more comfy. I certainly felt more in control - just the fact my mirrors can see around the camper now tells a story.

I'm happy. And my wife isn't embarrassed anymore bc we no longer have the smallest truck in the campground, haha.

[epeddy1]

Here's a pic I took at the truck stop after getting weighed. I'm loving the all black look - nice little bonus.

Also, while some of it has to do with the angle, the trailer doesn't look as monstrous behind the Ram compared to what it looked like before.

[jjackrash]

Good looking set up!

[tuffr2]

Nice[emoji106]. You hit the nail on the head when you said this set up looks better. I test drove the new Ram and thought it was powerful and very comfortable.

Your driveway will always be a minor issue that you will need to learn the nack of unhooking. You might need to release the hitch then raise the jack just until the truck also raises. Then get in the truck and carefully move it 1/2" back or 1/2" forward to see if it unhooks. It will make a loud clunk when it finally unhooks. That is ok.

The key is to know which way to move the truck as well as how high to raise the jack to create enough weight to help break the connection loose.

[ThePlumber]

Originally Posted by epeddy1

I did! Relaxing in the camper right now! Fun little place about 30 min from home with river tubing. Looking forward!

Realizing this is the towing sub, I'll get back on topic, lol... I took the day off from work today to adjust the WDH, take the rig to the CAT scale, adjust the trailer braking, get things situated, etc. I'll post the wt slips after my trip, but things were looking good. I have about 500# payload to spare! That should be enough for a week-long SD trip.

The ride was good. Just a short trip, so still hasn't really been tested. I could definitely feel the power boost! I will say that I could tell the difference stepping down from the 10 speed that the Ranger had. Am reaching 4k RPM a lot more before it changed gear. I guess one reason I noticed is the fact I have a louder engine now, lol. Also, backing the hitch into the coupler was a LOT more touchy than the Ranger, when backing uphill on my driveway. Will take some getting used to.

The ride was more comfy. I certainly felt more in control - just the fact my mirrors can see around the camper now tells a story.

I'm happy. And my wife isn't embarrassed anymore bc we no longer have the smallest truck in the campground, haha.

.... NOT THE SMALLEST TRUCK IN THE CAMP GROUND... FUNNY. HAPPY TRAILS., whoops sorry yelled

[epeddy1]

Finally got some time to post my CAT slips. I don't see any capacity issues, a bit curious about the wt dist, and wouldn't mind some feedback from you fine folks.

Note I forgot to add the hitch for the truck only, so needed to manually add that in (about 53#). Oops.

Also these wts didn't include my passengers, which is about 250# including dogs.

So when towing with all passengers, looks like my available payload is about 510#. Thats a lot of cases of beer. Maybe some firewood too. Lol.

Tongue wt still about 610#, trailer 5800#. Note that this was with all food and clothes packed in the trailer the way we wanted - nothing special done to strategically put wt in the rear or anything. I could see my wife adding wt now that we have some room, especially for a long trip, so with GVWR on the trailer at 6500, I figure 700# tongue to be safe, which still puts me at about 400# payload. Still enough for beer.

Seems like the wt distribution is OK? This is where I'd like some feedback. The steer and drive axles are nearly evenly distributed when towing, but it doesn't seem like the wdh is actually putting any wt on the steer at all. Same wt before and after. Is that ok? Its like the wdh isn't actually accomplishing anything, and I can only adjust it up one more notch. But unladen there's a huge gap - like its designed to take on more weight and I wouldn't even need a wdh if I didn't have one. The Ram receiver is about 1" lower than the Ranger was. Could that be an issue? Trailer is still pretty level when hitched - not sure 1" is a big deal? What am I missing? The goal is to get the wt distributed evenly, not necessarily to match the unladen wt, right?

Drive:
Before 2360+50=2410
After 3040
Wt gain 630

Steer:
Before 3320
After 3300
Wt gain -20

[tuffr2]

You got yourself what I would consider a muscular 150/1500 series truck. 1,776 lb. payload is good and 4,100lb rear axle weight capacity is good.

I agree with you that the WD hitch should transfer more weight to the steer axle of the Ram.

I would adjust the weight distribution hitch one more notch and then re-weigh to see what the WD hitch is doing.

[epeddy1]

Funny story. So I had a free 30 day check-up appt with the dealer, where they would fix anything for free that we noticed since the purchase and do a free n-point inspection. It was free, so I took it in.

I figured I'd try and get them to adjust the WDH for free, rather than me messing with it. Was hoping to have a pro do it, not totally sure of myself being new and all. Plus, I remember for a fact that when they first installed it they did it wrong bc they never hitched it to my truck until I pulled off, so how could they have known the adjustment was correct?

So I explained the situation (that all the tongue wt was going to the rear axle and it wasn't done correctly at first) to the guy. He looked at me crooked and went and got their house "expert." I explained to him, and he said "the WDH doesn't distribute wt to the front axle, that's impossible. It just distributes the wt here (pointing to the hitch and A-frame area)". I told him the manual says otherwise, and explained the process of measuring the wheel-well height before and after and adjusting the spacer washers and bar height. He said "I've been doing this for 3 years and never measured anything before, you're fine. In fact, it should be lowered." I knew it actually needed to be raised, based on my previous CAT scale slip and instructions in the manual. But I didn't want to sit there and argue, so let him do his thing and just did the adjustment on my own at home. Glad I invested in a 300ft/# torque wrench (which will come in handy putting the snow plow on my tractor every year as a bonus, and takes place of the multi lug nut tool in my truck bed.)


To think all the other newbies who got their install done there over the last 3 years has an incorrect WDH setup. Would've been me too had I not joined this forum! I can't express enough gratitude to everyone in this forum who's given me advice. I'm still a rookie, don't get me wrong, but already ahead of a 3-year pro "expert"!!!

[Joe_Camper]

Originally Posted by epeddy1

Funny story.
he said "the WDH doesn't distribute wt to the front axle, that's impossible. It just distributes the wt here (pointing to the hitch and A-frame area)".

Unfortunately, a sad story. I'll bet this is happening all across the country at thousands of dealers. Many years ago on my first tow behind, the dealer's mechanic got it all wrong. Not only was it not adjusted right, the holes were not drilled into the camper frame in the right places. I had to get the manual and re-install from scratch. NEVER trust a dealer. ALWAYS educate yourself.

[Rolling Ragu]

Love it! Read the first page of posts, thought I knew where this was going, and skipped to the last page. OP did the right thing! So many times you read good suggestions and the OP disappears or doesn't listen.

Hope you have many safe miles of enjoyment! Great looking rig.

[tuffr2]

This thread made me think of all the different designs of WD hitches there are. Also I am in the process of making up my mind if I end up needing one. I am now leaning to a simple Drawtite with the bars and chain loops. I used this type on my 1st trailer. Nice and simple with ease of adjusting by just using a different link of the chain. Drawtite still makes it and I know where to buy it for $400.

To recap I felt this Drawtite WD was working great. I had terrible sway towing with a Honda Ridgeline but I expected this. I bought a F-150 and solved the sway problem as I thought it would. The Drawtite was simple and did a great job tying the trailer and truck together as one unit.

I am wondering how easy it is to change to a different WD Hitch. And wondering how a simple Drawtite WD hitch would work for epeddy1?