Community Forums

ohmygoodness · 05-08-2018, 06:47 PM

We recently picked up our new Venture Sonic trailer with Tonge weight of about 430 and dry weight of about 4400lbs. The dealer put on the equalizer 4point hitch rated for 12000max lbs.
Any concerns about this or should I downgrade to the 6000max lbs equalizer hitch and bars?
Thanks in advance!

Fl2GaScotts · 05-08-2018, 07:03 PM

First, forget dry weight. What is gvwr of trailer? Then plan for 10-15% of this number for your true tongue weight. For stability purposes many will say 12-13% Only way to know for sure is weigh on truck scales. As far as your hitch, you may have the higher rated shank/head, with the bars rated as 1000 which may be more in line. This is just supposition, without more info just places to start thinking.

ohmygoodness · 05-08-2018, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fl2GaScotts

First, forget dry weight. What is gvwr of trailer? Then plan for 10-15% of this number for your true tongue weight. For stability purposes many will say 12-13% Only way to know for sure is weigh on truck scales. As far as your hitch, you may have the higher rated shank/head, with the bars rated as 1000 which may be more in line. This is just supposition, without more info just places to start thinking.

thank you. The bars that I have are rated from 1200 tongue weight and 12000lbs gvrw. The gvrw of the trailer is 5600lbs.

Fl2GaScotts · 05-08-2018, 07:59 PM

So max tongue should be around 840. Not terribly heavy on the bars imo. Others with more experience with equalizer can speak better to whether it may affect you adversely. Welcome to the rv community.

UtahEngineer · 05-08-2018, 10:37 PM

We pull a travel trailer that weighs 8,000 lbs loaded down with water, gear, generator, etc ... and have around 1,100 lbs of tongue weight. We also have the Equal-i-zer 12,000 lb wd hitch with the 1,200 lb bars. In my opinion there is no issue with running a heavier hitch setup than required. My setup commonly creaks and pops turning corners and going thru dips due to the heavy tongue weight and associated friction. Due to the friction I replace the head every few years to be safe. But I set my friction bolts to 80 ft lbs of torque to reduce sway from side winds and semi’s. Just make sure to have the 12-15% tongue weight as mentioned by others. Also make sure your hitch height makes the trailer almost level but slightly lower on the front (1/2” to 1” lower is my setting). Welcome to the forum and safe travels.

ohmygoodness · 05-09-2018, 07:26 AM

Hi All

Thank you for the feedback. I was initially concerned that the hitch set up I had was way overboard then what I needed and it would cause issues for the tow vehicle or the trailer.
Thanks again for the feedback!

Cumminsfan · 05-09-2018, 08:33 AM

IMO the bars are too heavy but doable. They must've just had those in stock. You're paying more for something you don't really need with the 1200 lbs bars vs 1000 lb bars.
Good thing is you won't have to crank up the TT jack as much and probably only need 4 or maybe 5 washers in the WD head.
The down side to those 1200 lb bars and a light tongue weight is you won't have a lot of pressure on them since not much is needed to transfer weight, so you'll have less friction on the L brakets, thereby reducing the sway component part of the WDH.
With 800 lb bars you'd have to crank up the tongue more as well as tilt the head down more thereby causing the WDH to drag harder on the L brackets.

kayakterp · 05-09-2018, 10:59 AM

Sorry to hi-hack this thread but if you are looking for a Weight Distribution Hitch I do have an EQuilizer Trunniion 92-00-0600 I am selling. These are rated for trailers up to 6,000 lbs. It is 2 years old but in great shape. I upgraded to the 0800 setup because my trailer is 6,083 dry weight and I always carry a lot of cargo.
I have not had time to post these anywhere but hope to get them listed this week
Have pics I can send if you want
Live in Cincinnati OH