Weight distribution

[Hollydav]

I am purchasing a 2022 Rockwood 2280BHESP. The hitch weight is 338lbs and the dry weight is 2559. I will be towing with a 2022 Kia Telluride with a towing capacity of 5000lbs and it has the added towing package. The curb weight of the Kia is 4354lbs. I have only owned travel trailers in the past and have always used a weight distribution hitch. Will I benefit from using a weight distribution hitch with this setup? I have recently lost my camping partner of 32 years and am realizing how much I counted on him to know all this important stuff! Thanks for your help.

[Old-Biscuit]

THe dry tongue weight of 338# is based on the dry trailer weight of 2559#
that is a 13% tongue weight

The trailer has a GVWR of 3838# (total allowable weight of trailer when loaded up camp ready)

13% of 3838# = wet tongue weight of 499#

YES a weight distribution hitch with 300-600# spring bars will be beneficial when towing with that KIA

[Bobertgoes]

Yes, it will maintain ride height and help the ride quality some. you really do not have to do anything other than re-adjust your headlights.

You really only need air bags. The Firestone are very good, but those cheap (I think around $100) red air bags you might has seen will be just as good. All you are needing is to maintain ride height as the tongue weight on the tow vehicle is not needing to be corrected.

[move on]

You do not need a weight distribution hitch for this sized setup. It will do nothing to improve your towing experience and will make hitching and unhitching difficult. WD hitches are only used when your trailer is too big for your tow vehicle and that's not the case here.

[CamperLifer]

That camper has the potential to weigh 4000 pounds when packed for camping and yes you do in fact need a WDH with antisway.

[move on]

Many people are not aware of the fact that a WD hitch is not a safety device. It will actually make your rig less stable when it comes to oversteer and potential jackknife. If you don't need one to compensate for an undersized tow vehicle then you should avoid it.

BTW this trailer will not sway as long you keep a 10% tongue weight, so you don't need a sway control device either.

[TXiceman]

Originally Posted by move on

Many people are not aware of the fact that a WD hitch is not a safety device. It will actually make your rig less stable when it comes to oversteer and potential jackknife. If you don't need one to compensate for an undersized tow vehicle then you should avoid it.

BTW this trailer will not sway as long you keep a 10% tongue weight, so you don't need a sway control device either.

You have some rather unorthodox reasoning. As a retired engineer, I respectfully disagree. In theory, as long as you keep the tongue weight high enough, the trailer will track and not sway. But you get hit by a sudden side blast in a mountain pass or from a passing truck, your theory goes right out the window, and you sway. maybe you will get it back under control, but you will wish you had the WD hitch with a sway control. On wet roads, you will need to slow down with or without the WD and sway. This is just common-sense driving.

The WD will help the ride and handling. One other issue you need to look at is whether Kia approves of a WD hitch being used with this vehicle. Some lighter unibody vehicles are not designed to handle the set up.

Ken

[carybosse]

Since this is a popup, the amount of sway induced by wind will be greatly reduced. I was towing my similar popup with a GMC Canyon, and sway was never an issue.

Not sure what the impact of a WD hitch would be on a unibody. I tend to think it would not be good.

[move on]

Originally Posted by TXiceman

You have some rather unorthodox reasoning. As a retired engineer, I respectfully disagree. In theory, as long as you keep the tongue weight high enough, the trailer will track and not sway. But you get hit by a sudden side blast in a mountain pass or from a passing truck, your theory goes right out the window, and you sway. maybe you will get it back under control, but you will wish you had the WD hitch with a sway control. On wet roads, you will need to slow down with or without the WD and sway. This is just common-sense driving.

The WD will help the ride and handling. One other issue you need to look at is whether Kia approves of a WD hitch being used with this vehicle. Some lighter unibody vehicles are not designed to handle the set up.

Ken

Actually my reasoning is based 100% on engineering orthodoxy. The principles I reference have been around for many years. They are confirmed not only mathematically but by extensive full-scale testing. Additionally they form the basis for the SAE's J2807 towing standards. You may want to look into J2807's understeer and sway response tests.

While tow vehicle understeer is an actual safety issue, the sway control issue in the SAE tests are framed as a comfort issue. You can have sway but it won't bother you if the sway is adequately damped. This means that the sway will quickly diminish with each successive swing of the trailer until it terminates. If you have a very badly back-end loaded trailer and you are travelling fast enough then the sway will not diminish. The swaying trailer will then cause the tow vehicle to oversteer and eventually jackknife. I recommend not to use a WD hitch because it will lower your protection against oversteer. Better to have a properly loaded trailer with 10% tongue weight and adequately sized tow vehicle (which the OP has).

[move on]

Originally Posted by carybosse

Since this is a popup, the amount of sway induced by wind will be greatly reduced. I was towing my similar popup with a GMC Canyon, and sway was never an issue.

Not sure what the impact of a WD hitch would be on a unibody. I tend to think it would not be good.

Agree. I have rarely, if ever, seen a WD hitch being used on a pop-up.

A WD hitch will put a very high upward torque load on the hitch receiver, much higher than the downward load caused by a simple ball hitch. It's difficult to attach a hitch receiver to a unibody vehicle that can withstand the load and most manufacturers will not allow it.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by move on

Agree. I have rarely, if ever, seen a WD hitch being used on a pop-up.

A WD hitch will put a very high upward torque load on the hitch receiver, much higher than the downward load caused by a simple ball hitch. It's difficult to attach a hitch receiver to a unibody vehicle that can withstand the load and most manufacturers will not allow it.

I guess I should have also noted that I did NOT have a WD hitch. My payload was over 1400 pounds, with a tongue weight in the 500 pound range. Of course, my Canyon was designed with towing in mind, something that Kia probably considered as an afterthought.

[Ray,IN]

Wow_. So much misinformation, repeated so many times. I completely agree with old-biscuit's advice.

[CharlesinGA]

READ THE KIA OWNERS MANUAL!!!!!!! I went to the owners manual online https://www.kiatechinfo.com/ext_If/k...ntent_pop.aspx and beginning on page 441 it discusses trailer towing. I was expecting it to address the use if Weight Distribution Hitches on its unibody construction, as many manufacturers forbid WDH on unibody vehicles but nothing in Chapter 5 addresses this. The only issue it addresses is brake equipment on the trailer.

Charles

[radar]

I’ll also lean towards no weight distribution hitch. Don’t be a pack rat when loading, don’t overload the Kia in the back either. Scale the tongue if you can so you know what you have.

A Weight distribution hitch is a nice to have or even need to have in some situations. I don’t think this is one of them.

When loading the trailer load the heavy stuff to the middle over or around the axle.

And remember, you are towing. SLOW DOWN.

Happy travels.