Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Load distributing hitches

Ok, I'm sure there's at least a couple of you guys have pulled some fairly hefty trailers before, so I could use some input on this. I'm going to be pulling a work trailer that will be as heavy as 10,000 lbs when loaded up with supplies(machinery/aggregate). I'm wondering if I'd benefit from a load-distributing hitch or not. A friend of mine who tows a very large RV, told me that these types of hitches put a lot of strain on your tow vehicles frame since they are trying to transfer the weight through the frame and towards the front of the vehicle. My towing will be a combination of hwy/city if it matters. Any thoughts?

Grunt and I have been pumping up at the gym; let us pull it for you!

Adrian, hang an Olive Garden bread stick in front of JP....

Randy went through hitching himself to a load not that long ago....

That's not a nice way to talk about Mrs. Sirquack.

That sounds like it might work.


Randy's so gonna beat you over the head with a ciabatta loaf for that one.

Looks like I scared off the serious replies.

You're welcome.

A: Have you considered an in-bed hitch? When I (mistakenly) lived in rural AZ, the ranchers with the really big horse/livestock trailers seemed to prefer those.

Sorry to be the first serious reply. I didn't mean it.

Man o' man.....are you guys serious? Bob, or whatever he calls himself today, gives me the first serious response?

I considered a gooseneck but decided against it for a couple of reasons(prefer the added space for junk in the pick-up bed and don't really want to butcher the body/bed of my truck). I do think goosenecks are better though.

They didn't call them goosenecks on the AZ/Mex border. Maybe because they would have had to call them Greater Sand Hill Crane necks?

And you may all call me "Bob." My new name is for newcomers only.

Until I get bored with it. Then I'll also re-start taking those meds. Or re-start and re-think? He doesn't know yet.

Again, sorry. Kinda

Seriously, everytime I see it come up on a new post it still surprises me. And I laugh. Then, I see His paws WITH that word, and I laugh some more.

I wouldn't worry too much about the added strain on the frame, most of it is back into the trailer frame and really it isn't much different than the load on it already from the hitch/trailer themselves. To me the Load Distributing hitches are not really required as long as the trailer is loaded correctly, a LD/antisway setup using the cam system are where the benefits can be had.

I would try the trailer without a LD hitch and if you find it sways a bit too much or the load shifts more than not, you might want to consider getting one, remember a LD hitch doesn't take the place of a properly loaded trailer but when things shift they are nice to have.

Thanks, for the SERIOUS answer Jay(thumbs nose at other Cretins, jury still out on Bob). It's a dual axle trailer and the centre of gravity will probably be slightly in front of the 1st axle(nearest truck). Shifting shouldn't be a problem...we're talking about 20 or so bags of cement, 3-4 yards of sand in it's own separate container(attached to the trailer), and some relatively light machinery...fully loaded about 10,000lbs.

All trailers have the CG in front of the axle, they track better this way, just like a caster on a shopping cart, the load is in front of the wheel. The problem comes from too much load in front and that takes weight off the tow vehicle steer tires making for hard steering and the possibility of trailer sway due to not enough load on the trailers own wheels, this is where the LD hitches come in to play. If the load is off it doesn't matter quite so much as the weight is redistibuted back onto each vehicles respective wheels, adding in the antisway system really cuts the chances of the trailer getting away.

I will say that after testing our new travel trailer with and without the Equilizer 4 way anti sway system I would never live without, loaded properly or not. Makes a world of difference and sets you at ease. Neither wind or a passing semi going 70+ mpg sucks the trailer over more than 3-6" max.