Using my truck today!!!

[ShadowsPapa]

I thought about it for a long time, but ultimately between the RV and the Gladiator I just felt this offered the maximum amount of trailer control. The RV sits on Semi airbags so that fights the sag. But with the WDH I can set the bags lighter and the hitch has sway control, so using the whole trailer is not as scary. Lighter bags gives a better ride in the RV. Also the RV and gladiator already struggle with front end grip so why let the trailer be part of that.

The plates do kill some of the payload offered by the aluminum, but in my mind that was the less of two evils. With my added front brake ability I can slow it down a couple miles an hour to make up for the weight

Do they even make WDH for tongue weights of 500 pounds? Everything out there seems to be for 700 or even much higher - like 800-1000 pound tongue weights. That would be way too stiff for a tongue weight of 500-550 pounds.

There are some interesting rigs out there that fit between the trailer tongue beams to reinforce and have a cross-piece between the rails to connect then together in the middle.

60% of braking is done at the front, take too much weight off the front and you lose braking (and the ability to maintain steering tire traction) when you really need it.

If you added 100 pounds of steel to be able to use your WDH, that's now part of the front of the trailer weight. All you have done is add 100 pounds to what you are towing. So if you were towing 6,000 pounds and had a 600 pound tongue weight before, you now are towing 6,100 pounds and went to a 610 pound tongue weight.
Then the WDH hitch itself is payload........ but if it's putting you that close to the edge, you have the wrong tow vehicle.

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[DAVECS1]

Well the higher weight of the wdh is not just to neutral out the tongue weight but to distribute it, or at least that is my view of it. So the rating on the wdh it the amount of spring force applied from the trail axle to the tow machine rear axle. Being as that spring is not damped really well, or directly for that matter. A stiffer spring rate will reduce oscillation at the hitch.

I may be way off base but that was my thought.

I know 100lbs of payload does not seem like that much, but when you pay a premium of thousands of dollars to save 100s of lbs, it hurts to see a significant percentage go away.