Tow hitch |
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Author | |
Grenna
Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2020 Location: Dallas Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Post Options
Quote Reply
Topic: Tow hitch Posted: 03 May 2022 at 8:41am |
Any suggestions for what hitch to buy for Rpod 193. Thanks in advance.
|
|
Grenna
|
|
StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6326 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2022 at 10:26am |
Hello Grenna,
A lot depends on your tow vehicle. If you have an F-250, for instance, your hitch needs will be different than if you have a Frontier or Ranger, for example. I use an Equal-i-zer 4-point sway control hitch with 600 lb bars. It is what I got when I got our RP179. I tried a Hensley hitch, which was very good, but a pain to hitch and unhitch on unequal ground, so I sold that back to Hensley and went back to using the Equal-i-zer. Some people like using similar hitches such as the Fastway E2 which is 2-point sway control. Some like using the Andersen No-Sway hitch because of its light weight. The common thing is that all of these offer at least some form of sway control. Sway control is something that you don't normally need -- that is, until you do, so it is better to have and not need than to need and not have. Weight distribution is a different matter. Some vehicles may not need it, but it will still improve the ride as it controls the porpoising that can happen as you go over road dips. All the ones I mentioned are weight distribution hitches. Again, if you have a heavy duty tow vehicle, you may not need it, but you will need to make sure you have at least 10-15% of the trailer weight on the tongue to reduce the risk of trailer sway. If you don't need or want WD, then you can get electronic sway control such as the Hayes Sway-Master or the Tuson Sway Control. Please let us know your tow vehicle and we will be better able to advise on what would be suitable.
|
|
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
|
Grenna
Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2020 Location: Dallas Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2022 at 10:36am |
Thanks for the info. Our TV is a Ram 1500. The dealer originally sold us a blue ox 750. After developing cracks at the entrance door upper corners we contacted Forest River. They told us our hitch was to large for the trailer. Yet Blue Ox recommends this one for our tongue wt of 500 lbs. I’m at a loss as to what hitch to use.
|
|
Grenna
|
|
jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3252 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2022 at 11:26am |
We have had a 177 for 11 years (37,000+ miles) and have only used a Curt friction bar for sway control. Towing vehicles have included (8 years) '08 and '13 Explorers and the last 3 years '11 and '17 F-150 which would be comparable to your Ram 1500. Although the tongue weight is significantly less for us (325# with a full FW tank) the truck doesn't even begin to sag in the rear or lift in the front. If you experience the same you can probably safely get by with a simple friction bar.
|
|
God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
|
chasl
Newbie Joined: 04 Mar 2021 Location: New Mexico Online Status: Offline Posts: 30 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2022 at 12:03pm |
I have a 196, tow vehicle is Ram 1500, and we use the ez hitch and anti sway, with 600 lb bars. it works well for us, easy to hitch up, and I can recommend it so far, so good.
|
|
cl
|
|
lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2022 at 1:14pm |
We tow our Sonoma, which is similar in weight to the 193, using a Fastway e2 hitch (600# bars). It works very well.
|
|
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
|
Grenna
Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2020 Location: Dallas Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2022 at 4:04pm |
Thanks all for the feedback
|
|
Grenna
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 May 2022 at 5:24am |
I had a 1000 lb Reese Pro wdh. Worked great. Regardless of what your bar weight rating is, if your wdh is set up right the loads on the hitch/trailer/tow vehicle are the same. The difference is only that the lighter bars will provide a softer ride because they will flex more, and they will also bottom out sooner, similar to what happens when you go to softer vs firmer shock absorbers on a vehicle.
So Forest River is lying to you if they are blaming trailer damage on a 750 lb wdh. Blue Ox's recommendation is sound, that's a very normal rating for an rpod. There is something else going on here. What specifically is causing the cracking, did FR tell you? What is being done to correct it? |
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
77 Sunset Strip
Newbie Joined: 27 Apr 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 May 2022 at 12:26am |
Had an interesting conversation with CURT the other day about a recommendation for one of their equalizer/stabilizer setups. After reviewing specs on trailer (2019 -189) with dry weight of 2792 and dry tongue weight of 281 and my truck (2022 Nissan Frontier)- tow capacity 6330 lbs. - they said NOT to use equalizeer hitch on it as you would not want to lift the back of the truck given my specs. I have only towed home on freeway from dealer 100 miles without any add-ons it seemed to handle fine even with some wind.
|
|
2019 Rpod 189
2022 Nissan Frontier |
|
offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 May 2022 at 5:17am |
While you might be ok without a wdh, you will probably like the way your rig handles better with it, and it will be safer too.
First, don't go by listed dry tongue weight. Dry tongue weight has little to do with your actual loaded tongue weight. That depends on how you load how much water your carrying and where, whether you have dual or a single battery and/or propane cylinders, etc. For example, I had to work at it to keep my tongue weight to 500 lbs even though the listed dry tongue weight was only about 270 lbs. Also, the wdh lifts both the trailer tongue and the weight in the back of your tow vehicle, so that weight has to be taken into accoubt as well. Also bear in mind that a higher tongue weight is a good thing as long as it doesn't cause problems with your tow vehicle because higher tongue weight relative to total trailer weight reduces the trailer's tendency to sway. You never want to have your tongue weight be less than 10-11% of total trailer weight. So how do you get a handle on this? First load up your trailer and tow vehicle as you plan to travel, including all supplies tools gear, water, people, pets, fuel, etc and get the actual weights (tongue, all 3 axles, trailer, tow vehicle). If you look in my posts with the advanced search you'll see how you can get all that from a trip to your local public scale, as well as a link to a good towing calculator that will tell you know where are relative to your vehicle and trailer specs. You with most likely be surprised about how much everything weighs. The calculator also lets you set up a wdh before you actually buy one so you can see what the effect would be. You will see that without the wdh the tow vehicle front axle gets lighter which can cause handling and braking problems. That extra weight has to go somewhere so the weight on the rear axle goes up by the tongue weight plus the redistributed weight from the front axle. So the problem is worse than you might initially think. The wdh reduces the weight on the rear axle and redistributes that between the trailer axle and the front axle, the objective being to adjust it to bring the weight on the front axle back up to what it was without the trailer. At that point there will still be some squat on the rear axle, because it will have the tongue weight (and only the tongue weight) on it. |
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |