Advisibility of using weight distribution hitch: pros and cons

[Francesca Knowles]

Ya lost me there, Deryk...

What kind of bumper-pull trailer does NOT have an "A-frame tongue"???

Francesca

[Jared J]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Ya lost me there, Deryk...

What kind of bumper-pull trailer does NOT have an "A-frame tongue"???

Francesca

[deryk]

There is the swing up side mounted style and the center mounted style. I feel with the center mount it supports both rails more evenly.


Deryk

[Francesca Knowles]

I guess that might be true, but for myself I've never noticed any detectable degree of imbalance...I always level the trailer from side-to-side before unhitching, and the bubble stays smack where it was before I unhitched.

I s'pose if it did make some small difference, that could be corrected by way of adjustments at the stabilizer jacks...if I had any stabilizer jacks!

I tore those off last year by a method similar to one described a few posts ago by Mr. Jack "forgot-to-put-the-tongue-jack-fully-up". I've missed them so little that I've dragged my feet about fixing them....

Francesca

[Glenn Baglo]

Type of jack, side or top wind, makes no difference to my RAV. The rear door hits the hitch itself long before coming close to the jack. I've resigned myself to using the rear passenger doors for access.

[Francesca Knowles]

Oh-h-h-h- I had no idea! It never ceases to amaze me how many variables there are in the trailer-towing world....

My trailer rides dead level on a straight drawbar in my Kia's U-haul receiver...how did I get so lucky?

Thanks for the continuing education, folks!

Francesca

[Glenn Baglo]

I have the high-lift axle so my hitch is higher to ride level.
My intent when I ordered the trailer was to pair it with a Toyota Tacoma, but the Old Bag pointed out that as we age, it would become more difficult to climb up into the cab. That and the fact that my test drive didn't excite me in any way, prompted the purchase of the RAV.
Looked at the FJ Cruiser, but don't like the sight lines ( specifically, lack of ... ).

[Francesca Knowles]

Tow high, tug low, huh? Oops...

Say:

How ya doin' getting in and out of the trailer?

Francesca

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Type of jack, side or top wind, makes no difference to my RAV. The rear door hits the hitch itself long before coming close to the jack..

The RAV was on my list of possible new tugs until I saw people attempting to get things out of the back of their RAV's at rally's with the trailer hitched. Looked like they could only open the rear door about a 1/4? of the way open. I like being about to get my golf clubs out of the back or a big dog out without unhitching the trailer or wrestling them out via the side door.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I have the high-lift axle so my hitch is higher to ride level.
My intent when I ordered the trailer was to pair it with a Toyota Tacoma, but the Old Bag pointed out that as we age, it would become more difficult to climb up into the cab. That and the fact that my test drive didn't excite me in any way, prompted the purchase of the RAV.
Looked at the FJ Cruiser, but don't like the sight lines ( specifically, lack of ... ).

Yes, the visibility is poor and with my aging poor eyesight I can't see a darn thing. Good thing the FJ is very visible from the outside, people tend to steer away from it, or again that may be my poor eyesight!!!

[deryk]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Yes, the visibility is poor and with my aging poor eyesight I can't see a darn thing. Good thing the FJ is very visible from the outside, people tend to steer away from it, or again that may be my poor eyesight!!!

lol Jim that goes along with my joke about being nearsighted...everyone looks good at a distance....some need to stay there lol

[MCDenny]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Type of jack, side or top wind, makes no difference to my RAV. The rear door hits the hitch itself long before coming close to the jack. I've resigned myself to using the rear passenger doors for access.

Is that a gen two model? I can open the rear door just fine on my 2007.

[Glenn Baglo]

Don't understand your question.
It's a 2008 RAV4. Trailer has high lift axle which puts it ( I think ) 4" higher than standard.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by MCDenny

Is that a gen two model? I can open the rear door just fine on my 2007.

Not sure of the answer to that but I have seen a number of Escapes, Scamps & Bolers that the rear door of the RAV bangs up either against the jack or if it misses that it hits the propane tank. Looking at photos of your trailer type it appears to have a longer tongue on it & no propane tank? (on the Scamp & many of the Bolers, the propane tank sits ahead of the battery on the tongue) which may be why you can open the door all the way on yours.

[Francesca Knowles]

Hey Carol!

See Glenn's post below- the problem is that in his (and Deryk's) case, the trailer tongue's so high that the door is hitting the trailer coupler. Not a Rav-4 related problem...

FYI:

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Type of jack, side or top wind, makes no difference to my RAV. The rear door hits the hitch itself long before coming close to the jack. I've resigned myself to using the rear passenger doors for access.

Francesca

[deryk]

Correct it is because of the center mounted tongue jack...but i prefer it over a swing up side mounted... .couldn't use a wdh with a side mounted jacks


deryk

[Carol H]

Francesca I totally understand that in Glenn and Deryk's case the door is hitting the raised tongues but I also know that if I hooked my Scamp up to a RAV4 the door would either hit the jack or the propane tank well before it opened fully - even with the trailer sitting perfectly level.

As indicated I have seen the situation on a number of RAV4's and talked to a number of owners about the situation. Not to mention the problem has been mentioned here more than a few times. You need a long tongue with nothing cluttering it to avoid the problem completely. McDenny is able to open his rear door because he is pulling a Lil snooze which if you look at the photos you will see it doesnt have a propane tank and it has a much longer coupler on it than you will find normally on a Scamp or a Boler, so the front jack is sitting much further back allowing the door to open.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

... the problem is that in his (and Deryk's) case, the trailer tongue's so high that the door is hitting the trailer coupler. Not a Rav-4 related problem...

Yes, it is a RAV4 issue. The RAV4 (all three existing generations, but not the next one) have a side-hinged rear door, so it doesn't swing up like a hatch - that leads to interference that might not occur with the same trailer and a top-hinged (swing-up) hatch.

The door is side-hinged so the spare can be mounted on it, so the spare sticking out and the door hitting stuff on the trailer are related issues.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

What kind of bumper-pull trailer does NOT have an "A-frame tongue"?

Examples of conventional (a.k.a. "bumper pull") trailers with non-A-frame (straight) tongues:

• most boat trailers
• many rental cargo trailers, including most U-Hauls
• all U-Haul CT and VT moulded fiberglass travel trailers
• my utility trailer

[rabbit]

Now I get it! Senior moment or two there. All I had to do was forget what I heard about dragging the foot of jack and get with the loss of door access. Deryk has apparently chosen one problem from both column A and column B. I luv my 4runner

jack