How to determine optimum height of hitch?

[computerspook]

OK weight hitch or general has really nothing to do with this.

The idea is that the trailer frame should be level when parked on level ground and connected to the tow vehicle. The really good news here is that most manufactures have this information on their web site. Here is mine

https://www.scamptrailers.com/ask-sc...re-you-go.html

Can't find for your, but I bet if you call the factory within 5 minutes you will have the nonguess you know is right information. Then if you are using a TV with a reciever just get the right insert. I have one actually for all of my various trailers so they all right correctly.

[Uplander]

My statement and the list of equipment was not a generalization.....it was a list of equipment for safe stable towing.

Once again next time you are driving down the highway look at what the overwhelming number of travel trailers have as their tow gear....you will note they are using weight distribution, sway control and safety chains.
Talk to any independent RV dealer ( not Camping World as they only want to sell20 year financing plans). The true professionals will strongly recommend the equipment I have listed.

If you are towing a tiny little light weight travel trailer you might get by with the minimum but if you tow a larger travel trailer you will have the “tail wagging the dog” sooner or later....when that happens and you have lost control of five or ten thousand pounds of rolling metal at 55 +/- MPH you will know what fear is like.

Safety first....spend the money on the right equipment....talk to professionals and above all don’t rely on strangers advice on internet sites....Don’t rely on my advice...do some research...talk to professionals.

Happy Safe RV Traveling.

[Raspy]

Uplander,
Whether someone needs a WDH or not is simple numbers. If the tongue weight exceeds the rating on the truck, you need one. Sway is often added without the slightest idea if it's needed or not. Just because a lot of people do something, doesn't mean its unsafe if you don't.

Not having a sway control does not mean that "sooner or later" you will lose control. And further, if someone develops an uncontrolled sway, the proper and most affective fix is to apply the trailer brakes manually at the controller. Everyone should be aware of how to do this is. And do it at the beginning of each pull to verify the brakes are working. Sway controllers are a nice piece of insurance, especially if your trailer seems a bit unstable. But a friction sway control device is not going to absolutely stop every event. It depends on how it's set up and the instability of the trailer

Safety chains are another matter. A very basic and common sense safety item required by law. I would never tow without them.

Brakes are also mandatory in my book and I would not tow without them. Besides stopping, they can easily save someone from a sway induced crash. You say only electric brakes are included in a proper setup, but lots of trailers have surge brakes. These may not be the best in all situations, but they do work well and are approved.

There are more items you could have included on your list, like proper tire inflation, tires not too old, trailer riding level, not driving too fast, etc

[Uplander]

Yet another opinion.....another voice on the internet.

Advice from strangers can be “on point”

Free advice is worth every penny it costs.

[Borrego Dave]

There isn't one set answer for the addition/use of hitching items. Way too many variables with the many possible tug/trailer combinations. Use what makes you comfortable and go.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Uplander

Yet another opinion.....another voice on the internet.

Advice from strangers can be “on point”

Free advice is worth every penny it costs.

There's no reason to talk about your post that way. I'm glad you're here and enjoy your input!

[Carol and Mike]

Originally Posted by Raspy

I disagree that everyone must have a WDH and sway control bars to be "properly set up".

I agree with John on this. He has a 3500 pulling a 6K lb Oliver. A one ton truck pulling a very stable trailer is fine without a WDH. I pull the same trailer with a half ton and use the Andersen WDH. Mike

[thrifty bill]

Back to the original question, one thing that is more difficult to predict is TV squat. You may get your hitch at the "perfect" height, hook up to the trailer, and all of a sudden, your TV squats a couple of inches and your perfection is GONE. This is particularly true with marginal tow situations. My F150 doesn't squat very much and with the Trillium 1300 it has zero squat. But if I hooked it up behind my Honda Element, oh yeah, I get squat.

[Uplander]

The key here is weight distribution. When a weight distribution hitch is used the combined weight of the travel trailer and the tow vehicle is evenly distributed to all wheels resulting in a stable ride.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by thrifty bill

Back to the original question, one thing that is more difficult to predict is TV squat. You may get your hitch at the "perfect" height, hook up to the trailer, and all of a sudden, your TV squats a couple of inches and your perfection is GONE. This is particularly true with marginal tow situations. My F150 doesn't squat very much and with the Trillium 1300 it has zero squat. But if I hooked it up behind my Honda Element, oh yeah, I get squat.

If you get 2 inches or squat then maybe you need to look at how what is needed on that vehicle to tow what you are towing.

[Uplander]

Me thinks you all may know SQUAT. !!

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by Joe Romas

ZachO

You have 1,706 posts, I'm wondering by asking such a question if you just don't understand or simply keeping the fires going

Valid point. It's a bit of both. I'm no expert (obviously). I've been around here long enough to know that most people don't agree with that "requirement" list and to question it, but I don't know enough to be able to outright argue it or say for sure that he doesn't know something other people don't. So I felt like challenging the statement, figuring it was an incorrect absolute, but willing to learn something. He said himself it depends on rv length, so clearly it is not an absolute.

My post number has more to do with getting deep into a lot discussions that often go off the rails into a hundred different directions than because I like to go around poking people with a stick.

But yes, I need to learn to let things go, whether or not I know they're wrong. No reason to call out every misstatement I see on internet forums. I'm a work in progress.

[Uplander]

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear....if you are in search of information don’t rely on the advice of strangers on the internet.....for all we know they do not even own a travel trailer.
Seek out professionals at a RV dealership that sets up travel trailer towing equipment on a daily basis. They know more than that stranger on the internet.

When you are going down the highway at 55 MPH and things go sideways it is no time to realize that that stranger on the internet was a wind-bag and didn’t know all he professed to be an authority on.

THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN.

HAPPY SAFE RV TRAVELS !

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Uplander

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear....if you are in search of information don’t rely on the advice of strangers on the internet.....for all we know they do not even own a travel trailer.

Are you a stranger on the internet?

I certainly do not expect anyone to take my word as the final rule on anything. And yes, I'm communicating on the internet. But, I do thwart misleading statements with logical or statistical answers, often based on experience I am confident in. I invite scrutiny of my theories. I welcome challenges that will help me learn or show the error of my ways. I welcome the more technical answers expressed by well educated posters.

Often, simple shared procedures are not just some invented theory, but real world methods that cut through to the bottom line to diagnose or solve problems. Often, discussions allow all of us to seek answers we are all looking for and where we can home in on the best solutions with shared experiences.

In my view, a poor way to involve yourself in this quest, is to simply disparage anyone you happen to disagree with by applying a shallow label. Or saying that only the "experts" at RV dealers are qualified to make decisions for us.

Everyone has to make their own decisions as they move along. Information can come from all directions. Finding the best information requires some analysis. And you never know where it will come from.

Blindly following one person's generalizations, will definitely lead to trouble, unless those recommendations have been sufficiently vetted. Ooops, there's a generalization from me!

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Uplander

Seek out professionals at a RV dealership that sets up travel trailer towing equipment on a daily basis.

Would that be a dealership where they will say anything to get you to buy a trailer they are trying to move?

[ZachO]

And the post counts continue to rise...

[ZachO]

This is a fairly tight forum, as far as they go. Mostly retired people and many people have met in person.

So yeah, the whole taking advice from a random person on the internet is always good to keep in mind, but many people here have shown, through posts, that they know what they’re talking about. It’s not exactly completely random strangers.

[OCJohn]

Originally Posted by Raspy

...The numbers recommended by Purdue University of 10-15% are general guidelines that compensate for other problems. [...]

One member on here has probably towed more than most of us combined, for many years, and he runs 7% with zero problems. Mine, at just over 9% is the most stable trailer I've ever towed. Apparently, in Europe, 7% is close to the norm. We have some friends in Germany that tow here while on vacations every year. They wonder why we use so much tongue weight. And apparently, 4% is the minimum in England.

Indeed.

10-15% is a coveryerass recommendation for typical US trailers traveling at highest legal US speeds (in Texas...) and insured by US lawyers.

How many 30-foot Airstreams are doing 80mph in the UK or EU? How many on this forum???

Typical American (stick/non-egg) trailers are built closer to blacksmith standards than modern engineering standards. And that’s what 10-15% needs to cover... Trailers with a polar moment of inertia that more closely resembles a battleship than a typical European caravan. Or a fiberglass egg.

Moral? Load your trailer intelligently. Know your weights. Keep the tongue level-to-slightly low. And drive at reasonable speeds. Or, just buy a WDH (with sway control) if you cannot comply with the first four.

- just another internet stranger

[John in Santa Cruz]

I'm towing a 4000 lb Escape with an F250 diesel longbed 4x4 rated to tow 12500 lbs... it barely squats 1/2" when I drop the hitch on the ball. a WDH would be *ludicruous* on that setup, there's not enough weight to distribute.

now, if I was towing a 10000 lb 36 foot Taj Mahal with this truck, with a tongue weight around 1200 lbs, for sure, I would use a WDH.

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by computerspook

If you get 2 inches or squat then maybe you need to look at how what is needed on that vehicle to tow what you are towing.

Thats one of the reasons I don't tow with the Element. I just use it on my driveway to move the trailer around. I tow with the F150.