I am n00b when it comes to trailering and when I was looking through the owners manual of my Ram 2500, it says that if I'm towing with more than 350 lbs tongue weight, I'm supposed to use a weight distributing hitch. Is it pretty standard to use a WD hitch when towing a car on an open steel trailer? I only rember seeing a small handful of WD hitches being used at the track. My car weighs 2250 and my trailer weighs 1550 (according to the registration) thus a tongue weight in the range of 475. I guess I'm supposed to get a 600lb rated WD hitch right? That's the lowest weight rating I've seen. I've seen one rated for 350lbs, but I'll be over that weight.

Can I get your opinion on the importance of using a WD hitch?

 

A ram 2500 should be fine with that kind of load.. I wouldn't worry about it at all..

 

like Corey said, don't worry about it. I also have a 2500, and I don't use a WD hitch. With all my tools, spares, set of wheels and the trailer hooked up, the truck is just about level.
You will need to experiment to find the best place for the car on the trailer. Too close to the front, and that's too much tongue weight. Too far to the back, and it will sway like a *****.
Mind you, that was most annoying with the Tundra (the sway) - with the quad cab long bed dodge, the trailer might sway, but I sure can't feel it in the truck! 7000lbs of inertia + long wheelbase = stable towing monster.

 

Yeah, your truck should be able to house a class 4 hitch, which would have a tongue weight rating of about 700#. I have a class 3 on my 4Runner that is rated at 350# tongue, 3500# capacity and it tows just fine w/o a WD hitch. I do use a sway control though to reduce the sway effect that comes with towing a long trailer with a short wheelbase truck. I'm sure you'll be ok w/o the WD hitch for the load you're towing.

- Scott

 

I used a WD hitch with my GMC 1500, but only because I already had it from towing with the copcar. I didn't use it a few times, and didn't notice much difference.

 

The WDH works great if you get sag on the tail.

If you got major sag, you may want to look into air bags/stiffer springs.

How does your tow rig sit right now?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda318dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A ram 2500 should be fine with that kind of load.. I wouldn't worry about it at all..</TD></TR></TABLE>

My girlfriend's 1500 pulls that without hassle, and our trailer brakes don't work!!

 

once again, don't worry about it. i hardly ever see them in use.

if my 1500 silverado can handle a 2000lb car, and 2500lb trailer without a WD hitch, the 2500 shouldn't have a bit of problem.

 

Just great. I wish I asked you guys before I clicked on "Checkout" two days ago That's $500 down the drain. WTH? Why would the owner's manual say to use a WD hitch for anything over 350lbs then? Crap.

&lt;Me not asking you guys earlier&gt;

 

can't you return it?

and they say that to cover their asses of course. wouldn't want to get sued when some dumb-*** hooks up a trailer over loaded in the front with like a 1000lb tongue weight and goes and kills himself when trying to draft semis doing over 80mph downhill after a 20 hour drive...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Another Drew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just great. I wish I asked you guys before I clicked on "Checkout" two days ago That's $500 down the drain. WTH? Why would the owner's manual say to use a WD hitch for anything over 350lbs then? Crap.

&lt;Me not asking you guys earlier&gt;

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Better to be safe than sorry on thier part, they are just telling you the ideal way to tow something like that. Think of it this way if something does go wrong you can blame them since you have the reccomended equipment, without the hitch they would try to tell you that you were not using the proper reccomended equipment and that it was your fualt lame but true. Manufactures are always going to go overboard in thier reccomendations.

 

My Ram 2500 Hemi doesn't even know open trailers are there, stability/rear suspension compression wise. Load it whichever way you want and it doesn't really matter feel wise, although I'm sure it's having an effect on performance that I just can't perceive. I've towed a few 6500+ pound loads without a WD hitch and it didn't really change anything feel wise, although above 6000 I would want to have trailer brakes if it was something I'd be towing often.

Anyway, the WD hitch won't hurt, that's for sure, and you can always swap it over when you get something bigger.

 

I too had considered investing in a WDH because with the back of the Silverado 1500 loaded up and a steel trailer/car combo behind me, the back sagged noticeably. I decided to install airbags first to try to level the truck and they work great. In fact the truck handles and rides WAY better with the airbags. I really don't think I need the WDH now.

 

just make sure y'alls have enough tongue weight. not doing that can kill you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Another Drew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Why would the owner's manual say to use a WD hitch for anything over 350lbs then? Crap.
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Yep, coverin' their ***** against Darwin award candidates.

My Expedition (with 1500 series underpinnings) tows a properly loaded 4,400 lb dual axle open trailer like a champ w/o WD hitch.

Dude, with a 2500 series truck, I'd return that $500 set up and eat the shipping in a heartbeat....and spend the dough on some new race rubber!

 

you'll be fine without it.
we very rarely install WD kits on trucks towing loads much heavier than yours(like enclosed trailers carrying cars that weigh twice as much as yours).
the good thing about towing a car is that you can move the car around to alter the tongue weight to your liking.
as said above-this is mainly to cover the vehicle/hitch manufacturer's asses.i've seen quite a few hitches torn from the frame,frames bent/torn,trucks wrecked,etc due to overloading or improper loading.the hitches are capable of much more than their max ratings,but i guess rating them low prevents any disputing that it was overloaded when something happens.
is this on an OEM hitch,or aftermarket?
Chris

 

I guess I'll look into eating the shipping cost and returning it. The whole thing is pretty damn heavy, maybe 50 lbs.

So no one here uses a WD hitch towing 4000 lbs?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blair &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My girlfriend's 1500 pulls that without hassle, and our trailer brakes don't work!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

You just have to keep rubbing that in, don't you Blair?

 

With the 1500 I tow a 1,900lb trailer and 2,400lb car. I inflate the air bags, position the car just so on the trailer and all is hunky dorry

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You just have to keep rubbing that in, don't you Blair? </TD></TR></TABLE>


Hehehehe :insert evil grin here: (Yes, yes I do...) Well, I can't call it mine!!

Hemi 1500, Tow package, No WD hitch, no trailer brakes, and most importantly, no problems!

 

If you REALLY want one, a guy we race with in Midiv uses a WD hitch for his 4000 lbs. Of course, he's using a '98 Durango to tow.... Can you say "SHORT WHEELBASE?"

Does that 350 lbs in the manual specify the hitch location? That value sounds like they're bolting a hitch ball into the hole in the bumper, not using a real hitch....

FWIW, I towed my trailer plus car (yeah, somewhere around 4k lbs) with a 1500 Dodge, no WD hitch, no problems.

Jarrod