Understanding trailer weight and sway

[PDXDale]

Maybe provide models of your truck and trailer for a better picture.

Even if you change how your weight distribution hitch distributes the tongue weight between front and rear axle, you can still be level by adjusting the hitch head on the shank.

You mentioned earlier you're using a Bue Ox TrackPro. One thing with BlueOx hitches is that the head angle can't be adjusted. This is how you would do fine adjustment of weight distribution on most other hitches (e.g. my Equal-i-zer). BlueOx mainly works with the height of the L brackets on the trailer frame. On top of that, the height of the hitch head on the shank has some slight influence.

Really, the only way to get it all checked and dialed in is to put truck and trailer on a level surface and take the wheel well measurments. if you measure your truck solo, then with full tongue weight, then with bars engaged, we will see where your systems actually is. from there, we can adjust. Put down the L bracket one hole, and measure again. That will put more weight on rear axle and less on front axle. if your trailer is nose down then, we can see how much actually and try raising the hitch head on the shank by one whole.

[Boogiejack75]

can anyone help me understand what my blue ox trac-pro bars are doing to my rig? here's the deal:scale says tv weighs 5400(2260 steer; 3140 drive). i load the truck and trailer, gas up, wife and pets in, go across the scale(with the bars on) and i get 3000 steer; 3460 drive; 6320 trailer. that looks like 320 tongue weight, when i should have around 630. i'm not smart enuf to know whether i have a good set-up or not. is it good to have better balance between the steer and drive axles which i do, or have i taken too much tongue weight away? i have 3800 limit on rear axle capacity. the loaded rig looks real level to the eye. thanks in advance.

Go to Towingplanner.com. They will explain everything.

[DougW9876]

do you have any idea why a guy, when presented with my weight data, would tell me i have an unsafe rig?

I don’t know why he would have thought it unsafe, your weights do read as though you are transferring more weight to the front axel than necessary but it does not look unsafe based on the weight information you gave.

I have been towing trailers for 50 years and when setting up a WDH I simply put the rig on level, flat ground, set the ball height as close to the coupler height of the level trailer as I can get it, measure my wheel well heights, hook it up and adjust the WDH to get my front axel as close to it’s original height as possible. I don’t use the halfway back method, I have had good luck with every trailer I ever owned except one and it was a toy hauler that wouldn’t behave with a Goldwing trike in the back. Years ago we measured and tried to get the same change in height at the front and rear axels so both would be a bit lower than their unhooked height, methods and standards have changed over the years and I just have not completely gotten in line with the new thinking.

[Riverbug]

Measuring is a good method to get it into the ballpark. Weighing at each wheel is the most precise. That will tell you whether you have truly balanced the weight between the front and rear axles, hitch weight, and side to side as a bonus; of both tow vehicle and trailer.