WDH for 2024 Imagine 2970RL

lester alexander

New Member
RV LIFE Pro
Joined
May 7, 2024
Messages
4
Location
Indiana
I just purchased a '24 Imagine 2970RL from a dealer and they put a E4 1,000/10,000 lb. hitch on my tow vehicle which is '24 Silverado 2500 custom 4x4. I have loaded up the truck and TT to go camping for first time and stopped by the cat scale to check on the weight of everything and found that the hitch weight is at 1,060 lbs. right now and I still have 300 lbs. of CCC that could be added yet to the TT. I am sure that since this is our first time out with the TT there is going to be more things that we will need/want to get for future camping trips and this TT has the front passthrough storage compartment which will add to the weight on the hitch setup. My question is what weight WDH is everyone using with this type of TT? My gvwr is 8950 lbs. and my hitch weight is 880 lbs. according to the weight spec sheet that came with TT. But being that I am already sitting at 1060 on my hitch weight and still have cargo room wondering if I need to switch to the E4 1,200/12,000?
 
You should be able to figure this out yourself by seeing if the current set of bars allows you to transfer enough weight to the front of your truck. On level ground measure using a tape at front and rear. Ideally, enough weight should be transferred to take out all the rise in the front when loaded and then some, so the rear and the front are compressed some with the trailer load. The procedure is detailed well in the video in the article link below. Different hitch than yours but the concept is the same. If you can't move enough weight forward by adjusting your hitch, then go up to a heavier bar. Add some stuff on your trailer to represent what your final weight will be when checking the hitch. Also, not surprising that your tongue weight is more than expected

https://www.rvlifemag.com/how-to-set-up-a-weight-distributing-hitch-system/
 
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I just purchased a '24 Imagine 2970RL from a dealer and they put a E4 1,000/10,000 lb. hitch on my tow vehicle which is '24 Silverado 2500 custom 4x4. I have loaded up the truck and TT to go camping for first time and stopped by the cat scale to check on the weight of everything and found that the hitch weight is at 1,060 lbs. right now and I still have 300 lbs. of CCC that could be added yet to the TT. I am sure that since this is our first time out with the TT there is going to be more things that we will need/want to get for future camping trips and this TT has the front passthrough storage compartment which will add to the weight on the hitch setup. My question is what weight WDH is everyone using with this type of TT? My gvwr is 8950 lbs. and my hitch weight is 880 lbs. according to the weight spec sheet that came with TT. But being that I am already sitting at 1060 on my hitch weight and still have cargo room wondering if I need to switch to the E4 1,200/12,000?

It’s always been my opinion that if you need a WD hitch, you either need more truck or less trailer.
Dealer installed one when we bought the trailer, but I don’t use the bars.
Truck handles it fine.
Rich
 
I just purchased a '24 Imagine 2970RL from a dealer and they put a E4 1,000/10,000 lb. hitch on my tow vehicle which is '24 Silverado 2500 custom 4x4. I have loaded up the truck and TT to go camping for first time and stopped by the cat scale to check on the weight of everything and found that the hitch weight is at 1,060 lbs. right now and I still have 300 lbs. of CCC that could be added yet to the TT. I am sure that since this is our first time out with the TT there is going to be more things that we will need/want to get for future camping trips and this TT has the front passthrough storage compartment which will add to the weight on the hitch setup. My question is what weight WDH is everyone using with this type of TT? My gvwr is 8950 lbs. and my hitch weight is 880 lbs. according to the weight spec sheet that came with TT. But being that I am already sitting at 1060 on my hitch weight and still have cargo room wondering if I need to switch to the E4 1,200/12,000?

When we first started out we had an Imagine 2950RL, older version but same RV as your 2970RL. It's a heavy trailer especially if you have the front AC unit and the cargo hold is all up front like you said and will add to the hitch weight. The fresh water tank is right up front also and will contribute substantially to the hitch weight. The unloaded hitch weight stated on our new unit specs, for our RV, was way over 900 lbs to start with. The dealership installed for us the equalizer 1000 WDH and it's too light for the 2970RL. We had to go to the 1200 WDH. I would have went ever higher rating but that meant going to a different head to handle the heavier bars. We stayed with the 1200 but Our hitch weight ran over 1300 lbs with water in the fresh tank. I think you should at least go to the 1200 lb bars. The equalizer and most WDH also incorporate sway control into the hitch design, and with these kinds of RVs you definitely need some type of sway control.
 
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It’s always been my opinion that if you need a WD hitch, you either need more truck or less trailer.
Dealer installed one when we bought the trailer, but I don’t use the bars.
Truck handles it fine.
Rich
That might be your opinion but i doubt you get many to agree with you.
 
That might be your opinion but i doubt you get many to agree with you.

I don't care whether peeps agree with me or not.
I stand by my statement based on almost 50 years of towing tongue pull trailers.
YMMV
Rich
 
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I don't care whether peeps agree with me or not.
I stand by my statement based on almost 50 years of towing tongue pull trailers.
YMMV
Rich

How old are you, considering that you've been pulling for almost 50 years?
 
Don’t use WDH after A Frame on tongue bent up due to stress of WDH

That might be your opinion but i doubt you get many to agree with you.

I had the subframe and A-frame bend last year in New Mexico. Was out of warranty but Lippert to paid to have it replaced with thicker steel and braces added between subframe.

If you look around the Internet, there are quite a few examples of people having similar problems. BTW: Lippert puts restrictions on WDH use with their frames.

I have a 2450 RL (7500lbs) and tow with a Silverado 2500. I have been going without the weight distributing hitch this year and have not noticed a difference towing. No sway and trailer still tows level.
 
There’s some truth to having more truck than you need. But the # of years argument has always been weak. Lots of people do s*** wrong their entire lives. A weight distributing hitch can make the towing experience better and the ride in the truck better. It - literally - distributes the load. That’s generally a good thing versus a high point load. But to each their own and a 2600 behind a 2500 is perfectly safe.

I would go back to the dealer and ask for a hitch upgrade, if they’ll talk. Since they sold you the wrong thing it might be a simple exchange. There’s no reason you can’t run it as-is if it pulls alright but you just learned your first RV lesson: those published ‘dry’ weights are unrealistic and never intended to be actual travel numbers (although they def use them to sell trailers to ppl without the equipment to pull them) and you need to plan around GVWR.
 
I just purchased a '24 Imagine 2970RL from a dealer and they put a E4 1,000/10,000 lb. hitch on my tow vehicle which is '24 Silverado 2500 custom 4x4. I have loaded up the truck and TT to go camping for first time and stopped by the cat scale to check on the weight of everything and found that the hitch weight is at 1,060 lbs. right now and I still have 300 lbs. of CCC that could be added yet to the TT. I am sure that since this is our first time out with the TT there is going to be more things that we will need/want to get for future camping trips and this TT has the front passthrough storage compartment which will add to the weight on the hitch setup. My question is what weight WDH is everyone using with this type of TT? My gvwr is 8950 lbs. and my hitch weight is 880 lbs. according to the weight spec sheet that came with TT. But being that I am already sitting at 1060 on my hitch weight and still have cargo room wondering if I need to switch to the E4 1,200/12,000?

Have same trailer towing with F-150. I have the started with the bar for 7500 to 10,000 pound bars and the trailer would porpoise. It was recommended that I get the 10,000 to 15,000 bars. No porpoising anymore. Heavier bars helped me alot
 
I had the subframe and A-frame bend last year in New Mexico. Was out of warranty but Lippert to paid to have it replaced with thicker steel and braces added between subframe.

If you look around the Internet, there are quite a few examples of people having similar problems. BTW: Lippert puts restrictions on WDH use with their frames.

I have a 2450 RL (7500lbs) and tow with a Silverado 2500. I have been going without the weight distributing hitch this year and have not noticed a difference towing. No sway and trailer still tows level.

Thank you^^^^
That is the point I've been trying to make.
Glad Lippert stepped up and took care of it for you.
I don't use spring bars either, and have the same results as you.
Rich
 
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The 29 series of trailers are heavy to begin with. If you load up the pass thru you can easily exceed 1000+ on the hitch. That being said, if you can tow the trailer without sway issues, then you are better off using airbags to level instead of the WD bars. In the long run this will be beneficial to frame health.
 
I tow a 2500RL with an F250 - for short hauls I use a weight safe hitch (standard hitch). If I'm driving for a longer distance or its going to be windy out I'll put the WDH on, and I do notice it drives better. I've not had a problem with the A-frame but I do wonder once in a while what kind of stress this might be creating. I like traveling with both hitches, if nothing else I have a backup. I broke a WDH a while back so I'm sensitive to that. Luckily it was pulling into the driveway at home - could have been a lot worse.
 
The 29 series of trailers are heavy to begin with. If you load up the pass thru you can easily exceed 1000+ on the hitch. That being said, if you can tow the trailer without sway issues, then you are better off using airbags to level instead of the WD bars. In the long run this will be beneficial to frame health.

I agree^^^^
Rich
 
MODERATOR WARNING……

Mom always said: “…if you can’t some something nice then don’t say anything at all…”.

So now we have another weight related post where folks just throw out ‘one liners’ without actually offering anything helpful to the OP.

Moderators are currently reviewing posts to consider if some corrections should be made.

Either offer the OP some sound recommendations or move on.

on edit (6 hours later)....... questionable post with no help assistance to OP has been removed along with any post(s) referencing that unuseful, and possible offensive post. PM sent to parties involved.

Let's focus on helping the OP by posting why or why not he either needs a WD hitch or what hitch might be required rather than just post an opinion with no supporting facts.

And thanks to those who posted trying to provide help and/or guidance to the OP who is new here and is just in search of those with experience towing a rig like his/hers.
 
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I tow a 2970 with a F250 and have 1400/14000 E4.
My dealer sent me home with a new camper and a 1000/10000 E4 and it worked fine until we loaded the camper. I couldn’t pull the front of the truck down even with a visible bend to the w/d bars.
I researched the 12k and 14k E4’s and found out they both use the same size bars so I went with the 14k.
The 14k is a good match for the tongue heavy 2970.
 

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