Maybe this article can help https://www.truckfriendly.com.au/weight-distribution-hitches-facts-and-fiction/
Thanks Alan, for posting this simple truth. Later today I will address Graham's confused diatribe.
Even his LARGE RED highlighted sentence is incorrect as a WDH doesn't shift ANY weight that is "centered (centred?) on the point where the trailer and vehicle connect". That weight stays the same.
Your post AGAIN explains this!
Some weight is shifted from the car's REAR AXLE and distributed to the other axle groups.
Never have I "set yourself up as an authority on the subject", simply presenting the facts. Cheers
Who is this bloke, any ahole can get a website built, and compile lost of different informationion and then publish it to fit his narrative, a check of his truck friendly page, no list qualifications or experience, no bibliography of sources of data.
Just because he has a website the sucking up to truckie buy trying to convince caravaners what he writes is true and correct.
I in fact meet this bloke when he was visiting caravan parks promote himself and website, after he drove out the chucked all his pamphlets and posters in the bin.
After meeting him I have a low opinion of him about as slick as a used car salesman.
yobarr said
01:49 PM Oct 25, 2023
Gundog wrote:
Please explain how you are such an expert about weight distribution hitches in a country of 26 million people, where in a country 335 million people who use WDH's with towball weight from 600lbs to 1600lbs that manufactures and engineers who design and build them can be so wrong ?
The absolute gaul of you setting yourself as an authority on the subject, that could actually cause someone to have a serious accident by not using one if required.
This simplified answer how a weight distibution hitch works.
Rather than the weight being centered on the point where the trailer and vehicle connect, the weight distribution hitch distributes the weight across the axels of the vehicle and trailer.
Graham, you appear to be a very confused individual as NEVER have I "set yourself up as an authority on the subject".
That merely is your perception, and might I suggest that not only is it wrong, but it is irrelevant to the discussion.
All I have ever done is present the facts in the most easily understood way that I can. Facts are facts.
Furthermore, the number of inhabitants of any continent has absolutely no bearing on credibility, or their ability to think logically.
Looking at the results of some recent elections may confirm this.
Your talk of "people who use WDHs with towball weight from 600lb to 16,000lb" suggests that you copied this from an American site.
The towing of pig trailers that are carrying 15 ton earthmoving machines has little relevance on our forum, where we are discussing the recently retired Ma and Pa Kettle who have ZERO towing experience, but have been told that by people with a vested interest that their little twin-cab ute, among others, can indeed tow a heavy van, but ONLY with a WDH.
Your sentence, part of which I have highlighted in blue, makes little sense and you have said "not using one if "required".
The word "required" is open to interpretation, as 'required' could mean that the car manufacturer has mandated the use of a WDH, or 'required' could mean that the car and van are so poorly matched that, in an effort to make it near-legal, the cure-all WDH is added.
Increased TBO, increased yaw, increased weight in an effort to make a car do things for which it never was designed.
NEVER will you get an honest, self-incriminating response from manufacturers for anything they market.
I iterate that NEVER have I claimed to be an authority, nor "set yourself (myself) up as an authority on the subject".
That is merely your perception and is irrelevant to this discussion.
Again I will say that, with the cars and vans we use in Australia, a WDH is used and recommended ONLY by those manufacturers and car-owners who are trying to make a car do things for which it never was designed.
Lastly, could I suggest that rather than copying text per verbatim you should first study and comprehend it?
I refer to the BRIGHT RED text in your post where it is claimed that the weight that a WDH distributes is "centred on the point where the trailer and vehicle connect",(towball and is distributed from there.
You should by now understand that that assertion is incorrect, and that a WDH does NOT change towball weight.("Where trailer and vehicle connect".)
The distributed weight is removed from the car's REAR AXLE and distributed to the car's front axle (around 70%) and the van's axle group. (Around 30%)
Car wheelbase and towball are the main variables, with forward length another.
Lastly, could I respectfully ask that if you wish to persist in your apparent efforts to denigrate me could you please make an effort to at least read and understand any text that you source on the internet, and its relevance to Australian caravanners? Thanks Graham.
Who is this bloke, any ahole can get a website built, and compile lost of different informationion and then publish it to fit his narrative, a check of his truck friendly page, no list qualifications or experience, no bibliography of sources of data.
Just because he has a website the sucking up to truckie buy trying to convince caravaners what he writes is true and correct.
I in fact meet this bloke when he was visiting caravan parks promote himself and website, after he drove out the chucked all his pamphlets and posters in the bin.
After meeting him I have a low opinion of him about as slick as a used car salesman.
"There is none so blind as he who will not see" and "Ignorance is bliss" are the first things that came to mind when I read this post.
There is nothing on the screen-shot supplied by Alan (Plain Truth Alan!) that can not be confirmed on many sites, including that of HR and other WDH designers and manufacturers, as well as various RV sites and threads by engineers of weights and dynamics.
Are all these qualified people wrong? Nah, I'd bet millions to one that it's not them. Do you have a mirror in your van?
Over the years we have discussed all the various possible reasons that a WDH needs to be "recommended" or "mandated", all these conditions being made by people with a vested interest. Had you bothered to read and comprehend these discussions perhaps you'd have a more clear understanding.
Get a better car or a smaller van. Simple stuff, and more conducive to safety. Happy travels. Cheers
P.S Seems a WDH can make a little car do ANYTHING.
Yeah, right.
Still looks like a bent chassis, just behind the cab?
-- Edited by yobarr on Wednesday 25th of October 2023 02:17:41 PM
Who is this bloke, any ahole can get a website built, and compile lost of different informationion and then publish it to fit his narrative, a check of his truck friendly page, no list qualifications or experience, no bibliography of sources of data.
Just because he has a website the sucking up to truckie buy trying to convince caravaners what he writes is true and correct.
I in fact meet this bloke when he was visiting caravan parks promote himself and website, after he drove out the chucked all his pamphlets and posters in the bin.
After meeting him I have a low opinion of him about as slick as a used car salesman.
Graham, you appear to be a very confused individual as NEVER have I "set yourself up as an authority on the subject".
That merely is your perception, and might I suggest that not only is it wrong, but it is irrelevant to the discussion.
All I have ever done is present the facts in the most easily understood way that I can. Facts are facts.
Furthermore, the number of inhabitants of any continent has absolutely no bearing on credibility, or their ability to think logically.
Looking at the results of some recent elections may confirm this.
Your talk of "people who use WDHs with towball weight from 600lb to 16,000lb" suggests that you copied this from an American site.
The towing of pig trailers that are carrying 15 ton earthmoving machines has little relevance on our forum, where we are discussing the recently retired Ma and Pa Kettle who have ZERO towing experience, but have been told that by people with a vested interest that their little twin-cab ute, among others, can indeed tow a heavy van, but ONLY with a WDH.
Your sentence, part of which I have highlighted in blue, makes little sense and you have said "not using one if "required".
The word "required" is open to interpretation, as 'required' could mean that the car manufacturer has mandated the use of a WDH, or 'required' could mean that the car and van are so poorly matched that, in an effort to make it near-legal, the cure-all WDH is added.
Increased TBO, increased yaw, increased weight in an effort to make a car do things for which it never was designed.
NEVER will you get an honest, self-incriminating response from manufacturers for anything they market.
I iterate that NEVER have I claimed to be an authority, nor "set yourself (myself) up as an authority on the subject".
That is merely your perception and is irrelevant to this discussion.
Again I will say that, with the cars and vans we use in Australia, a WDH is used and recommended ONLY by those manufacturers and car-owners who are trying to make a car do things for which it never was designed.
Lastly, could I suggest that rather than copying text per verbatim you should first study and comprehend it?
I refer to the BRIGHT RED text in your post where it is claimed that the weight that a WDH distributes is "centred on the point where the trailer and vehicle connect",(towball and is distributed from there.
You should by now understand that that assertion is incorrect, and that a WDH does NOT change towball weight.("Where trailer and vehicle connect".)
The distributed weight is removed from the car's REAR AXLE and distributed to the car's front axle (around 70%) and the van's axle group. (Around 30%)
Car wheelbase and towball are the main variables, with forward length another.
Lastly, could I respectfully ask that if you wish to persist in your apparent efforts to denigrate me could you please make an effort to at least read and understand any text that you source on the internet, and its relevance to Australian caravanners? Thanks Graham.
P.S Perfect way to save fuel! Kill the car.
..
"There is none so blind as he who will not see" and "Ignorance is bliss" are the first things that came to mind when I read this post.
There is nothing on the screen-shot supplied by Alan (Plain Truth Alan!) that can not be confirmed on many sites, including that of HR and other WDH designers and manufacturers, as well as various RV sites and threads by engineers of weights and dynamics.
Are all these qualified people wrong? Nah, I'd bet millions to one that it's not them. Do you have a mirror in your van?
Over the years we have discussed all the various possible reasons that a WDH needs to be "recommended" or "mandated", all these conditions being made by people with a vested interest.
Had you bothered to read and comprehend these discussions perhaps you'd have a more clear understanding.
Get a better car or a smaller van. Simple stuff, and more conducive to safety. Happy travels. Cheers
P.S Seems a WDH can make a little car do ANYTHING.
Yeah, right.
Still looks like a bent chassis, just behind the cab?
-- Edited by yobarr on Wednesday 25th of October 2023 02:17:41 PM
This article must be wrong too.