Towing a Boat Trailer with Folding Tongue Using Weight Distribution with Camper in Truck Bed

Question:

I have a 1998 Ram 2500 4wd with a class IV factory hitch rated at 1000/10000 Lbs w/WD, 2004 Northstar TS1000 truck camper approx. 2K Lbs wet, 18inch Reeese #11004 hitch extender rated 650/6500 w/WD, and this hitch purchased from you for a travel trailer we no longer have. Im towing a 2004 Four Winns 214 Funship around 6200 Lbs wet that has surge brakes and a long swing away tongue. Is there any reason this hitch cannot be used with that style tongue? I would need to either stagger the L-brackets slightly or bolt them parallel around the tongue without the backing plates is suspect.

asked by: Justin M

Expert Reply:

It is not a good idea to use weight distribution with a folding tongue due to the amount of force applied by the spring bars to the trailer. If you were to do it you would need to have a pole tongue adapter such as # RP58393 since the trailer does not have a traditional A-Frame.

The other issue is that you would need a system rated much higher. This is because when you calculate tongue weight for weight distribution you have to add in the weight of anything loaded behind the rear axle of the tow vehicle. That means about half the weight of the truck camper (1,000 pounds) would have to be added to the trailer tongue weight which would be around 620 to 930 pounds. That would bring the estimated total tongue weight up to 1,620 to 1,930 pounds.

The reason you add in the weight behind the rear axle of the truck is because the weight distribution system would have to lift that weight as well.

The other option is to remove the factory hitch on your 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 (if it can be removed) and install TorkLift SuperHitch Original # TLD1100. this will allow you to use a SuperTruss extension, # TLE1521, at 21 inches long. When this set up is used with weight distribution the tongue weight capacity is 1,400 pounds and the gross trailer weight capacity is 14,000 pounds. If you can get the tongue weight down to under 1,400 pounds you could make it work (though you would need to upgrade to a higher capacity WD system such as # C17501 ).