Should Spring Bars on a Weight Distribution System Bend

Updated 06/29/2015 | Published 06/27/2015

Question:

I have towed my 29 ft camper weighing 4900 lbs dry with a Chevy 1500, I have tried different links on the hitch, 1 link makes a huge difference, last time I pulled it it felt like I was pulling 2 campers. Im afraid to tighten up the chains because it seems to almost be bending the bars and the hitch tilts up a good bit, just not sure what to do, if I tighten it up it pulls ALOT better but can you over tighten the bars.

asked by: Bradley

Helpful Expert Reply:

Spring bars are designed to bend, but if you are putting a significant bend into your spring bars and you think that even more spring tension would help you tow better, but you don't have any adjustment left then it sounds like you have spring bars that are rated too low for your application.

The best way to pick out a weight distribution system is to base it off of the loaded tongue weight of the setup when it is loaded and ready to tow. This figure also includes the weight of any cargo behind the rear axle of the tow vehicle. I attached a help article on determining tongue weight for you to check out as well. You will want the loaded tongue weight of your setup to fall right in the middle of the tongue weight range of the system you use.

We sell replacement spring bars that could potentially work for your system to upgrade it's capacity, but without knowing what you have it would be hard for me to know what you would need.

expert reply by: Jameson C