Weight Distribution/Sway Control for Enclosed V-Nose Trailer with Limited Frame Access  

Question:

Expert Reply:

Thank you for the photo of your v-nose enclosed trailer for which you are looking for a weight distribution/sway control (WD/SC) system. Since you have limited access to the trailer frame, about 15-inches based on your photo, I suggest you check whether the diamond-plate nose blocks access to the side of the frame further back, say around 30-inches back from the hitch ball. This is hard to tell from the photo due to the camera angle.

If the bottom of the diamond-plate does not extend so low that it covers the sides of the frame members, then you can install a system whose brackets can be bolted on to the frame's outward-facing surfaces. Reese offer such bolt-on brackets for their Straight-Line WD systems, part # RP58305. These can be used with a system like # RP66084 which works with tongue weight ranging from 600 to 1200-lbs. This system works with your electric brakes and will allow you to back up the trailer without having to disconnect anything.

The key to selecting a system is knowing the fully-loaded trailer's actual tongue weight. We offer a handy scale # e99044 but other measurement methods are outlined in the linked article. Your total TW includes the actual measured TW of the trailer plus the weight of anything in the tow vehicle that sits behind a rear axle, such as a loaded cooler or generator. With this total TW know you can choose a system that will be rated properly to give you the weight shift you want without causing weird side-effects in the trailer's handling. Ideally your total TW falls right near the middle of the system's effective range. System # RP66084 is ideally suited to a TW of 850- to 950-lbs.

Please feel free to share additional photos of your trailer and we'll be glad to work with you to help you select the right system for your trailer tongue weight.

expert reply by: Adam R

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