Absolutely outstanding video on the correct installation of a weight distribution hitch. Now the challenge is getting dealerships and owners to watch your video and heed the warnings. And, it makes me appreciate the simplicity of hooking up a fifth wheel with the B&W Companion hitch. Always pros and cons of every RV
Great information on WD hitch and how it works. I would suggest facing the locking pins holding the bars with the ring towards the front to prevent road debris like a pealed tire from knocking it out of place.
This was a great description of the setup process. Hard to find people that take the time to do this process correctly. I have been looking for a new WD hitch and this may be what I end up with. My only concern would be the brake pad style friction material. How will it perform when it gets wet? I know disc brake pads on vehicles do well even when wet, but they have slight friction continuously while driving to generate heat and keep them dry.
I would assume due to bearing failure or something... $2k to replace the supercharger or have it rebuilt, or just take the belt off. You can disable it on the stock tune with no adverse effects, you are just driving on the "non boost" part of the tune, as if you were part throttle. There will be minor differences but fuel trim corrections will handle it.
If you disconnect the belt you'll reduce engine load, but it's not a large reduction. Obviously you can't get into boost anymore so max fuel consumption will be lower. I supercharged my civic Si about 10y ago and it still gets 28mpg, about the same as the window sticker.
What reasoning is behind the supercharger disconnect? So, now you are running a very low compression engine designed for added combustion charge volume. So, now you have massive torque loss without the SC. Unless it was an aftermarket SC on the stock spec. motor. Then possibility a reasonable decision. Although, addition of an water/methanol injection system is an amazing addition to any forced induction motor. Gives you race gas intake charge, lower intake Temps, lower combustion chamber Temps and no detonation. An easy fix if detonation with towing loads is the concern.
I bought one of those scales last year I think and it seems it has gotten a little out of wack after about half a dozen uses. I picked up my new trailer and drove straight to CAT scales and the math said I had roughly a 1000lbs of tongue weight. Come home loaded from and trip and pulled it out to check the weight and it was reading around 400lbs. Not worth the cash in my opinion.
At beginning of video he said this was a pre-owned trailer. Previous owner probably had WD hitch with separate friction sway control. There would have been a 3rd bar connecting between that ball and a 2nd, smaller, offset ball on the hitch itself. One that comes to mind is made by Curt Mfg
What will happen if when you hook up and instead of putting the tool to lift it suddenly you forgot and left it on top of the propane tanks and it fell off without you knowing you lost it? Your at the next stop in your travels 300 miles away from everything................
I had that same thought. Guessing that you would have to lower the tongue and have to place a jack stand or something else under the leveling bars to be able to remove them. Process would probably not be very safe though.
Noooo! I hate it when a good channel passes off bad information. Weight distribution hitches should not be used to fix squat. To fix excessive squat, fix or upgrade your suspension. When you are adjusting your weight distribution hitch, do not even look at your rear ride height. Any changes in rear ride height are not relevant to the function of the weight distribution hitch. A weight distribution hitch should be used to restore weight to the -front- of the truck. Because it's helpful to have steering. Measure the truck's front ride height. Hitch the trailer, measure again. You'll see that the front end went up because the trailer is levering up the front end, using the rear axle as the fulcrum. As you adjust the hitch, the goal is to restore roughly 2/3 - between 1/2 and 3/4 - of the lost front ride height. Incidentally, adjusting the weight distribution hitch correctly will reduce squat. But even if you have excessive squat, don't crank the hitch bars more than indicated by changes in the _front_ suspension unless you want to lose excessive rear traction and possibly break your trailer's tongue. An "off-road" trim truck likely has a soft suspension, and you need to increase your rear spring rate to tow. Timbrens work. I prefer add-a-leaf, leaf repacks/replacement, load adjusting shocks, or Roadmasters. The latter two are adding progressive rate springs, and have reduced impact on the truck when it is unladen. I've used trucks with both and been happy with them. Bags are the ultimate way to fix squat, but some downsides if you go off-road or frequent gravel roads. An important additional note: When measuring ride height, what you are doing is using your suspension as a makeshift scale. To get more accurate measurements, measure from the -rim- to the fender so that deflection of the tire and irregularities on the ground are eliminated as factors. Even better - setup your hitch using an actual scale. CAT scales are easy to use with their app, and very worth the cost.
Absolutely outstanding video on the correct installation of a weight distribution hitch. Now the challenge is getting dealerships and owners to watch your video and heed the warnings.
And, it makes me appreciate the simplicity of hooking up a fifth wheel with the B&W Companion hitch.
Always pros and cons of every RV
Bypassing the SC sounds silly when you're dealing with an anemic truck that could use that power assistance from towing this trailer.
Great information on WD hitch and how it works. I would suggest facing the locking pins holding the bars with the ring towards the front to prevent road debris like a pealed tire from knocking it out of place.
I'm with your dad; better center of gravity. And smoother and will enhance kinetic energy, better fuel economy and throw out water better; Smart Dad.
great video and I am sure it help people quite a bit understand how to properly install this and why its important.
The hitch on that truck sticks out crazy far, no wonder the squat is so big. The hitch before what you installed.
This yellow Frontier is beautifull 🙂
Nice install and explanation. Should be much nicer tow now.
Thanks for showing us.
Great Vidao
Safe Travels
I’m sorry. You lost me at disabled supercharger. 🤣
Well done JD & JDs Dad!!
The UA-cam algorithm rarely, almost never suggests any videos by BTBRV on my feed. ☹️
I think UA-cam is leaning really heavily on showing provocative stuff lately.
What is the reasoning for bypassing the supercharger?
Thank you
This was a great description of the setup process. Hard to find people that take the time to do this process correctly. I have been looking for a new WD hitch and this may be what I end up with.
My only concern would be the brake pad style friction material. How will it perform when it gets wet? I know disc brake pads on vehicles do well even when wet, but they have slight friction continuously while driving to generate heat and keep them dry.
I tow 3 tonne vans behind my Navara, which is the same ‘truck’… (ute) when the truck would be too long towing them. Never seen any of that shit.
Why disable the supercharger? Did he change the tune as well?
I would assume due to bearing failure or something... $2k to replace the supercharger or have it rebuilt, or just take the belt off.
You can disable it on the stock tune with no adverse effects, you are just driving on the "non boost" part of the tune, as if you were part throttle. There will be minor differences but fuel trim corrections will handle it.
3800 pounds weight and 450 pounds tounge weight…what do you yanks build your trailers of? Old battleship steel?
You shouldn’t be tightening the bolts from the bolt head. Always tighten from the nut side…
What did you do with the original westlake tires? Do you still have them?
Does he get better MPG out of the VG33 with the supercharger off?
If you disconnect the belt you'll reduce engine load, but it's not a large reduction. Obviously you can't get into boost anymore so max fuel consumption will be lower.
I supercharged my civic Si about 10y ago and it still gets 28mpg, about the same as the window sticker.
What reasoning is behind the supercharger disconnect?
So, now you are running a very low compression engine designed for added combustion charge volume. So, now you have massive torque loss without the SC.
Unless it was an aftermarket SC on the stock spec. motor. Then possibility a reasonable decision. Although, addition of an water/methanol injection system is an amazing addition to any forced induction motor. Gives you race gas intake charge, lower intake Temps, lower combustion chamber Temps and no detonation. An easy fix if detonation with towing loads is the concern.
That receiver hitch looks abnormally long, then the added length of the hitch ball must be 16-18 inches past the bumper
I bought one of those scales last year I think and it seems it has gotten a little out of wack after about half a dozen uses. I picked up my new trailer and drove straight to CAT scales and the math said I had roughly a 1000lbs of tongue weight. Come home loaded from and trip and pulled it out to check the weight and it was reading around 400lbs. Not worth the cash in my opinion.
Let them know. Might be a bad unit
24:00 I see people drive around like that all the time.
At 21:30 what is that "ball" bolted to the a frame for?
At beginning of video he said this was a pre-owned trailer. Previous owner probably had WD hitch with separate friction sway control. There would have been a 3rd bar connecting between that ball and a 2nd, smaller, offset ball on the hitch itself. One that comes to mind is made by Curt Mfg
Should you not test the tongue weight at the proper ride hight? Seems like it’s shifting weight forward (a little) since it’s nose down.
235 doesn’t add height. Its width. The 75 is height
What will happen if when you hook up and instead of putting the tool to lift it suddenly you forgot and left it on top of the propane tanks and it fell off without you knowing you lost it? Your at the next stop in your travels 300 miles away from everything................
I had that same thought. Guessing that you would have to lower the tongue and have to place a jack stand or something else under the leveling bars to be able to remove them. Process would probably not be very safe though.
6:02 Made in china makes me nervous. 😳😬
Yep, China bombs! Should have put Goodyear Endurance tires on, made in the USA
Check this out. You will be impressed.
Trip to North Western US.
Stop in La Grande Oregon Checkout Northwest RV. Nash, Arctic Fox, OutdoorRV
Noooo! I hate it when a good channel passes off bad information.
Weight distribution hitches should not be used to fix squat. To fix excessive squat, fix or upgrade your suspension. When you are adjusting your weight distribution hitch, do not even look at your rear ride height. Any changes in rear ride height are not relevant to the function of the weight distribution hitch.
A weight distribution hitch should be used to restore weight to the -front- of the truck. Because it's helpful to have steering.
Measure the truck's front ride height. Hitch the trailer, measure again. You'll see that the front end went up because the trailer is levering up the front end, using the rear axle as the fulcrum.
As you adjust the hitch, the goal is to restore roughly 2/3 - between 1/2 and 3/4 - of the lost front ride height.
Incidentally, adjusting the weight distribution hitch correctly will reduce squat. But even if you have excessive squat, don't crank the hitch bars more than indicated by changes in the _front_ suspension unless you want to lose excessive rear traction and possibly break your trailer's tongue.
An "off-road" trim truck likely has a soft suspension, and you need to increase your rear spring rate to tow. Timbrens work. I prefer add-a-leaf, leaf repacks/replacement, load adjusting shocks, or Roadmasters. The latter two are adding progressive rate springs, and have reduced impact on the truck when it is unladen. I've used trucks with both and been happy with them. Bags are the ultimate way to fix squat, but some downsides if you go off-road or frequent gravel roads.
An important additional note: When measuring ride height, what you are doing is using your suspension as a makeshift scale. To get more accurate measurements, measure from the -rim- to the fender so that deflection of the tire and irregularities on the ground are eliminated as factors.
Even better - setup your hitch using an actual scale. CAT scales are easy to use with their app, and very worth the cost.
The video and audio are way out of synch