Towing Reviews ONLY

[Beinkounter]

I recently bought a Grand Design Trailer, 30 ft, 6100lbs loaded, about 620 tongue weight. This was my first trailer and after reading up on this topic online, I considered airbags to deal with the potential sag. After getting more into the weeds of towing and WDH, my understanding was that the weight distribution hitch is supposed to transfer weight from the rear axle to the front axle. So theoretically, if you transfer half the tongue weight to the front, the weight on both axles should be the same and there should be very little sagging. If you take the time to understand how the WD hitch works and how to adjust the weight distribution feature for over/under distribution and you do it properly, you shouldn't have that much sagging even if you are at the upper end of your truck's payload limit. When the RV dealer set up my trailer, they didn't do it 100% correct because it was still sagging quite a bit and they said it was because of the truck's soft suspension. they didn't take any measurements, no scales, nothing. The tech that installed the hitch just eyeballed it. I took the truck/trailer to a CAT scale and confirmed that there was about 300lbs more on the rear axle. I could also feel it while driving with the steering being extremely mushy. When I got home, I adjusted hitch for the under distribution by adding an extra two washers (this is specific to the Equalizer Hitch), and voila! The truck was almost level, with a very small amount of sag. Much better than before the adjustment. At that point I decided there was no need for the airbags. I have yet to complete my experiment, I plan to take it back to the CAT scale next week to confirm the weight on each axle. But I did drive it on the freeway, up to 75 mph and experienced no sway and no issues and the steering was much better which indicates that the front wheels were more firmly on the ground than before the adjustment. I have heard that airbags improve the towing experience a bit from a balanced ride perspective, but you should be able to correct most of the sagging by properly adjusting your weight distribution.

 

[Wfo]

I pick up my Ember 240TKR toy hauler tomorrow. It’s 30’ has a hitch weight of 900lbs and weighs in at 6800lbs with 4 wheel independent offroad suspension! Ember trailers are 4 season rated to down below zero deg and are all composite floors walls and roof!! I have an 18 screw with a fresh set of oem shocks and +4 HD deavers with stock shackles. I removed +3 deaver’s with rpg drop shackles in favor for the +4hd. I also have a set of +3 geiser spring to go on new oem fronts. Motor wise I have Svc intercooler, full race radiator, full race transmission cooler, Cobb stage 2 @GooseTuned custom map, Cobb intake and Remus catback. I have a curt trunion style weight distribution hitch for 1k.

 

[GooseTuned]

I pick up my Ember 240TKR toy hauler tomorrow. It’s 30’ has a hitch weight of 900lbs and weighs in at 6800lbs with 4 wheel independent offroad suspension! Ember trailers are 4 season rated to down below zero deg and are all composite floors walls and roof!! I have an 18 screw with a fresh set of oem shocks and +4 HD deavers with stock shackles. I removed +3 deaver’s with rpg drop shackles in favor for the +4hd. I also have a set of +3 geiser spring to go on new oem fronts. Motor wise I have Svc intercooler, full race radiator, full race transmission cooler, Cobb stage 2 @GooseTuned custom map, Cobb intake and Remus catback. I have a curt trunion style weight distribution hitch for 1k. View attachment 454221

Make sure you use a tow map to tow!

 

[Wfo]

Update… I ended up going with a different model camper. The toy hauler didn’t have the 2” receiver that was listed as standard, it also had a high hitch weight of 905lb dry. The model I got is an Ember 221MSL. It’s their overland model with 4 wheel independent suspension, 26’1” long, weighs 5885 dry, and has a hitch weight of 690lbs. It towed ok without the weight distribution hitch and the Cobb tow tune. I did expect the +4 Deaver HD spring to ride more stiff than they do!!! I should have got the HD first time!! My truck is on 37s and has McNeil front fenders I’m glad @GooseTuned spoke up about loading that tune!!!! Thanks Winfield!!!!!