Towing VRV 8524

[stever]

I have read about as much as I can on Anderson WD/sway hitch.  I am going to give it a try.  My problem is I am picking up my trailer this coming Saturday and I am not sure if my hitch will make it in before I leave.  I have a 10 hour drive to pick it up.  I have 3 choices, I can pull it back at weight empty with no WD/sway, wait another weekend, or use the dealer hitch - they use blue ox.  I have used blue ox before but it does not seem like a good choice on the aluminum frame trailer.  I am pulling with a 2012 2WD Toyota Tundra and I have ordered the Anderson.  So really 2 choices - I eliminated blue ox already.

Anyone with any any expierence pulling a VRV 8524 empty without weight distribution/ sway.

Thanks in advance

[david]

I think that your towing experience will directly depend on your tongue weight. The toy haulers can have dramatic differences in tongue weight loaded or not. The LL specs say that the dry weight is 5,484 lbs and the tongue weight is 1,030 lbs. I suspect that the high unloaded tongue weight is so you will have a decent tongue weight when a ton of toys are loaded aft of the axle.

So, if you can handle the 1,030 lbs you should be fine as it is almost 20% of the trailer weight. That sure won't cause any sway. But the Tundra will be hard pressed with 1,030 lbs of tongue weight with or without a WDH. Can you bring a toy with you in the Tundra and load it in the LL to cut the tongue weight down somewhat? Even a 500 lb toy loaded far aft will cut the tongue weight a couple of hundred lbs and make it more acceptable for the Tundra. 800 lbs of tongue weight should tow fine with a 6,000 lb trailer weight.

And you need much more weight transfer capability than the Anderson can provide. Its geometry inherently makes it a poor weight transfer hitch. I would use a Reese or similar trunion bar hitch that can transfer about half of the tongue weight to the front wheels. The Anderson can't do that.

David

[stever]

Thanks

I likely can add weight if I need to and decrease some weight off the tongue.

[keeena]

I agree with everything David said. I was contemplating a Tundra when buying a new TV. It's a great truck and I almost pulled the trigger. If i went that route, I would have used a typical WDH with brackets which clamp the whole frame vs. use a set screw. My reasoning was that multiple passengers and gear in truck would really put the Tundra at its capacity limits and a proper WDH would be needed to keep everything safe.

[swbc150]

Max tongue weight for all half tons is 500#'s w/o a WDH, do not go over this. Empty my Bearcat 16FK Toyhauler has 675# tongue weight, loaded and ready to tow I am down to 535 pounds. I now tow w/o a WDH even with my modified HD Built coupler but that is because I tow with a HD Pickup with a 1000# rated Class 4 Receiver Hitch w/o a WDH. (1250#s with WDH)
A HD 3/4t -1ton Truck tows the Toyhaulers with ease and safer as they are built for towing just about any load, I tried it with a F150 and didn't care for the towing experience, mainly towing in higher elevations/Mountains was the other issue I had with the F150, this is no longer a problem now with the F350. (F250 has the same tow ratings, since I ordered my 16 Ford Superduty, the F350 was only $700 more so I ordered the F350)
Another thing is speed, don't tow over 65mph, I don't even tow over 65 with my F350.
A tongue weight pound scale is nice to have too, this way you know what your tongue weight is instead of guessing.
I agree with keeena, it is not just the tongue weight but the Payload rating of your Tundra or any TV, my F150 was pushing the payload weight so I had to cut back on what I took along but that too is not a issue with my current Superduty. (tongue weight counts towards your TV payload weight limit)
Allot of others will push the limits because the TV seems to tow the load fine but you are putting you and your passengers at risk along with fellow drivers you are sharing the road with. It is better to be sure to pick the correct TV for your towing requirements and have excess payload so that you are not tapping out or down the road you may be having some serious issue's. If need be, downsize your RV Trailer to meet the requirements of your Present tow vehicle or upgrade your TV.

Todays trucks are also coming with softer springs, put some tongue weight on the back and your TV squats, a WDH here helps if it is hooked up correctly but you may still get some squatting, add some airbags to the rear axle, not only do the air-bags level out the TV back to the correct height but also adds stability while towing.

[dh50]

I have been very satisfied with the Blue Ox WDH, applied to my 8.5 X 26 AXXESS, pulled by a Ram 1500 Ecodiesel. I agree that 500 lbs is the max tongue weight for a half-ton truck without a WDH. Our AXXESS has an advertised TW of 671 lbs dry. My Ram crew cab squats down 4 inches before I tighten up the WD bars ( 1000lb rated bars), then all is well and it tows great. So far no issues with the aluminum frame - no drilling required.

[billmoore]

I have been very satisfied with the Blue Ox WDH, applied to my 8.5 X 26 AXXESS, pulled by a Ram 1500 Ecodiesel. I agree that 500 lbs is the max tongue weight for a half-ton truck without a WDH. Our AXXESS has an advertised TW of 671 lbs dry. My Ram crew cab squats down 4 inches before I tighten up the WD bars ( 1000lb rated bars), then all is well and it tows great. So far no issues with the aluminum frame - no drilling required.

Same here... I'm at about 650 lbs tongue weight, and the F150's rear bumper drops about 3.5 inches. Put the 1000 lb bars on, and the rear comes back up almost 2 inches (plus the front drops about an inch), and everything looks nice and level.

[billmoore]

Tongue weight comes down when you load it. Mine is over 750 lbs with just battery and propane, but drops to 650 once I put two motorcycles in the back and fill up the fridge and water tank.

[billmoore]

Yeah you're definitely dealing with a lot more weight than me. We're at about 5500 lbs loaded up.