Reese Trailer Hitches Trailer Towing - Sway No More

A Dramatic Difference
We towed the Chaparral without the W-D hitch just to see how it felt. Unnerving is the only word that best describes a very short drive around the immediate vicinity, which included crossing railroad tracks, uneven pavement, and negotiating sudden dips and sharp curves. The steering felt light and at times very twitchy; hard braking felt unsettling; and some trailer sway could be induced at slower speeds by any unevenness or the slightest dip.

After installing the Reese SC W-D kit on our Tundra/Chaparral package, we hit the same roads, driving over railroad tracks, through harsh dips, over broken pavement, and we even rolled onto the Interstate so we could be passed by tractor-trailer rigs. We also tried inducing trailer sway by swerving sharply on a test track at speeds around 35 mph and did several "panic" stops from much higher speeds.

What a dramatic difference between towing with and without the W-D hitch. The Tundra handled and rode better with the 9,200 pounds in tow than it did without a trailer, and showed remarkable stability and control even during hard braking and during our induced-sway maneuvers. We're sure the same dramatic improvement in driving differences will be felt by any tow vehicle/trailer combo where the Reese SC is used.

Value Of a W-D Hitch
"A weight-distributing hitch will do that," says Joe Riexinger, the Southern regional sales manager for the Cequent Towing Products group. "It transfers a lot of the tongue weight from the rear of the tow vehicle towards the front and also towards the rear of the trailer. This levels out the tow vehicle and places more weight over the front tires for greater steering control.

"Our new weight-distributing hitch also provides that additional automatic sway control so the tow vehicle is much more stable when it goes through dips, over bumps, or is hit with sudden side winds like those caused by passing big rigs."

The Reese SC, installed and in use. This weight-distributing hitch works superbly with heavy boat/trailer packages.

The Reese SC, installed and in use. This weight-distributing hitch works superbly with hea

Another nice feature of such a setup is once it's adjusted for your tow vehicle and boat trailer it's no more complicated than towing on-the-ball. You just drop the trailer onto the W-D hitch ball, lock it in place, swing the spring bars into their brackets, make your normal trailer chain/light connections, lower the trailer jack, and off you go. No big deal.

(One trick to make lifting the spring bars into their brackets easy is to raise the rear of the truck up, using the trailer jack, with the trailer locked on the hitch ball. This takes some of the leverage pressure off the spring bars as they are lifted up onto their brackets.)

A properly equipped tow vehicle and trailer package is the first step to getting the maximum enjoyment out of both. It's also a matter of being both safe and legal while towing. Now there's no excuse for anyone to tow a surge-brake-equipped trailer any other way.

Vehicle Tow Rating Examples
Tow ratings can be very misleading if one doesn't read the "fine print." Here are a few examples of vehicles to show the difference between "maximum towing capacity," which requires using a weight-distributing hitch system, and conventional, or "weight-carrying" towing capacity using the factory-supplied hitch and standard drawbar/hitch ball: