Re: Hauling question - Air Bags?

["Karen Sullivan" <greymare@jps.net>]

You know, I just went throuh all this.  The air bags do help.....but will NOT aleviate the stress on the hitch!!!  I have a Dodge one ton dually, with a 9 ft. camper, and haul an 18 ft. aluminum stock trailer that weights less than yours!  I figure my trailer fully packed with 5 horses, 6 bales of hay,etc, etc, is pushing 12k.  You are going to be close to 10k easy, with several horses.....

 

If you have  standard frame mount hitch, you might not have as much problems as I did.....I had to have a 2 ft. extension becuase of the camper, and the ONLY hitch that is rated and designed for this is the Reese Titan,  Still, I needed the weight distributing hitch in addition to even get me to 10,000.  I won't get into the drawtite hitch I had, with the illegal extension the RV dealer set me up with originally, that bent.....

 

Don't believe the RV dealers, the trailer or truck dealers!!!  Please talk directly to the hitch manufacturer's engineers!!!

 

Of course, you didn't mention if you have a bumper pull or gooseneck. 

 

Having BOTH air bags, and weight distributing hitch, I find the air bags more of a pain-they loose air farily regularly and have to be checked and filled.....the weight distributing hitch only takes a minute more to connect or disconnect.

 

I feel the rig is far safer now....

----- Original Message -----

From: Mike and Kathy Kelly

To: Ridecamp

Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 4:59 PM

Subject: RC: Hauling question - Air Bags?

I have a new (to me) trailer that weighs 7k.  My truck says limit for weight bearing hitch is 5k.

 

The wt distributing hitches are expensive and sound like kind of a pain.  The salesman I spoke with recommended getting air bags to distribute the weight instead.  Is this good advice?

 

The trailer rides great - no problems.  But I'm worried about taking care of the truck, and that the front end may be light if I don't do something.

 

Help?? 

 

Kathy & Gabriel

Parks AZ