RV FEATURE
SHARING
THE LOAD
WORDS AND IMAGES: MARG AND BRUCE GOW
MARG AND BRUCE GOW,
THE BABY BOOMERS ON
THE ROAD, SHARE THEIR
THOUGHTS ON WEIGHT
DISTRIBUTION HITCHES.
First, what is a weight distribution hitch?
Let’s imagine you are picking up the handles
of a loaded wheelbarrow. Most of the weight
in the barrow is shared between the legs
at the rear and the wheel at the front. By
lifting the handles, the weight is transferred
or distributed to over the wheel. A weight
distribution hitch does a similar thing.
However, instead of transferring the weight
to the front wheels, it distributes it more evenly
over all wheels, even the caravan’s wheels.
For a start, any weight that we place on the
towbar at the rear of the car immediately lifts
from the front wheels of the car. This means
that we lose ‘steerability’, we lose effective
braking and, in the case of front-wheel-drive
vehicles, we lose traction to the ground.
By fitting a weight distribution hitch, this
weight loss is now a weight gain, with the
effect of actually increasing the amount
of weight on the front wheels. A weight
distribution hitch will:
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1. Distribute the weight evenly over all axles;
2. Assist to a degree in the prevention of sway,
though this is not their primary function;
3. ‘Tighten up’ the combination of the load overall;
4. Return effective steering and braking to the
front of the vehicle;
5. Assist in even tyre wear; and
6. Make the ride more comfortable by eliminating
the see-saw motion.
We have always used weight distribution
hitches on our tow vehicles and wouldn’t be
without one. At times, we have driven without
them and realise just how much we missed it.
A tip for travelling on corrugations and gravel
roads for any length of time is to remove the
weight distribution hitch’s torsion bars and
allow the suspension to do what it’s designed to
do. When you again reach a sealed surface, pull
over and re-fit them.