Towing level with weight distribution hitch

[Trouble_Within]

Hi all,
Hoping someone can give me some information on the importance of the van being level when towing. We have a ford territory towing a 17-56.01 expanda with the 600lbs hayman reese WDH. When jayco setup the WDH with the standard shank, the van sat up in the front end with them telling us that once you get some weight in the boot it will level out however, this has not happened as it still sits up a bit at the front (car end). When we attach the van to the car it is level but when we pull the bars up it pulls the van up too. My question is, is it important to have the van perfectly level or is it ok to be slightly raised at the front?

 

[crackacoldie]

It is ok to be slightly raised, you wouldn't want it extremely high at the front though. By slightly how far do you mean?

 

[Trouble_Within]

Only about 100mm from front to back. Thinking a 30mm offset shank might suffice?

 

[crackacoldie]

I wouldn't go any further offset, otherwise the thing will drag on the ground all of the time. In answer to the original, I think that 100mm is too high, so yes would investigate the longer shank.

 

[Burnsy]

I think it was irresponsible of Jayco to tell you that....there is a thing called ball weight also so you don't want to pack too much heavy stuff in your boot. If it was me I'd be buying the extended shank or look into a packer for the van hitch.
Cheers.

 

[Pace]

Didn't @Soaring go through this same senario? Pace.

 

[twscoot]

Here's a picture of how I set up our 16 foot Expanda with the Territory I owned some time ago.
It sat slightly nose high but worked very well.
The bars never scraped on the ground - the trick is to angle the ball slightly forward so that it raises the end tips up.
A close up of the drop shank can be seen under the for sale section (now sold though) here.
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/hayman-reese-wdh-drop-shank.4118/
Cheers
Andrew

 

[DaveS]

we aim to set a new van about 30-40mm high (in effect 15-20 to the wheels) to counter any weight added, for a retro fit we ask them to load the car and van including fuel, and go for about 10 to 20 mm. sometimes we need to try several different drop shanks. we only sell the easylift type, so the hole spacing on them is 30mm so we can only do certain things to get it right

 

[17triton]

I put this on the other thread as well but it could be handy here too. It shows my new hitch vs old and the 100mm lower I can get the ball to level the van. Sorry the pic is upside down posted on my phone.

 

[Trouble_Within]

We bit the bullet and finally got this sorted out through one of the local towbar and trailer places. We didn't just have to drop down to the next size (30mm offset), we had to drop down 2 sizes to the longer shank to get the van level when using the WDH. Just goes to show how the Jayco dealers fit stock standard for each van/car and don't actually judge each case on its merits. Ours is a 17.56-1 van with underslung axels and Jayco just fitted a standard shank with the 600lb WDH which obviously was not right. Happy now with the correct setup although $200 lighter in the wallet for the privilege (for something that should have been done correctly in the first place). This leaves us with a clearance of about 280mm from the bars to the ground which (fingers crossed) should be enough.

 

[Soaring]

So is the car level? ie is the distance from the wheel arches both front and back the same (or close) before and after you hook up the van?
I have the standard Ford heavy Dty tow kit with WDH, and my 17.56 sits perfectly level and the car is perfectly level once the bars hooked up.

 

[Trouble_Within]

Soaring, yes the car is now level wheel arches were about 20mm different without the van on from front to back and now only 25mm different when all hooked up. We had to go the 95mm offset shank so clearance under the shank is only 180mm however we hooked up today and went and found every speed hump, hill, service station in the local area and didn't bottom out on anything so fingers crossed all is good. Do you know how much clearance you have from the bottom of the ford shank to the ground?

 

[Kimy]

Hi all,
Hoping someone can give me some information on the importance of the van being level when towing. We have a ford territory towing a 17-56.01 expanda with the 600lbs hayman reese WDH. When jayco setup the WDH with the standard shank, the van sat up in the front end with them telling us that once you get some weight in the boot it will level out however, this has not happened as it still sits up a bit at the front (car end). When we attach the van to the car it is level but when we pull the bars up it pulls the van up too. My question is, is it important to have the van perfectly level or is it ok to be slightly raised at the front?

 

[Kimy]

Hi, your thread is our coming situation. So great to read this...About to buy a 17.56-1 and have presently a ford territory AWD! Is it possible we can call you to ask a few questions. We aren't understanding the lingo at this stage. We thought we would have to buy another car. It would be great to not have to and the Territory would tow sufficiently.
If so my email address is kimy.k@bigpond.com

Kim and Marc

 

[twscoot]

It's a bit hard to see from my post (#7 above) but our 16.49-2 was always a little high at the front. (Single axle).