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I remember being a young fella collecting firewood in our trailer. With it fully loaded downhill on a gravel road went to do a bit of braking when within 2 seconds had the trailer trying to overtake me and the trailer even took over the driving. Pants soiled, lesson learnt!

Wow...thanks for the explanation of this kind of device, John. I remember, as a kid, my dad towing a Field and Stream trailer behind a 1964 Buick Special wagon. He had an "EZ Lift" hitch setup. It worked, because the car was always level. I could never figure out how it worked; but now I know. Keep up the great work.

Towed a van around Australia and used a Hayman Reese WDH for most of it. I took it off or put it on a loose setting for off road and reversing. It made a noticeable difference to stability at highway speed. Especially when overtaking or being overtaken by road trains. Like most things, use in moderation. If you have to crank it right up, there’s a more fundamental problem.

Finally a sensibly explained topic by you John. Please maintain this approach for your future videos.

Thank you for this explanation of weight distribution. I never properly understood the forces at play and how they could get you into trouble if you weren’t paying attention. Very much appreciated.

Found the Toyota (factory spec) swan-neck tow bar fitted to the 200 series led to very unstable towing characteristics......the fitment of an aftermarket ‘proper/traditional style’ hitch cured the tail-wagging propensities and made towing much more ‘secure’...probably very similar on the 300series....(my 80 series/all live axle are still the best at towing..)👍

My vehicle says in the owners manual that a load distribution hitch must be used when towing over 1600kg. So that's what I do when towing over 1600kg. But I also stick to billiard table like roads. You can have Dingo Piss Creek all to yourself John!

One of your best, John. There is a difference between understanding, and explaining (in that the latter presupposes a significantly higher level of the former). You made your stances bone-feeling relevant to most, whether they understand N x m, lbs x ft or neither. There will still be some that - how were you saying ? - should ask themselves what's about them that makes them smarter (...) but WON'T (ask, that is). This does not preclude this video from helping avoiding many a disaster in the making. Cheers.

Many years ago I met a couple who had had an....interesting....experience with their WDH. Picked up the car (a Nissan Pathfinder, back when a Pathfinder still had some off-road ability) from the stealership. Went back later, with WDH in the back to have a towbar fitted (I forget why it wasn't fitted pre-delivery). Dealer workshop fits towbar, inserts WDH. All good. Some while later, while towing their ~2000kg van, exiting a perfectly normal servo after filling up, the whole towbar detached from the back of the vehicle! Taking with it the electric brake breakaway cable, so the brakes on the van didn't apply. Fortunately they were only doing about 10km/h at the time, so a major disaster was avoided. Turns out the Hayman Reese towbar had arms on it that attached further forwards on the chassis, to apply the torque from a WDH to the chassis. The genuine Nissan bar was just bolted across the arse end of the vehicle. So with the WDH being used, it just snapped the bolts. I believe Nissan changed their literature after this to say, "Do NOT use a WDH with this towbar!"

Very well delivered John, dang, totally 💯 dig engineering topics! My spin on big caravans are the capex and opex, which we can use to pay for accomodations. Definitely leaning towards touring not towing.

Thanks for the upload John appreciate the information

8:13 yes, it is an engineering concept that it is a bit hard to gras for many people. the best way to put it is: "when changing a car wheel doesnt matter which nut you are thightening the wheel will move in the same direction wether the nut is to the left or to the right of the axle". Hope ths helps to make it easier to explaing in you future "engineering for dummies" videos.

thanks for posting, all good info. after reading the latest prado manual, it is interesting that they recommend weight distribution.

I appreciate the breakdown, my friend.

John, my 2015 Mitsubishi challenger hand book recommends using a load distribution hitch when heavy towing. I’ve never been a believer but recently tried the LDH that came with my 2 tonne aluminium shitta and it actually worked a treat. I’ll only tow it on made roads with it engaged though. The tow bar on the Challenger is bloody massive!

These are shows where us regular Joe's get great life lessons. Thanks Johno. Absolutely priceless

Noticed a Prado with a Jayco pop top around 2100kg van on the back during the school hols last week, no load levels at all, probably would have been level except for the massive toolbox on the drawbar and the the 5 push bikes on a rack attached to the tow bar at the towball. No weight on the front tyres at all, maybe they were going possum spotlighting. All 5 got out for lunch oblivious to the danger. Looked like your example

My dad used one i use one so for 50 years it worked for us. We used to call them anti sway bars and more for stopping the sway of a van in times of needs . But towing a trailer is more take your time there is no rush . If you are in a rush get a motel room . I tend people need to get away from the idea of Weight distribution hitches .

Thanks for the info John.

i have run into load levelling hitches that state that you must disconnect them when traveling over bumps eg speed humps, up ramps and even slopes like driveways into gas stations. what does happen in extreme cases is your rear axle gets lifted up off the ground which is a big problem for rear drive vehicles. imho, just fix the sagging rear end by other means (like using the correct springs or air bags) and leave the trailer connection to do what its meant to do. keep in mind the secondary problem that with the vehicle level, people just tend to pile big loads on the back and often overload the rear end. then wonder why the chassis snaps in half.

I use an Anderson hitch for sway control on a very loose setting and air bags do the load leveling duty.

Useful info, WDH have always been a bit mysterious but this makes a lot of sense

All them torches are awesome.

Hello John. A tutorial on air bags may interest more than a few of us as they seem to be becoming more popular.

Well done, Wilco.

I'm an underground mining engineer and we use the full size Olight X9R Marauder at work and even the sun doesn't compare to that thing on maximum brightness setting.

Great explanation, thanks. I've been wondering how it would work off road, seems it wont. Also, it seems counter-intuitive to be increasing the 'load' on the tow hitch by increasing the force/tension, rather than appropriately set up suspension and weight loading of both the vehicle and van? We are looking for off road use so at least I now understand these load hitches, thanks. Top vid!

The same thing can happen towing a dual axle van that’s fitted with an independent non-load sharing suspension. When van front axle goes down into a dip weight comes off front axle more weight goes onto hitch. When back axle goes into dip and front axle comes up out of dip weight comes off hitch.

Mate has airbags in his 4wd, and though they are great at supporting the rear, they will never fix an improperly loaded vehicle and trailer. Under braking one time his patrol was so rear heavy along with a front heavy caravan, he skidded right through the red lights and almost to the other side, luckily avoiding everyone. The front tires barely had any grip.

I've used one for years.. wouldn't tow a caravan with out it!!.💕🇭🇲

Hello Sir John, you give us the problem but not the solution.

Towed a 4 tonne boat behind 7.3 F250 for some years employing the Hayman Reese WDH with only one issue in all that time. I forgot to disconnect the WDH when trying to reverse the boat up a very steep driveway on a holiday rental, a situation I hadn’t encountered before up to that point in time. It just “didn’t want to go” so I couldn’t figure out why, nothing obvious stopping it, so on about the 3rd go I gave it a boot full of right foot and let the big dog (7.3) eat. It went! Afterwards I worked out that I bent the draw bar just behind the hitch. 😳😳🙄👎 Local welder sorted it all out for me and added additional plating to that part of the draw bar, but the issue was the WDH & not disconnecting it before reversing up steep inclines. Other than that it worked fabulously. Lesson learned tho.

Absolute master class. I get it! And I've been trying for a while. So, WDS with too light of a trailer compared to the vehicle can bend the trailer frame? And the opposite, too heavy a trailer, can bend the vehicle frame? Thank you

When now going in to order a new say wildtrak, everest, grand cherokee, is there any wiggle room or negotiations or do customers now have to take it up the Hershey highway and pay full retail?

Just 2 minor comments. In one of your examples, you mention forces on the van applied when braking because of a kangaroo. You indicate that the van nose would dive. The tow vehicle would dive but wouldn't this raise the towball and hence raise the nose of the trailer creating interesting forces at play? On an unrelated issues, what is it about the sancrasanctness (my word, patent applied for) of the tow ball download being 10%??

$500 for a WDH vs A few grand to fix it right the first time with the correct suspension mods. Correct suspension always gives a better outcome. After lengthy discussions with several engineers on the subject, I'd choose a set of springs for the car over a hitch every time.

I drive trains for a living, alongside the Capricorn Highway…one of the major routes inland for grey nomads and other associated drivers of massive vans slapped behind shiny new four wheel drives. I also spend a fair bit of time driving too and from work depots on that Highway. The number you see sagging in the middle and the tow vehicle pointing its nose in the air…as my late father would have said, “hunting for possums in the tree tops”…is staggering. They wobble along at maybe 80kph, slowing down for the most gentle of bends. However I don’t know what’s worse…them or the ones who fly along the Highway at speed, obviously only barely in control. There should be a strict licensing class for those wishing to tow anything larger than a box trailer sized camper. If you can’t pass it, too bad.

Some many, many years ago, I did advanced-level (as it was then) maths and physics at school. Given my subsequent (cough) "career", I occasionally wonder what good those years of education did me - after all, to what use did I put it? The simple answer is: I can still (just about) remember the fundamental principles of angular momentum, loads (positive and negative) around a point, and can (if I stretch it a bit) follow what you're banging on about. It (my formal education) was worth it and my practical "education" backs it up - something somewhere will go bang if you overload or over-stress (via compression and/ or tension and/ or twisting) components that are not designed to deal with those loads. I'd mention that shearing something essential (not sheep) usually happens halfway between Howmuchalitre Station and Dingo Piss Ck, but that would be stating the bleeding obvious.

I have noticed the weight of newly built caravans has been increasing in recent years, I'm using one of your favourite brands a Subaru Outback 2021 (current model), rated at 2 tonnes towing capacity, to tow a Jayco, discovery outback (single axel) 2008 caravan, Tare 1238. I have a weight distribution problem, it is heavy on the tow ball, I'm going to move the generator, Webber and other items to the rear bar of the caravan from the front storage compartment, using two pre-fabbed metal toolboxes placed on either side of my spare (already mounted on the rear bar) and keep the front storage box built into the van very lightly packed. I will also raise the Hayman Reece Towbar hitch height higher using an adjustable hitch to help raise the front height of the van and even out the towing level of the car and the van ( I know that won't affect the towbar download weight). by doing both these things I think I can even out the van and the load, the suspension on the Outback is a little on the soft side, even when I'm not towing.

John, most manufactures of new advanced stability, anti-sway control with the new front anti-collision do not recommend these type of hitches as they interfere with vehicle. They cause involked swaying and see-sawing under heavy breaking. Surely if you keep below 50% of rear axle weight the vehicle should be able to stay inline with tow vehicle a bar. Wouldn’t need the WDH. I know our sits perfectly level and 2 chassis are inline. Caravan is 230kg towbar down force. I did need to get a hitch with 12mm offset to ensure there level but easy to locate. I don’t use WDH, just set your vehicle up properly for load. One point, if your caravan brakes are correctly set the caravan and car will brake straight but going over ruts braking the WDH will amplify the instability.

Occurs to me that like the hammer which is basically the same as thousands of years ago that hitching is basically the same ever since someone hitched a trailer to another vehicle whether a road vehicle or rail vehicle.

Curious what you think about manufacturers that say WDH are required over X lbs of tongue weight and trailer weight. Of course, you disconnect the WD bars when off road and also slow your speed.

Really like "Jesus" mode on the torch mate, had me and the wife in stitches....

Hey John, good video on basic physics. What are your thoughts on air bags? I've heard many people say they are all you need to level everything out, but they miss the fundamental problem. What they really need to do is get load back onto the front tires for steering and braking. All the air bags do is hide the problem. Thoughts?

My missus torques and she levels things up in the front seat. I still provide the rotational force required to get the job done. Its just pure physics that my compression equalizes her tension when we’re towing a heavy load over rough terrain. Bush Master is just the best in managing a dynamic load whilst driving! Our motion geometry is always out of control but we always play safe and keep the bar within its limits. Nice torch. I prefer a hands free head lamp….dude.

In response to discussion about the relative weight of caravans compared to their tow vehicles, I’ve seen the occasional comment along the lines of “Prime movers of semi trailers and B-doubles tow loads several times heavier than they are. Doesn’t cause them a problem, so what’s the big deal with towing my 3 ton van with my 2 ton ute?” Any thoughts on a beer garden physics thingy, complete with whatever large tool comes to hand, to help explain the issues showing where and how utes towing, and prime-movers towing, are/are not merely different sized versions of the same thing?

Considering the increasing weight of caravans and the seemingly related, ever increasing number of van roll-overs on our roads, isn't it time to introduce some sort of formal mandatory training if you are going to tow a van over a certain weight? My opinion is, yes it is. Someone who has been driving a 'city car' all their lives gets to retirement age and runs off to the local dealer to pick up a nice shiny 4x4 and a three ton caravan to drag behind it. How can someone like that be aware (theoretically and practically) of the things they really do need to know? I think proper training (and yes licensing) is the only practical answer. My thoughts are that training should be mandatory any time the towed trailer exceeds the weight of the towing vehicle.

Jeez John, that was spoken like a true ‘Closet Caravaner’.

Nothing wrong with my 1990s 4xD cell Maglite. Even got a spare bulb in the base!

I'm starting to think to save yourselves some money in Straya it might be easier to relocate Dingo Piss Creek closer to Sydney

John, are heavier rated/progressive load springs for the rear axle of the tow vehicle the solution here?

So the moral of the story is to make sure the weight within the trailer is distributed properly to achieve the 10% weight on the tow ball, and if this weight is big enough to cause the back end of the tow vehicle to squat, then you need to upgrade the springs at the rear of the vehicle. Is that right?

So would fitting airbags to the tow vehicle to level it while towing be a better option?

What would happen, in comparison, if the car hits the washaway without the leveling device? My dad always said Drive to the conditions, so slowing down is often the best option, with or without a trailer

No ear bleeding but a small claret drip from the snozz. But that may have been me snorting at your lovely wife comment. Thanks for the enlightenment. Regards Tony

25 ft jayco outback with Andersen Hitch should i avoid dingo piss creak.opinion of hitch appreciated thanks.

Hi John, why did you make almost the same video you made 3 years ago? Also, would it be possible to design a levelling hitch system with a constant torque regardless of the angle between the trailer and tow vehicle? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of such a system?

Anyone considering using a wdh should check out videos of trailer sway. Once the badly loaded trailer finds itself in control, the tightly coupled towing vehicle will find itself tipped over in front of that toppled wagon. My camper uses a DO35 hitch (like a universal joint that replaces the ball), so if it were to get roudy, it is free to lay down without taking my expensive 4wd with it... Obviously in that worst case the camper can sustain gravel rash while I can stay upright, in control and avoid the road train looming with a wide eyed driver. The wdh won't stop that sway if a wheel decides to depart or an animal like a cow, wombat or camel imparts an unexpected level of elevation to one side of the trailer. A wdh is just a bandaid for a poorly set up rig, Perhaps John you could demonstrate the DO35's advantage over a ball when it comes to a rotating trailer?

Hi John, Why have dog trailers not been embraced by the recreational caravan suppliers? And others? Surely ‘a wheel in each corner’ absolves a tow vehicle of load distribution issues and related tail dragging?

Something I don't see mentioned a lot. If you're towing with a truck, you're limited to what you can tow with a 50mm ball. Like my 11t GVM tow truck, can quite easily tow a 3.5t van, better than a Ford Ranger for sure. But I can't. I'm limited to around 2.5t. To my understanding it's because of the extra forces shaking the piss out of the trailer because the truck is so rigid and rough. Be interesting to see your take on this.

how many caravans have you owned john as towing a car trailer or heavy box type trailers are completely different from caravans and there is a big difference in single and dual axle vans.I would not go anywhere without load levelers on a single axle van

Can’t rate olight enough and I use the swivel in my garage every day cause there is no light switch on the door I use to enter. Haven’t recahrged it yet and still on first charge after 4 months. Not even half battery used.

Went to purchase the 'flash light' to find the item is SOLD OUT... Very tactical

l would have thought that some smarty pants engineer would have designed a system with a limiting device built into it to either disengage the load leveling torque arms or worst case scenario break a shear pin before your tow bar or chassis fail.

Morning John. The way i think is ,shouldn't people get a van that suits the vehicle's weight & towing capacity. Just saying. If people were to learn how to pack both ute-car & there van properly it shouldn't be a problem. Common sense goes a long way mate. Keep up the good work dude👍😜.

“A longer spanner gives you more torque “ said the nun to the vicar

I don’t understand why 5th wheelers aren’t as popular here as they are in Merica. Much more stable and a bigger RV for the same overall length of car/trailer set up. It does restrict you to a ute type vehicle but that’s not such a big imposition I would think.

A very informative video, John. I was towing my 18 foot porta-potty on the weekend & noted a few, very large 5th-wheelers on the road. If they are matched to suitable tow-vehicles, is this more stable option than a 'conventional' caravan towing set-up? What are the potential issues? Thanks. 👍

Systems like this are strictly forbidden in the EU. But we also only are allowed to have maximum 5 % of the trailers gross weight as download force on the tow ball and only very rarely you have this trailer becoming the tail wagging the dog accidents. If it happens it usually hits caravans and car transportation trailers, not horse transportation trailers, work trailers, tray trailers, boat trailers and usually it is due to wrong load/weight distrbution on/in that trailer.

Riddle me this. I am a beginner grey nomad. Bought the 3.2T van and bought the 4x4 ute to tow 3.5T. Picked up the van and was not allowed to leave with it unless I purchased a WDH as the rear of the ute sagged about 30mm. All good as I want to be safe. The problem? The 4x4 ute manufacturer prohibits WDH with their towbar. I did not know. The caravan manufacturer seemed to not know (or were more interested in making another $800 out of me - who knows) I told the 4x4 ute dealer what I was towing before buying the ute. Why did they not inform me of this potential problem and sell me a suspension upgrade? Seems like they could have made another $3000 from me in upgrades. And I would not have a problem. Yes I probably should have researched more but until you hook up to the van how do you know. The ute is sold as being able to tow 3.5T but the rear suspension cannot handle even 3.2T with a 280kg download on the towball. (and yes I know its a bit light). If the ute can tow 3.5T then the suspension should handle 350kg download. My thoughts anyway.

The propeller heads said don’t do it, but Tezza and his missus Shaz reckon it will be fine. “Just send it, till ya bend it”

Thankyou for your videos, always informative. I have a Staria with only 100kg max towball download. At 10% of the trailer it restricts the trailer to1000kg. Why is my staria rated to tow up to 2500kg? Seems to be a tougher question to answer than if God exists.

John, you do not have to use "dingo piss" to drive your point of the risks when driving WDH. Just cite, "Driving on Victoria Highways at 100km/h ~ 110km/h"

Talk the torque.

it must be remembered that pretty much ALL load and towing capacities are for "smooth Improved surfaces".

Not wanting to be to critical but I think you have depicted it poorly. I am bit of an Archimedes type. Torque applied to a plane without a pivot is indeed the same all over however a rear suspension and tow assembly is riddled with pivot points, tow ball, axle center line, even suspension arc of travel on some types. You might be measuring it as torque but it is applied as force and the distance from the pivot matters if you measure the torque at the pivot. The exact location these load leveling bars are used to make a pivot point resist moment.

So, moral of story, load levelling hitches - great when using vehicle and trailer borrowed from the in-laws (because you've bought one of the new sporty cars that can't tow).

While the ol' olight appears to be good gear, its a shame they seem to be hideously expensive... for those pesos I'm looking for gold plating...

air bags help

People ask me why I don’t use WDH and I say those reasons mentioned on the video and no one believes me. 🤦🏻‍♂️ So I just nod and move on. In the end it’s their car, they can do whatever they want with it.

Off-topic, but what's your take on EJ buying Twitter? I'm cautiously optimistic that he might Make Twitter Less Shit.

I am a caravaner of more years than I care to remember. I hate WDH, or load levellers or whatever you want to call them. To pull a caravan, irrespective of its weight, you purchase the tow vehicle that can legally and safely manage the loads and then set up the tow combination to work. You shouldn't need mechanical aids like sway bars, WDH or those hydraulic dampening shocks (I forget what they call them things).

*Waits patiently for Andrew St. Pierre White to comment.*

1st viewer, yessss. Made my day John!

👍

🍺

For a channel that purports to be anti-aluminium-shittoire it sure has lots of videos explaining how to tow one :D

My experience with LDD is that they work really well, but are not designed for heavy off road gullies and or sand work. Obviously you do not need them attached for the rough and slow but I also will tell you that should you hit a dip in our road (cos there are plenty) at speed, your vehicle will control the amount of careening in different directions coming out of that dip if you have a LDD fitted.. Yes new braking systems will control the van but your vehicle will do a seesaw in directions you may not want it to go. Last point. Do not use (cos you dont have to) LDD's for rough off road travels. You 'WILL' tear that tow bar off the back of your vehicle. Just ask the Gal Boys. Be safe dont be sorry for 99% of the time you want one of these LDD's

In this video explanation, you made yourself obvious that you are really engineer. Glad to you did not use the pure "engineering/physics" terminology of torque (a.k.a moment) on your lecture. Common error you will see on youtube when non-engineers make this explanation is, the upward force reaction on the ball is "increased" relative to lever, i.e. distance of the tow ball to the rear axle.

i think you meant 90lbs instead of 40kg

Obviously if you wish to give away the Javelot, I'll not complain. Would have been a handy torch for our recent water rescue activities. Dickheads just keep driving into water.

First viewer from Holland...yesss

FEELING TRIGGERED JOHN 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂 You still a fan of Elon 🤣🤣

And yet, many manufcturers will happily sell you a load leveling hitch as an overpriced accessory...

Dunning-Kruger knows no bounds lol. Especially when it comes to bogans and their shitbox 4x4s.

You left quite a lot out of this... Point the first, it absolutely amazes me that you can go get a car license and the next week throw a 3.5t van behind the car and be off on your merry way having never towed anything in your life or been taught anything about it. How that doesn't scream impending disaster to our police and politicians I'll never know. So, weight distribution hitches. Personally, not a fan, never have been. They're basically just a way to hide the fact you've loaded the trailer to be too nose heavy or not addressed the vehicle suspension to carry that load properly. And that in itself is a double edged sword. All well and good to change the springs to account for the van load, but what about the other 90% of the time you don't have it attached. It's not just the CoG that matters either, it's the distribution of the load across the trailer chassis. You go placing all that load front and rear of the trailer you can get a decent CoG but your pitch and yaw inertia will be through the roof, causing all those same issues on minor undulations not just the spoon drain type scenario. You've also now gone and placed a big undamped spring between two large masses. What are your chances of hitting a harmonic there... Throw some simple harmonic motion on top of poor weight distribution and excessive towball download, that'll never end badly. Basically, if the trailer is so heavy that it can't be safely towed without a weight distribution hitch, it can't be safely towed with one. Go buy a smaller van or a bigger tow rig.

Nice gay t-shirt John 👕!!!! From Ukraine 🇺🇦?

Such a stupid fix for an off-road vehicle. On the bitumen only, great, go for your life. Set your 4wd up properly and tow a smaller van if you're going to go off-road.