New to towing - does an LX570 need a WD hitch (2 Viewers)

[LCtoLX]

I’m picking up a Lance 2185 and will be towing it back home (400 miles) with a 2018 LX570. I’ve been learning a lot about what’s needed and already have a Tekonsha P3 brake controller on its way to me. And I’ve never towed a TT (or anything else other than a small car - flat tow).

Today, the seller recommended that I get a weight distribution hitch. And from my research I see that there are some that aid in sway control. And that with some models, you need to disconnect the arms before backing up while turning. Decisions, decisions.

Part of me says just get a standard hitch (correct size/dimensions/capacity) now and get a WD hitch later. After towing my new, used 2185 home, it may be another 4 or 6 months before we will be using it.

 

[stonekutters]

tl;dr you absolutely should get a WD hitch given the tongue weight and GVWR.

Good thread to read:

Towing with a 200-series Toyota Land Cruiser

Anyone towing in the Rockies? UT, WY, ID, and what not? I am considering moving out of my GX460 and into an LC200 or LX570 for towing. My GX does ok handling wise with my 5500 lb trailer. I've done everything from curvy mountain passes at 10,000' to 70mph on I-80 with crosswinds and that is all...

forum.ih8mud.com

If you are able, the Redarc is preferred by many over the Tekonsha. I’ve installed the Redarc.

Hitch dry tongue weight for the Lance 2185 is 755lbs. The max tongue weight without a WD hitch is 700lbs. The GVWR is 7000lbs. Many tow above that weight but have a lot of experience and WD will a) help keep your tongue weight below the max threshold and b) depending on the one you get will help with sway as well.

 

[TeCKis300]

A definite yes. For that size trailer, it's required. No matter how stable it may feel without, it would not be safe to operate without one at freeway speeds, as that's just inviting a sway event in a unexpected situation.

AHC does fine to level the load, but WD hitch is less about leveling and more about distributing weight evenly between the axles. Particular to return weight back to the front axle for control and stability.

There's many hitches on the market that don't require disconnecting the arms to backup.

Lots of good ones - Reese Pro, Blue Ox, Equalizer, Husky. One that recently caught my eye is the Camco Recurve that @blaise is using.

 

[Sandroad]

If you are not yet familiar with etrailer.com, you may want to spend some time on the site. They have a great deal of useful information on the products they sell, including videos of how things work and install. The P3 you ordered works really well. It's just an extra effort to find a place to install it so you can get at it. I have mine just to the right of the steering column. Here is the WDH site on etrailer.

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Weight_Distribution_Hitch.aspx

 

[LCtoLX]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I’m definitely going to get a WD hitch now.

I’m leaning towards the Camco Recurve because if TeCKis300 speaks, I listen There may be a delivery issue but I will check around tomorrow.

Or maybe this…… https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Blue-Ox/BXW0750.html

Decisions, decisions. But now it’s deciding _which_ WD hitch to get now, not whether or not one is needed.

Thanks everyone.

 

[dubyahard]

I tow literally the same trailer - Lance 2185. I use this: https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Equal-i-zer/EQ37140ET.html

Helps a ton. Towed over 5k miles in less than a year all over Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon with lots of wind and elevation change (and more fuel than I care to admit). None of that tail wagging the dog for this setup.

 

[Epreneur]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I’m definitely going to get a WD hitch now.

I’m leaning towards the Camco Recurve because if TeCKis300 speaks, I listen There may be a delivery issue but I will check around tomorrow.

Or maybe this…… https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Blue-Ox/BXW0750.html

Decisions, decisions. But now it’s deciding _which_ WD hitch to get now, not whether or not one is needed.

Thanks everyone.

Let me know how this work out for you. I have a 2013 LX 570 and tow a travel trailer of about 5000 lbs. I have this wd hitch ReCurve R3 Weight Distribution Hitch Kit - 1000lb, 2 5/16 - https://www.eaz-lift.com/products/recurve-r3-weight-distribution-hitch-1000lb-kit
I've had some issues with sway so I am thinking I need to adjust the sway control on the hitch. Towing my travel trailer doesn't feel very good and as such I am shying away from longer trips. Have only gone about 3 to 4 hours one way so far.

 

[TeCKis300]

Let me know how this work out for you. I have a 2013 LX 570 and tow a travel trailer of about 5000 lbs. I have this wd hitch ReCurve R3 Weight Distribution Hitch Kit - 1000lb, 2 5/16 - https://www.eaz-lift.com/products/recurve-r3-weight-distribution-hitch-1000lb-kit
I've had some issues with sway so I am thinking I need to adjust the sway control on the hitch. Towing my travel trailer doesn't feel very good and as such I am shying away from longer trips. Have only gone about 3 to 4 hours one way so far.

Would you have a picture of the hitch from the side view? Maybe a closer in shot and then overall?

There's a few things you can do that would make the biggest impact

1) Increase WD hitch tension. It's hard to judge how much tension you need as traditional measuring of wheel well heights doesn't work with AHC. It'll be more tension than you think.

2) Make sure you have enough tongue weight. Many new to trailering avoid tongue weight, and further exacerbate the issue by trying to load extra weight at the far rear of the trailer to counter tongue weight. Load heavy thing over the trailer axles. Avoid heavy things past the axles.

3) Keep the ball as close and tight to the rear bumper as possible. Every inch projected beyond the bumper, decreases effective wheelbase by 2". For our shorter wheelbase, this can't be stressed enough

4) Increase rear tire pressures on the LX by ~5 PSI.

 

[Epreneur]

Thanks for the insight. Much appreciated.

1- I will learn about adjusting the WD hitch tension.
This is the hitch I use.
2- This is counterintuitive for me as I’ve been trying to avoid putting more weight on my LX570 thinking it will be easier. I now see I need to rethink this for the reason you noted. I am concerned about payload. More on this in a bit.
3- I will see if I can adjust the hitch in any way to reduce the distance. Not sure.
4- will do. Easy thing to do that helps.

Overall, the Lx fees plenty powerful although very thirsty. It’s the floating in the suspension that gets to me and I believe it may be my tongue weight pushing us to payload issues.
See my pics for why I think this to be the case.

I am way under rated tow limits as my trailer loaded with basics is just under 5,000 lbs (matches manufacturer specs). I don’t believe I was setup properly at the weigh station as I believe I should have had my front and rear axles on different scales as opposed to on the first scale. I am under the GCWR and under on tow capacity but at/over GVWR with the tongue weight on the truck. I am thinking I should redo the weigh with the truck properly across two scales with the trailer on one. At the time of the weigh I had my family of 4 and a few basics on the LX but in no way were we loaded up for a trip. I did have a full tank of gas.

Thoughts/input appreciated. I hope this helps the OP as well. Ultimately the LX has a respectable payload of 1285 lbs considering some pickups have similar payloads with lower GVWR ratings.... All this to say that if I can figure out how to get the "feel" of towing my RV optimized and within spec, we should enjoy our RV experiences and have more of them. Just need to make sure I'm chasing an impossible payload #.

 

[tirewater]

Congratulations on your purchase. We've been eyeing Lance trailers for a while now.

As suggested many times, get a WD hitch.

Don't forget to add the weight of the WD hitch to any calculations. It's not insignificant, likely close to 100# itself.

 

[TeCKis300]

Thanks for the insight. Much appreciated.

1- I will learn about adjusting the WD hitch tension.
This is the hitch I use.
2- This is counterintuitive for me as I’ve been trying to avoid putting more weight on my LX570 thinking it will be easier. I now see I need to rethink this for the reason you noted. I am concerned about payload. More on this in a bit.
3- I will see if I can adjust the hitch in any way to reduce the distance. Not sure.
4- will do. Easy thing to do that helps.

Overall, the Lx fees plenty powerful although very thirsty. It’s the floating in the suspension that gets to me and I believe it may be my tongue weight pushing us to payload issues.
See my pics for why I think this to be the case.

I am way under rated tow limits as my trailer loaded with basics is just under 5,000 lbs (matches manufacturer specs). I don’t believe I was setup properly at the weigh station as I believe I should have had my front and rear axles on different scales as opposed to on the first scale. I am under the GCWR and under on tow capacity but at/over GVWR with the tongue weight on the truck. I am thinking I should redo the weigh with the truck properly across two scales with the trailer on one. At the time of the weigh I had my family of 4 and a few basics on the LX but in no way were we loaded up for a trip. I did have a full tank of gas.

Thoughts/input appreciated. I hope this helps the OP as well. Ultimately the LX has a respectable payload of 1285 lbs considering some pickups have similar payloads with lower GVWR ratings.... All this to say that if I can figure out how to get the "feel" of towing my RV optimized and within spec, we should enjoy our RV experiences and have more of them. Just need to make sure I'm chasing an impossible payload #.

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Great info and good to see you get on scales! That's the only real way to know you've dialed in things objectively.

That said, there's enough clues to suggest where you can improve things. I'm not condoning or recommending anyone go beyond specs, but so you have confidence in the LX, I'm at 14,920 GCWR, ~1200lbs tongue, 1900lbs payload, and the LX handles impressively well. AHC is well capable beyond its stated capacity maintaining a buttery ride with confident stability.

What you're experiencing with floaty suspension is not that the suspension is soft, but what is known as porpoising. The tow vehicle is rocking back and forth, or teeter tottering, on the rear axle. This can be addressed with 1 & 3 above. Basically you need more WD tension to push more weight onto the front axle. This gives the front axle more leverage and influence, better resists the tongue from lifting front axle, and allows the suspension better control over payload. If you can shorten the drop shank to bring the ball closer, this also has great impacts to porpoising, but also greatly improves sway reistance.. May need custom work from a machine shop.

 

[Eighteen11R]

Great info and good to see you get on scales! That's the only real way to know you've dialed in things objectively.

That said, there's enough clues to suggest where you can improve things. I'm not condoning or recommending anyone go beyond specs, but so you have confidence in the LX, I'm at 14,920 GCWR, ~1200lbs tongue, 1900lbs payload, and the LX handles impressively well. AHC is well capable beyond its stated capacity maintaining a buttery ride with confident stability.

What you're experiencing with floaty suspension is not that the suspension is soft, but what is known as porpoising. The tow vehicle is rocking back and forth, or teeter tottering, on the rear axle. This can be addressed with 1 & 3 above. Basically you need more WD tension to push more weight onto the front axle. This gives the front axle more leverage and influence, better resists the tongue from lifting front axle, and allows the suspension better control over payload. If you can shorten the drop shank to bring the ball closer, this also has great impacts to porpoising, but also greatly improves sway reistance.. May need custom work from a machine shop.

Great information from an experienced trailer tower for sure.

Something that helped many of us over time was the use of our trailer jack to raise the center height/arc of the unit to make the lower chain link selection and reduce the leverage required to lift the load leveling bars into position. Utilizing the trailer jack prior to disconnection will mitigate any jerk when lowering the load leveling bars as well.

 

[Epreneur]

Great information from an experienced trailer tower for sure.

Something that helped many of us over time was the use of our trailer jack to raise the center height/arc of the unit to make the lower chain link selection and reduce the leverage required to lift the load leveling bars into position. Utilizing the trailer jack prior to disconnection will mitigate any jerk when lowering the load leveling bars as well.

Thank you.

My WD hitch using tension bars and they slide into a bracket on each side of the trailer tongue. There are two points to close them in, one closer to the frame of the hitch then the other. I tend to use the one closest to the frame (parallel). I am going to try to adjust the anti sway tension with the adjuster allen bolt. Not sure how to put more tension on those bars other than experimenting with the two positions I described. See the snapshot of the hitch attached.

EDIT: Just learned that in order to add tension to the anti sway bars I will have to adjust the angle of the ball hitch with the thumbscrew referenced in the diagram as #10.

Thanks again.

 

[TeCKis300]

Thank you.

My WD hitch using tension bars and they slide into a bracket on each side of the trailer tongue. There are two points to close them in, one closer to the frame of the hitch then the other. I tend to use the one closest to the frame (parallel). I am going to try to adjust the anti sway tension with the adjuster allen bolt. Not sure how to put more tension on those bars other than experimenting with the two positions I described. See the snapshot of the hitch attached.

EDIT: Just learned that in order to add tension to the anti sway bars I will have to adjust the angle of the ball hitch with the thumbscrew referenced in the diagram as #10.

Thanks again.

View attachment 2774165

Ayup! You got it that you'll need more down angle on the head (Fig 1 & 3). That's what ultimately transfers weight or front axle load restoration (FALR). If you've maxed out the head angle and still don't have enough tension, you may need to raise the hook-up brackets on the sides of the tongue.

 

[Eighteen11R]

Ayup! You got it that you'll need more down angle on the head (Fig 1 & 3). That's what ultimately transfers weight or front axle load restoration (FALR). If you've maxed out the head angle and still don't have enough tension, you may need to raise the hook-up brackets on the sides of the tongue.

View attachment 2774197

Excellent illustration there @TeCKis300. First I've seen...

 

[Dan Higgins]

FYI. There is a long thread (45+ pages) on Towing With A 200 Series. Lots of good info there but admittedly overwhelming!

One thing you might want to check out is a YouTube video that was recently posted here addressing trailer loading a sway. It uses a simulation to show the impact of loading a trailer with too much or too little weight on the front or rear of the trailer. The general rule of thumb is for your tongue weight to be 10-15% of your loaded trailer weight. What the video shows is that having weight centered over your axle is a good thing. (The physics are simple. The further weight is from the axle the longer and faster that weight travels when the trailer pivots on the axle. Then inertia can take over. Fortunately, the slide and the kitchen weight on your 2185 are over the axle.). You may also want to ping @linuxgod as he has also been towing a 3285 for years.

 

[Dan Higgins]

One more thing. I had a Tekonsha P3 for a couple years. Moved to the Redarc mentioned earlier. Much prefer the Redarc for the reasons mentioned above. I was always hitting the P3 with my knee. No such issue with the Redarc. Though you may need to do a quick install of a P3 to get the trailer home.

 

[Eighteen11R]

FYSA... Check out the Wireless Controller from CURT...

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Curt/C51180.html?feed=npn&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20%7C%20Shop%20-%20Trailer%20Brake%20Controller&adgroupid=94421328428&campaignid=203262737&creative=404001548525&device=c&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9008238&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpreJBhDvARIsAF1_BU240o4shlKqE89LWO-mZEMc-CYhKbawCmf5c8wosGnO3TjUShvgodgaAkl3EALw_wcB

Plug and Play with Bluetooth simplicity. I have several trailers with varying weights associated that once you set the sensitivity, place each in memory, all you have to do is hook up and select your trailer from memory and drive. eTrailer.com is the too.

 

[Epreneur]

FYSA... Check out the Wireless Controller from CURT...

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Curt/C51180.html?feed=npn&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20%7C%20Shop%20-%20Trailer%20Brake%20Controller&adgroupid=94421328428&campaignid=203262737&creative=404001548525&device=c&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9008238&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpreJBhDvARIsAF1_BU240o4shlKqE89LWO-mZEMc-CYhKbawCmf5c8wosGnO3TjUShvgodgaAkl3EALw_wcB

Plug and Play with Bluetooth simplicity. I have several trailers with varying weights associated that once you set the sensitivity, place each in memory, all you have to do is hook up and select your trailer from memory and drive. eTrailer.com is the too.

I have this one. Didn’t want to install anything under my dash and preferred the flexibility of using it in any tow vehicle. Works well.

 

[Epreneur]

Excellent illustration there @TeCKis300. First I've seen...

UPDATE: Took my shank to a machine shop and they drilled another hole through at about 2" closer to the ball than the original one. Had them reposition the ball to a downward slope of 10 degrees. Retightened the anti sway hex and the thumbscrew to lock in the new position. This has transformed the towing.
- No poirposing
- Very little sway
- Feels great on the road
I use the ECT power setting with AHC set to on and suspension in Sport mode. Keeps the rpms in a sweet spot. Only issue I see is the smallish fuel tank and the cost of 93 right now at roughly 8mpg while towing....

Including a new weight report after hitch reposition and trailer full of fresh water and gear.

Hope all of this info is helpful to the OP. Sorry to have hijacked the thread. Thanks to everyone!