I don't much like the Primus but that is just my Opinion. The idea behind weight distribution hitches is they remove tongue weight. They do this by using spring bars to torque the hitch against the frame the result is it pushes weight to the front of the truck and to the trailer axles. Adjusted correctly you should see nearly no drop in your truck bed. I usually set for about 3/4 to 1 in of total drop from a empty truck so your truck rides normal and your trailer sets level.

 

Maybe just a difference in terminology, but a WD does not 'reduce' the tongue weight.. If it's #450 as weighed on the tongue jack, that's your TW... What the WD does is reduce the amount of weight it's putting on the rear axle.

When you set the tongue on the hitch (before applying the WD bars) you actually remove weight from the trucks front axle and it's all on the rear axle.

After applying the WD bars, ideally, you distribute the lost weight back to the front axle, reducing that amount off of the rear axle. Yes, some weight gets transfered back to the trailer axles, but it's not necessarly done in equal amounts either..

The amounts transfered depend on WB of the truck and how far back the trailer axles are, etc.. Simple math for a mechanical engineer...

Or, think of it like a wheel barrow.. You put in a 80 lb bag of cement in it (TW). Now, as you lift up on the handles (the WD bars), you take weight off of the rear skids (rear axle) and put more weight on the front wheel (front axle) and your legs (trailer axles). Nothing has reduced the 80 lb bag of cement... It's just distrubuted better..

I've got over #650 TW with a #5000 GVWR 22' trailer, so I suspect you'll have more than the #450 you say your trailer has, but all you can do is hitch it up, set your WD bars and take it to the scales and find out for sure...

Here is mine without WD bars set.



Here it is with the WD bars set. It raises the back end back up by about 2" or so...



Good luck and have fun with your new rig! Oh, I use a Prodigy brake controller and have been using it for about 10 years now and it's great!

Mitch

 

Mitch is correct the tongue weight does not go away the adverse effect of the tongue weight are redistributed. I never meant to imply the weight would go away was over simplifying to describe the effect. What I don't like about the smart brake controllers is they are not nearly as fine tunable as some of the high end manuals. I like the Voyager and the Envoy because I can set them exactly as I want them based on driving conditions and load. The smart controllers use brake circuit resistance to guess at which brakes you have and offer you a few choices to pick from. Then as you drive they fine tune to your driving and trailer brakes. This is fine for many but I have yet to have a customer not love my setting on the Voyager.

 

Thanks guys, great info. My truck has the factory tow package - do I need to consider upgrading my tranny cooler or is the stock one ok?

 

Stock should be okay, but I'd consider doing a fluid exchange and use Amsoil. It will run a tad cooler and it can handle higher temps before breaking down.

 

Will do glc. I've heard that a fluid flush isn't necessarily a good thing but a fluid exchange is the way to go... Do you agree? Filter change too?

 

Filter is optional and adds more steps to the exchange process. The 03 unfortunately doesn't have a drain plug in the torque converter or you could simply drain it and do a pan drop to get all but about 1 quart of fluid out. Exchange is usually done with a machine connected to the cooler lines.