RV Hitch Physics Tip
When using a weight distribution hitch with metal bars, a tool comes with it to help lift the bars on or off like a pry bar. If you’re like me, and wanted to do everything by the book as a new RV owner, you heaved on that bar for the first couple trips. Then I remembered physics and never used it again.
Hitching:
First, follow all the normal steps
Raise your tongue, using the jack, to an appropriate height
Back your tow vehicle up
Lower the tongue until the ball seats
Latch and put in the locking pin
Insert each of the 2 metal bars in to the swivel mounts on either side of the weight distribution hitch and insert both locking pins
Instead of using that good ol’ pry bar tool to lift the bars on to the L-brackets mounted to the tongue, do this physics trick:
(With the hitch ball locking pin IN) raise the tongue (the ball should not come out)
Keep raising and raising (usually a few inches) until the metal bars can be lifted into place using hand pressure
Insert bracket clips and locking pins to keep bars on L brackets
Lower tongue until the jack retracts all the way to towing position (the metal bars will now be very tight and loaded with a portion of the tongue weight
This is basically using the tongue jack to change the loading on the beam to take away beam bend and shift the relative angle of the beam mounts by raising the truck hitch ball height. This eliminates the need for a human-powered pry bar. Pretty cool, right?
here are the bars loaded:
Notice the bend showing the loaded metal in a classic beam bend shape.
Unloaded with this physics trick:
Notice the straight unloaded metal.
Now the bars can be easily engaged or disengaged from the L bracket with hand pressure instead of having to use the pry tool.
Note: during this physics trick while the tongue back is pushing the ball up and unloading the bars, the hitch will be up in the hitch mount of the tow vehicle:
This is different than the more classic appearance of the hitch down in the hitch mount:
Happy camping!!
