500 Miles on my Cyber Truck. 400 of them towing a car. Do I need a weight distribution hitch?

[Propernice]

Most of the miles on my CT have been with an enclosed car trailer with car inside.
My last truck was a Chevy 2500 Dually. I have to say, the CT tows great.

I want to dial in my setup and searched the interwebs but only finding contradicting information. Do I need a weight distribution hitch or not? I dont feel ant sense of the front end feeling light. Nor do I feel any sway. Im towing about 7500 lbs. Some say I need one. While some say the unibody construction wont allow a weight distir

I just want to make sure all the bases are covered incase of a towing mishap and some investigator tells me I should have been using a particular type of hitch.

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[Gigahorse]

What has your wh/mile lifetime been?

 

[Woodrick]

What's the tongue weight?
Is the trailer load semi-fixed or does it change? i.e. does the tongue weight change?
How long is the trailer?

Where are you hauling? City streets? Interstates?
There's nothing like a semi passing you on the Interstate to understand just how much sway you really have.

Your BEST bet is to get the Cybertruck on a set of scales and see what the basic front and real axle weights are. Then attach the trailer and weigh it again. The goal is to keep the ration of front/back weights on the Cybertruck the same with and without the trailer.

I'm not sure where unibody has anything to do with it.

The whole goal of load balancing is to keep the traction well balanced across the rig. When you add a trailer, it throws the balance on the towing vehicle off, probably decreasing front axle weight. And with a lower front axle weight, the vehicle doesn't have the same stability and turning power. And when you are towing, you need even more of it.

Just get the vehicle on the scales with and without the trailer and look at the numbers.

 

[countryboy]

General guideline: when trailer is 1.5x weight of truck, you need WD hitch.

 

[Propernice]

What's the tongue weight?
Is the trailer load semi-fixed or does it change? i.e. does the tongue weight change?
How long is the trailer?

Where are you hauling? City streets? Interstates?
There's nothing like a semi passing you on the Interstate to understand just how much sway you really have.

Your BEST bet is to get the Cybertruck on a set of scales and see what the basic front and real axle weights are. Then attach the trailer and weigh it again. The goal is to keep the ration of front/back weights on the Cybertruck the same with and without the trailer.

I'm not sure where unibody has anything to do with it.

The whole goal of load balancing is to keep the traction well balanced across the rig. When you add a trailer, it throws the balance on the towing vehicle off, probably decreasing front axle weight. And with a lower front axle weight, the vehicle doesn't have the same stability and turning power. And when you are towing, you need even more of it.

Just get the vehicle on the scales with and without the trailer and look at the numbers.

I tow often and trailer is balanced.
7k-10k load. Trailer is a 20ft and 24ft enclosed car trailer driven everywhere.

Tongue weight is correct and within range along with trailer balance. My question was if I needed a weight distribution hitch.
It wasnt a requirement on my 3500 (realize i put 2500 on my OP). However on 1/2 ton trucks. Its recommended a weight distribution hitch is used when the trailer weighs more than half of the towing vehicle.
Is the CT considered a 1/2 ton truck?

I mentioned the Unibody thing with regards to a weight distribution hitch because it was discussed in other forums with no clear answer.

 

[SSonnentag]

My question was if I needed a weight distribution hitch.

Get the axle weights measured as Woodrick suggested and you'll know the answer. Without the numbers you can't know whether the WD hitch is prudent.

 

[Propernice]

General guideline: when trailer is 1.5x weight of truck, you need WD hitch.

Im reading that its 0.5x the weight of the truck. Example truck is 6000lbs. Would need a weight distribution hitch when trailer is 3000lbs and above.

I just saw a video
Of Tesla hauling a car trailer using a weight distribution hitch. Ill just go ahead and purchase one.

 

[Woodrick]

I tow often and trailer is balanced.
7k-10k load. Trailer is a 20ft and 24ft enclosed car trailer driven everywhere.

Tongue weight is correct and within range along with trailer balance. My question was if I needed a weight distribution hitch.
It wasnt a requirement on my 3500 (realize i put 2500 on my OP). However on 1/2 ton trucks. Its recommended a weight distribution hitch is used when the trailer weighs more than half of the towing vehicle.
Is the CT considered a 1/2 ton truck?

I mentioned the Unibody thing with regards to a weight distribution hitch because it was discussed in other forums with no clear answer.

I'm trying to help. To do so, it's useful to have some actual numbers. "Tongue weight is correct" is far from helpful.

How do you know it was "correct" on your 3500? or 2500? Just because it does it doesn't mean anything.

You say that you load the trailer correctly. Have you measured the loads?

Just get it on some scales and measure things. If you haven't done it before, it may be surprising and is essentially the only way to get things right.

The Difference Between Using Weight Distribution and Air Bags to Level Your Load (youtube.com)

How To Set up A Weight Distribution Hitch - CURT (youtube.com)

With adjustable / load leveling suspensions, it's imperative to measure the axle weights.

 

[flyinglow]

The CT and the other EV trucks seem to tow fine without a weight distributing hitch (with regards to sway). However, one of the things a weight distributing hitch is transfer load off of the truck's rear axle onto the trailer axles. This can be valuable if the payload capacity of the truck is marginal. However, with the CT's payload capacity of 2500 lbs,, it shouldn't be an issue unless you are also carrying a significant load in the truck bed and cab/frunk. In that case, you should probably weigh the truck on scales to be sure you haven't exceeded its payload capacity.

Having said that, some of the other trucks have much lower payload capacities. With a full passenger load they can be limited in trailer load capacity simply because their payloads would be exceeded. In those cases, the weight distributing hitch would be beneficial.

A weight distributing hitch is much more of a hassle to connect and disconnect a trailer. If you can get away without a weight distributing hitch you, it can make life a lot easier charging on the road as most charging stations don't have pull-through charging bays. Because the CT's charge port is at the rear (you goofed there Tesla engineers), you would have to disconnect the trailer to charge without blocking a whole bunch of chargers.

 

[Propernice]

Get the axle weights measured as Woodrick suggested and you'll know the answer. Without the numbers you can't know whether the WD hitch is prudent.

Ok so. Unless your tongue weight on the hitch is less than what the scale can measure. Its obvious weight will be transferred to the rear when you hook a trailer up. What number do you want to see on the scales exactly?

The CT and the other EV trucks seem to tow fine without a weight distributing hitch (with regards to sway). However, one of the things a weight distributing hitch is transfer load off of the truck's rear axle onto the trailer axles. This can be valuable if the payload capacity of the truck is marginal. However, with the CT's payload capacity of 2500 lbs,, it shouldn't be an issue unless you are also carrying a significant load in the truck bed and cab/frunk. In that case, you should probably weigh the truck on scales to be sure you haven't exceeded its payload capacity.

Having said that, some of the other trucks have much lower payload capacities. With a full passenger load they can be limited in trailer load capacity simply because their payloads would be exceeded. In those cases, the weight distributing hitch would be beneficial.

A weight distributing hitch is much more of a hassle to connect and disconnect a trailer. If you can get away without a weight distributing hitch you, it can make life a lot easier charging on the road as most charging stations don't have pull-through charging bays. Because the CT's charge port is at the rear (you goofed there Tesla engineers), you would have to disconnect the trailer to charge without blocking a whole bunch of chargers.

Ive towed up and down hills, highways and all with the Cybertruck. It feels fine, tows great without the weight distribution hitch. Guess my main concern is if the highway patrol would have issue with me not using one. Should something happen on the road my fault or not.

 

[Propernice]

Id rather not have to hook up a weight distribution hitch. Towing so far has been great. Just not sure if highway patrol would have an issue with not using one on a technically only a half ton truck

 

[Propernice]

I'm trying to help. To do so, it's useful to have some actual numbers. "Tongue weight is correct" is far from helpful.

How do you know it was "correct" on your 3500? or 2500? Just because it does it doesn't mean anything.

You say that you load the trailer correctly. Have you measured the loads?

Just get it on some scales and measure things. If you haven't done it before, it may be surprising and is essentially the only way to get things right.

The Difference Between Using Weight Distribution and Air Bags to Level Your Load (youtube.com)

How To Set up A Weight Distribution Hitch - CURT (youtube.com)

With adjustable / load leveling suspensions, it's imperative to measure the axle weights.

I appreciate it. I’ll eventually get on the scales and report back what i find

 

[HaulingAss]

I appreciate it. I’ll eventually get on the scales and report back what i find

Sounds good. And before you hit the scales, make sure you have your truck and trailer loaded in the same configuration as you will be making actual trips in. Go ahead and load all the stuff you bring, when you are travelling with the most stuff. If you bring any heavy items, make use of that frunk, that will improve your numbers and your towing dynamics.

 

[scottf200]

I dont feel ant sense of the front end feeling light.
Nor do I feel any sway. Im towing about 7500 lbs. Some say I need one. While some say the unibody construction wont allow a weight distir

Weighing a Cybertruck front and rear with both types of hitches is the TRUE "weigh" to understand this problem just like they did in the video. It would be an interesting YouTube video (TFL, etc, would be good candidates for this).

I forget who posted this excellent video but I think many people towing with the CT (Rivian, etc) think that if it is level then it is good enough. That really does NOT put the weight back on the front wheels though.

The Difference Between Using Weight Distribution and Air Bags to Level Your Load

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