WDH for a 17T

[TDIer]

I just bought a 1708T Towlite. I'm having a limited selection on WDH.

Most of them require a minimum distance of 27" from the hitch ball to mount the hanger. My 17T has about 25.5" in front of the battery/pump box.

Shopping around seems like Reese WD with SC is the only one the fits.

I'm just wondering if you know of anything else that will fit my 17T. Or if you have a 17T, I'd like to hear what you're using.

Thanks!

 

[JackandJanet]

You can actually move the mounts back, but you have to trim the front ends of the front foldup door to the battery box so that the mounts will not interfere. This is what the people at the trailer place where I bought mine did to mount my Equil-I-Zer hitch. It sounds "brutal", but it's not.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of mine tomorrow to show you what it looks like. The plastic edging then can be pushed over the cut part so that it looks "factory".

- Jack

 

[RichR]

I had a Reese with dual cam sway on our 1705T and it worked fine. Like Jack said, you may have to trim the corners on the battery cover. You don't have to but it looks better if you do.

 

[miniceptor86-HILO]

Hi,

I bought a Reese wdh with sc from eTrailer similar to model 66088 . It was from their Straight Line series. Gone are the extra rods and cams and additional A frame bracketry. the new model has the lift chains attached to the angled ends of the wd bars. I had to trim the battery/pump box to fit on my 2404T also.

I see they have a mini wd that might be great for your 17'.

eTrailer is a good online source, great communication and no long waits to speak with an easily understood tech rep.


Jim

 

[JackandJanet]

OK, here's the pictures of the trimmed battery box cover. It's folded back in the first one so you can see how the mount fits beside the box. It's a simple modification.

- Jack

 

[RichR]

OK, here's the pictures of the trimmed battery box cover. It's folded back in the first one so you can see how the mount fits beside the box. It's a simple modification.

- Jack

That's how I did it, also. Gee, I wander who I copied that idea from.

 

[TDIer]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

You pictures are particularly helpful, Jack!

This forum is great!

 

[davidc-HILO]

Is a WDH really necessary for a 17ft trailer?... Unless you're towing it with a smaller vehicle - Ranger, Tacoma....

Just curious.

 

[RichR]

It all depends on your setup. We had a 1705T with dual batteries, dual 30# LP tanks, and with a full 30 gallon fresh water tank. It would squat the rear of the '07 Tacoma Crewcab 4x4 with tow package about 3". With the Reese Dual Cam hitch the truck settled about a half inch front and back. My main concern was keeping the weight transferred to the front wheels for proper steering.

Something I learned after it was too late, Toyota had a TSB for the Tacomas that added , for free, an additional leaf to the rear springs. It had to be done before the truck reached a certain mileage. It was discussed on a Tacoma forum. Naturally, they did not publish the fact that they had the TSB for that or they would have been swamped with requests. With that extra leaf installed I'm sure the rear squat would have been less.

 

[davidc-HILO]

Yeah RichR, that was part of my question - depending on what you were towing it with... But as others have also said - it's too late when something happens to say "it wouldn't have happened if I had a WDH..."

And lets be honest... how many of us load up and head to the scales to see if we are overweight or not....

 

[C317414]

I have the same situation on my new (to me) 2408T. The snap-up brackets that are installed are too far forward. I am going to cut the lift pump lid as well as the lip of the pump/battery box so I can slide the brackets further back.

Incidentally, make sure that you lower the trailer and check the clearance to the brackets before cutting anything.

Raul