Recommended Weight Distribution Hitches
- Just CAMP Wait
- Mar 9
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 26
Weight distribution hitches are crucial for safe travel trailer towing, enhancing stability and control. They distribute the trailer's tongue weight evenly across the tow vehicle's axles, maintaining balance and handling, and preventing front-end lift that reduces steering and braking effectiveness. This distribution prevents overloading the rear axle, reducing tire wear and failure risk. Additionally, these hitches minimize dangerous trailer sway caused by wind, passing vehicles, or uneven roads, using spring bars and sway control mechanisms for a stable towing experience. In my experience, some seem to handle these tasks better than others.
Over the years, and many different types of trailers, I've gone through a number of different weight distribution hitches. Each seemed to have different strengths and weaknesses. I've narrowed it down to my top three that I would recommend for sway control, weight distribution, durability, and hitch weight.
ProPride 3P Weight Distribution Hitch
First up is for those primarily concerned with sway control. The ProPride 3P hitch is the holy grail of anti-sway hitches in my experience. Nothing comes close to preventing trailer sway like this hitch based on the Hensley design. Essentially, the design uses mechanical links built into the hitch head to allow the hitch to pivot only when the tow vehicle initiates a turn. The trailer can't initiate a pivot of the hitch with this design which drastically reduces or eliminates sway all together. You'll never again worry about a passing semi with this hitch installed. It makes for one of the most comfortable drives I've ever had with a trailer in tow. The weight distribution system works pretty well too once you have it calibrated through some trial-and-error testing.
As with all things there are some things that you should be aware of when purchasing this hitch. First is cost. You're typically going to be investing between $2500 to $4500 for this hitch and any needed accessories. It's not cheap but then again, a disastrous sway event is a whole lot more expensive than a quality hitch. It's also a comparatively complicated hitch in the area of setup and maintenance. That's inherent in the design and the is price you pay for the mechanical features that stop sway like it does. Lastly, the stinger used to connect your trailer to your truck can take some getting used to. Most backup cameras don't give you a good point of view for lining up the stinger. You'll find yourself getting in and out of the tow vehicle to get things lined up quite often. It is also a serious pain if you are on uneven ground trying to hookup this hitch. Both ends of the stinger need to align on the same plane to connect properly.
Weigh Safe True Tow Weight Distribution Hitches
This is one of my absolute favorite hitches that I've ever owned and beats out the Equalizer hitch in my opinion. The Weigh Safe True Tow hitches make proper weight distribution a breeze. The ball is also a tongue weight scale so you can adjust the distribution by simply turning a knob with a wrench and get it exactly where it needs to be. You only need to download the Weigh Safe app on your phone and input a few measurements during setup. Once that's done, every time you hook up simply plug in the scale weight from the side of the hitch into the app and it will tell you exactly what to crank the knob to. The four point sway control is outstanding as well. I'd rate it as the best friction-style sway control hitch that I've ever used. These hitches are seriously heavy duty and they are built like a tank. Lastly, at right around $1000, they aren't going to break the bank.
I want to give one more bit of praise to this hitch due to the quality of the warranty program because I had some personal experience with this a few years back. After owning and using the hitch for about a year, I noticed a fluid leak around the base of the ball. I reported that I thought the seal for the ball scale was leaking to the warranty department and they asked for a few pictures. I sent the pictures and within a week I had a new hitch head being delivered to the house. They also paid for return shipping on the old hitch head. That kind of "stand behind our product" warranty service is hard to find these days.
Now for the downsides to this hitch. It is H-E-A-V-Y. When I say built like a tank, I'm not joking here. It is manageable, but I found myself leaving it attached to the truck more often than taking it out at the campsite due to the hassle of lugging it off the back of the truck. To dial in the sway control, you also need to make some adjustments to the torque on the bottom two bolts on the head for the spring arms. That takes a little trial and error and requires that you have a torque wrench handy as not to under or over tighten them. The tighter you go, the harder it will be to move those sway bars onto their saddles during hookup, but the more resistant to sway it will be.
Andersen Weight Distribution Hitch
This hitch is one of the most convenient that I've ever used. It is light weight and simple to setup while distributing weight and preventing sway better than most. It uses a friction material in the head that makes it difficult for a sway event to start and since it's a cone shaped friction material, the more weight on the ball the harder it is to move which sets the amount of sway control for you. A simple concept that is shockingly effective. In terms of sway control performance, this mechanism is on par with most hitches using a 4-point sway control setup and better than any 2-point hitch I've ever used. It distributes weight well once you get it dialed in with the number of turns you need to tighten each chain. It's reasonably priced at around $800 and easy to take off and store. For most people, this hitch is the sweet spot for setup, functionality, and cost.
There really is nothing bad to say about this hitch in my experience. It does well in everything you need it to do, but it's not the best at anything in particular except maybe being light weight and simple. That's kind of the tradeoff here, you get all that you need from a weight distribution hitch but nothing that's going to be a category topper.
Recommended Products From This Article
Andersen Weight Distribution Hitch
Pro Pride 3P Weight Distribution Hitch
Weigh Safe Weight Distribution Hitch
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