I now have a truck that doesn't need the load level bars anymore. But, on a recent trip without the bars, its appears the trailer contents got shaken more than before.

On the return trip I put the bars on and set them with a small amount of tension.

The ride quality in the truck was not noticeably different either way, but it was a short trip.

Do any of you have a preference of use or not use for ride quality when towing?

I find that even with an empty trailer where I dont need to use the bars for weight purposes, a minimum load on the bars does smooth out jounces. it acts as a dampener of sorts.

Are they just load levelling or multi function like my Reese dual cam? If multi function you will lose the sway control benefit of the bars.

I often wonder about new trucks with air suspension and people not using load levelling bars. Seeing this more and more. Is this air setup able to handle the tongue load of near 1K pounds like some fully loaded travel trailers are? Also the hitches themselves are rated for the higher capacity with the expectation of load levelling system, so if you dont use, technically you are probably over capacity for the hitch.

My 2015 Ram 2500 with the class 5 hitch I still use the bars when pulling my 32' LQ trailer which weighs around 11K lbs loaded. I use the bars loaded and unloaded. My 24' enclosed I don't use the bars either way, and for sure not on my 18' open. No air suspension just the newer s coils. It is pretty rough riding either way.

Most people don't understand how to use the load leveling bars, as evidenced by how many tow vehicles and trailers you see driving around with the back of the tow vehicle sagging down.


The bars can be preloaded a lot more than many think to gain the desired effect of leveling the tow vehicle and trailer. I've seen them lift the back wheels of a truck off the ground to show how much the bars can lift.

If you crank the tongue lift up enough to bring the trailer and tow vehicle up just past level, latch the load leveling bars and then retract the tongue lift; the two vehicles should be level.

The sway away bar is another critical component to set up right.

I've got a separate sway bar, the bars themselves are not "cam" style and just adjust weight.

I'll test again this week end, with a light load on the bars per Rhinodart suggestion.

I use the bars when towing my 28' enclosed trailer with my 2500 V10 Ram. Night and day difference. The trailer already had two sway control balls welded on each side of the tongue so I use both sway controls when on the freeway outside of just inter-city streets.

I have a Reese dual cam,started using it 40 yrs ago with a 26' travel trailer,still use regardless of what I tow.

Even though the common term is "load levelers", the true purpose of those bars is to get the correct tongue weight for safe towing. Yes, they will adjust the rear end height of a tow vehicle but what you are adjusting in reality is the tongue weight. The appearance of a level vehicle does not insure proper tongue weight. The old rule of thumb is that proper tongue weigh should be 10% to 15% of a totally loaded trailer. It's easy to spot a vehicle with too much tongue weight. It's negative tongue weight people need to be concerned with but they'll know soon enough after they get on the road and look in the rear view mirror and their trailer is swaying back and fourth.

It is usually easy to spot a poorly load leveled trailer, but you do need to be familiar with trailers and load levelers to determine proper weight distribution. I've never seen anyone do it with a scale. Bottom line is its always wise to have proper training to set up load levelers. There is more to it than simply assuming a level load is a properly weight distributed load.

Kat scale user here. I always feel funny standing in line with the big rigs with my little setup. Feel like a little kid talking to the 10' high speaker on the scale.

When I was setting up both my travel and car enclosed trailer I used the scales several times to play with the bar settings to get what I wanted on my axles. Only way to know you are setup properly.

Also when you buy a trailer in NJ that does not have a weight posted on the previous title, they make you weigh the trailer empty so they can determine the registration cost.

IMO and from my experience.

The weight distribution bars are to spread out the load on the trailer tongue. The load is distributed through out the trailer tongue and tow vehicle with them, not just hanging on the trailer ball.

Yes you are correct that the ride is worse without them.

It is much harder on your trailer tongue and trailer hitch if you don't use them no matter how big your tow truck is.

I tow with a huge tow truck and I still use them with a open car trailer and my ride is noticeably better with them even with huge long wheelbase tow truck. This truck is air ride and I can adjust it, but the hitch and trailer tongue still needs the load distributed.
I have been towing with this rig since 2002 and over 100K miles with this rig alone.

Even this rig needs weight bars, all trailers in this range or larger need weight bars no matter how big and tough your tow vehicle is. The more tension the better in most cases.
Last month in Lakeland Fla. Look at that wheel base and I still can feel the weight bars work.

We have been all over the US and I can say for sure you should always use weigh bars to help protect your trailer tongue and hitch even with a little trailer like this one.


Even more important with a heavy load like this.

Challenger 1, I know you've towed a lot, and appreciate your opinion. I just towed 600 miles with the bars on, and the ride is a little better with the bigger truck, but not a lot. Was hoping for a Cadillac ride ha ha. Bars it is for me.

The major benefit that I did not mention and the main purpose of them is to give you better control and braking.

Play with your tire pressures to get a softer ride and watch your tire temps with a IR gun as soon as you roll into a rest area. Can check your wheel bearings too that way.

LOL, thought I was the only one that did this. Had many people stare at me while at a gas station checking tire, hub and even diff temp. Pretty amazing how hot a diff gets towing a 9000# trailer. One guy stopped me and asked, "Excuse me, what are you doing?"

I've had an experience were with an empy trailer and the bars set with to much tension, the back of the truck was too light and was a handful to drive. I bought a 24" enclosed from a guy who used a motor home to tow, he showed me how to set up the weight distrubution hitch and he set the tension to what he used on his motor home. I had a 2500. I wanted to sell tha trailer as soon as i got home if that was the way it was going to pull! After a little research, I tryed without the bars and it was much better. Loaded i would use the bars, empty, no bars. Note: The weight diastrubution hitch I was using did not have sway control.

Originally I had the hitch too high which loaded the rear trailer axle, and unloaded the front axle of the trailer. After installing a dropped hitch I got the trailer level.

Now, after towing over 2K miles without the leveler bars, with a level trailer, this is definitely the way to go for a better ride. I also have a sway bar.

This is with a Dodge 2500 with coil springs in the back, long box crew cab. I have had no problems in the wind or rain as well.


As an interesting note, a friend has a 2500 with leafs, and he states the truck/trailer porpoises without the leveler bars.