Continuum® Weight Distribution Hitch

Not really. Some systems have steel bars that need to be ‘loaded’ on each side of the trailer with a tool. Our system is loaded from the driver’s side by pumping a handle and watching weight move to the front axles.

With other hitches, any change in your trailer or tongue weight might require a hitch head adjustment. Large adjustments might require different bars, minor adjustments might mean adding or subtracting washers or other adjustment in the head. Our head angle is set, our bars are rated from 600-1600 lb tongue weights, and our adjustments are small and allow precise control. If your trailer isn’t handling the way you like, pull over and pump the handle again to add weight to the front axles, easy as that.

That is where this hitch really shines! It’s important to make the proper weight adjustment when your load changes, but other hitches make it difficult to do that. With our hitch, a couple more pumps of the handle will transfer more weight to the front axles, without changing out bars or complicated adjustment to the head.

This hydraulic system is what you see on tractors and heavy construction equipment. We designed this hydraulic system specifically for this application, from the pump cartridge, needle valve, pressure relief valve and pressure gauge. It's also a closed loop system which prevents contamination. Some of the hydraulic components you find on commercial airliners, for instance. The zero-leak check valve used to maintain pressure on landing gear on commercial aircraft is the same we’ve used to hold pressure and maintain proper weight distribution. The needle valve is also used in aerospace. With metal on metal contact, there is no o-ring to degrade over time causing pressure loss. The cylinder is the same used on construction equipment. The air fittings and hoses are DOT approved and used on over the road trucks. Our system has been tested from -40°F to 150°F.

Max pressure on the hydraulics is around 3000 lbs, but the max reset pressure is set to 2500 lbs, so you will never reach that maximum. Pump it past 2500 lbs and you will hear the air escaping from the pressure relief valve.

Our bars do look low to the ground until they are loaded properly. We performed 100,000 miles of real-world testing with our design and have not had any issues with ground clearance except in extreme road conditions. Usually, the rear of the trailer or the leveling jacks will hit the ground before the hitch has any ground clearance issues. As with most WD hitches on the market, it's possible that some part of the hitch will drag when faced with especially steep dips in the road or entrances.

A sway control hitch is a weight distribution hitch that includes a feature that the manufacturer calls ‘sway control.’ Recently, it seems the terms are used interchangeably, although in our opinion, sway control is dubious terminology. More on that later.

The best thing to do is focus on sway prevention. Safe towing happens when the following things are in place.

Driving the proper speed. Some truck and trailer combinations will become inherently unstable at a critical speed. This speed varies depending on your exact setup. You will also need to slow down in windy or slippery conditions.
Tongue weight is at the recommended amount. 10-15% usually. It is important to be over 10%.
Tire pressure and tread depth are good. Also need to make sure the tires are rated properly (for both the tow vehicle and trailer). Sidewall stiffness can greatly affect the sway characteristics.
The tow vehicle is sized appropriately for the trailer

Our findings agree with a lot of the literature out there, as well.
Huston & Johnson (1979),

Sharp & Fernandez (2002),

Darling et al. (2009)

Yes, there is more turning clearance with our hitch than most of the leading brands.

In most cases, yes. It will depend on the set up (frame design, tailgate length, trailer jack size, etc.)

Yes, the spring bar assembly is easily removable to allow you to tow with just the ball mount if you have a trailer that does not need weight distribution.

You can also constrain the spring bar assembly between the bottom of the frame and the spring bar holder accessory on the jack foot by raising the jack until it is tight against the frame.

The Continuum fits 5” and 6” frames without a center frame rail. (It will also fit 4” and 7” frames with longer or shorter cylinder mount hardware). You will need 2” of clearance in front of to install the frame brackets. We have a bracket that, when added, allows our hitch to be used with underslung couplers.