Weight distribution hitch for dump trailer

Hi everyone! I an the very happy new owner of a 2010 Expedition Limited with the tow package with a tow capacity of 9,200lbs. I will be towing a tandem 6'x10' dump trailer with a tare weight of 2,800lbs and a payload of up to 7,200lbs = GVW of 10,000lbs.

I have bought a dump trailer that is 7 hours drive from here and I will be going to collect it in a week and bringing it back empty. I have read about WDH's and seen the posts here but it seems that most of you are using them for a travel trailer of a more or less constant weight whereas a dump trailer may have significantly different weights per load.

- should I get a WDH for the 7 hour journey to bring the dump trailer home empty, ie 2,800lbs? The road will be well paved but it goes through mouintains so there will be hills and bends.

- when I have the trailer home it will mostly be for short trips of less than 30 minutes when loaded, and it might be light loads of wood chips or heavy loads with gravel. Should I get a WDH? If I do should it be readjusted each time according to the load weight?

- and if the recommendation in any of these cases is to get a WDT what do you suggest? I am in British Columbia, Canada. I farm and donate all the produce to the food banks so I can't justify any of the of really high end WDHs but I will get a good one if it is important.

Thanks, Jason

Should be ok unladen but bring ballast in case you need more tongue weight for stability. Need at least 10% of the total trailer weight on the tongue.

Thanks JasonH - you were right, it did just fine and any issues were mine.

The full trip was 450kms, with about 250kms in steep country. I have the 2010 Expedition with the HD tow package rated for 9,200lbs, towing a 6x10 dump trailer with an empty weight of 2,800lbs. Unlike the travel trailers, a dump trailer is short, squat and heavy. The only issues I had could be attributed to me as I was new to this and was testing the boundaries. The two main lesons I learned were speed related (and all obvious in retrospect):
1. Reduce speed going down steep hills! Speeds that were comfortable on the flat become white knucklers when going down steep hills and all of a sudden the trailer is pushing rather than being pulled.
2. Watch the centrifigal force when going around the clover leafs headinging on to a freeway - the speed we can go comfortably in just the Expedition is not safe when you have the centrifigal force pulling on that one ton trailer!

My fuel consumption dropped significantly when towing as others have said. Going there I averaged 7.4km/lt and that dropped to 4.4 when towing. This was highway miles over very hilly country so would be better under normal conditions.

I had difficulty adjusting the brake controller at first but once I got help the trailer brakes worked well and it was good (essential!) to have them.

My truck has the 5.4l motor and as many others have said it can be sluggish at times but overall it coped well.

I liked the Edpedition before I started. Now I have respect for it as well.

Jason