A system for powered trailer weight distribution having a hitch mount with a spring bar, and a trailer with a spring bar mount disposed on the trailer and having an initial position relative to the trailer, wherein the spring bar mount is configured to receive and engage the spring bar, and a weight distribution actuator configured and arranged to adjust a position of the spring bar mount relative to the spring bar while engaged with the spring bar, wherein the weight distribution actuator is connected to a power source that provides power to the weight distribution actuator, facilitating the adjustment of the position of the spring bar mount.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for payload estimation and fault detection using hitch integrated sensors. An example apparatus includes a pin orientation determiner to determine a first orientation of a first pin and a second orientation of a second pin, the first pin and the second pin disposed within a hitch and calculate a relative orientation of the first pin and the second pin based on the first orientation and the second orientation. The example apparatus further includes a hitch condition detector to determine if a physical change has occurred in the hitch by comparing the relative orientation to an installation orientation of the first pin and the second pin.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for a three-point attachment trailer hitch. An example hitch includes a crossbar including a first end and a second end, the first end or the second end including at least one tab protruding from an edge of the first end or the second end, and a first endplate positioned on the first end or the second end of the crossbar using the at least one tab, the endplate including a first threaded hole and a second threaded hole, a diameter of the second threaded hole larger than a diameter of the first threaded hole.

A weight distribution hitch system used with a hitch on a vehicle and a trailer, the system comprising: a jack with a foot and a motor configured to raise and lower a front portion of the trailer; a moment bar with a forward end attached to the hitch so as to pivot about a generally vertical axis, and a rearward portion, the moment bar configured to exert a forward moment on the vehicle in response to an upward force on the rearward portion; an engagement member configured to increase the upward force on the rearward portion of the moment bar upon movement of the jack in one vertical direction and to decrease the upward force upon movement of the jack in an opposite vertical direction; a sensor configured to determine at least one of current and voltage across the motor, to thereby infer the upward force on the rearward portion; and a switch configured to turn the motor on or off depending on the inferred upward force is disclosed.

A hitch load cell including a ball hitch with a spherical surface and a stem extending from the spherical surface along a longitudinal axis. The hitch load cell further includes a first resistor positioned on a first side of the stem, a second resistor positioned on a second side of the stem, a third resistor positioned on the first side, a fourth resistor positioned on the second side. The first resistor, the second resistor, the third resistor, and the fourth resistor are electrically coupled in a Wheatstone bridge configuration.

A weight distribution hitch system used with a hitch on a vehicle and a trailer, the system comprising a jack with a foot and a motor configured to raise and lower a front portion of the trailer; a moment bar with a forward end attached to the hitch so as to pivot about a generally vertical axis, and a rearward portion, the moment bar configured to exert a forward moment on the vehicle in response to an upward force on the rearward portion; an engagement member configured to increase the upward force on the rearward portion of the moment bar upon movement of the jack in one vertical direction and to decrease the upward force upon movement of the jack in an opposite vertical direction; a sensor configured to determine at least one of current and voltage across the motor, to thereby infer the upward force on the rearward portion; and a switch configured to turn the motor on or off depending on the inferred upward force is disclosed.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for a load-sensing hitch utilizing a system of strain gauges. An example apparatus includes a receiver tube, a side member, a crossbar coupled to the receiver tube and the side member, the cross including a support including a first end, a second end and a mid-portion located between the first end and the second end, the mid-portion having a cross-sectional area smaller than the cross-sectional area of the first end or the cross-sectional area of the second end and a strain gauge disposed within the mid-portion.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to facilitate a single pin load sensor coupled to a hitch receiver, the sensor to measure one or more loads on the hitch receiver. An example non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least capture, via a camera coupled to a vehicle, an image of a hitch of the vehicle, analyze the image to determine position data of a mount of the hitch, and calculate an actual load on the hitch based on the position data.

Methods and apparatus for a hitch including multiple pins coupled to an outboard frame are disclosed. An example apparatus disclosed herein include a hitch including a first pin, a second pin parallel to the first pin, a third pin orthogonal to the first pin, and a fourth pin parallel to the third pin, wherein the first pin, the second pin, the third pin and the fourth pin are to couple the hitch to a frame of a vehicle. The example apparatus includes a load manager to determine a load condition based on sensor data from at least one of the first pin, the second pin, the third pin, or the fourth pin.

Methods and apparatus for a dual reacting, single load sensing element coupled to a hitch receiver are disclosed herein. An example computer readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed, cause one or more processors to determine a location of a hitch ball of a hitch of a vehicle, determine a load condition of the hitch based on the location and data received from a sensor of a first pin of the hitch, the hitch including a second pin, the first pin to react loads in a first direction and a second direction, the second pin to react loads in the first direction and in response to the load condition satisfying an alert threshold, alert a user of the load condition.