Wide back builder with a handle for each arm, so no weak side hides.
Lead with your elbows, not your hands. Let the lats do the pulling.
The lat pulldown trains that wide, elbows-down pulling arc that builds back width, with a handle in each arm so your stronger side can't quietly do the work for both. From a full overhead stretch, your lats drag your elbows down and back while your biceps assist through the middle of the pull. It's the move that gets you to a pull-up, and the one you keep doing after, because the stack lets you fine-tune the load in ways bodyweight can't.
It trains the same pattern and grows the same muscles, and it's easier to load precisely. Pull-ups add the challenge of moving your own body, so use pulldowns to build the strength and keep both around.
A slight lean is fine so the handles clear your chin. Rocking back and hauling with your bodyweight turns it into a bad row, so if you're swinging, drop the weight.
You're pulling with your hands instead of driving your elbows down. Lighten the load, think about pulling your elbows into your back pockets, and let the handles just come along for the ride.
