What Drop Drawbar do I need?

[sag2]

So I got my new 18 2500 last week and was looking at the hitch. The distance from the ground to the bottom of the hitch opening is 23". On my 2014 1500 it is 17". With my current WDH the top of the ball is 20.5" when the hitch is on the ball. The ball drops about 2.5" with the tongue weight.
Best I can tell I need a 10" drop bar to get me about 6" lower. Unfortunately the trailer is not at the house now so I can't hook up and see what kind of drop I will get with my tongue weight of 680. Any idea how much the ball will drop and how far of a drop shank anyone might have on a similar truck to get the top of the ball at about 21"?

 

[Dan_69GTX]

I did something similar when I got the 2016 new. Measured ball height on the old truck, put hitch in new, measured height, dropped the ball to match the old height.

On the 16 the trailer didn't lower the ball as much. Normally I would use the WD hitch to help level the trailer and remove some sway. Now I just use it to control sway, not so much to level the combo. Same goes for the car trailer. Unless I have a heavy load on the trailer (truck, gravel, dirt, etc) I don't even bother with the WD hitch. The 16 tows so much better and handles the trailers so much better!

Fully loaded my travel trailer is about the same tongue weight

 

[TFucili]

With 680# I suspect you will get minimal squat. For tagalongs I use a B&W Tow and Stow with, I think, 8" drop. They may make one with more. It is 2", though, so it requires the rattling adapter sleeve.

 

[jgillott]

With 680# I suspect you will get minimal squat. For tagalongs I use a B&W Tow and Stow with, I think, 8" drop. They may make one with more. It is 2", though, so it requires the rattling adapter sleeve.

I have the long Tow and Stow. I believe that it is 9". Great hitch. Though, I wish it was a little shorter. I have had it hit the ground going over some rough dirt roads in the drop position.

 

[sag2]

Thanks for the input. I ordered a 10 inch drop as that is the longest I could find . I can always cut it off if it is too long. Unfortunately the manufacturers do not list all the dimensions for each bar on their sites. I would also think someone would have a 2 1/2 shank with a 2" drop for the WDH. I may tack weld the adapter onto the bar to keep it tighter.

 

[jgillott]

If you ever decide to move to a different WD hitch all together, take a look at the Anderson WD hitch. It is available in both 2" and 2 1/2" shanks and either a 4" or 8" drop rise. I've been using one now for the last couple of years and can't say enough about the simplicity of the design and it's ease of use.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

I used a piece of thin wall bike innertube to keep it from rattling. Very tight fit for the adapter, but can still be removed if I want. That way it also doesn't try and come out with the hitch. Needed to do this rather than tack weld to the bar since I have several hitches for different trailers.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Amazon sells some ball mounts (Reese iirc) that are 2.5" box tubing and relatively inexpensive. My SRW 3500 does not experience much drop with my trailers attached. If I need to fine tune the height, I use a different height ball.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

My 2.5" hitch is 23" from the ground to the top of the opening. I bought 5" drop and 7.75" drop ball mounts:
https://www.amazon.com/Reese-0225-1...544457644&sr=1-21&keywords=class+5+ball+mount
for my trailers that need about 17" and 19" from the ground to top of the ball when loaded with 500-800 lb. tongue weights. I have balls with 3.1, 3.6, 4" heights and 1.25" shanks.

 

[MGire]

To start, the top of the hitch ball on the truck should be as close to the same height as the top of the coupler on the trailer when the trailer is sitting level.
Equal-i-zer hitch website has a nice calculator to determine the proper rise or drop shank you would need.