3rd gen receiver hitch

[MChildress]

A friend of mine was pulling his Dodge show truck on a single car hauler bumper pull trailer when he noticed his show truck's hood was riding lower behind the tailgate. He stopped his son's Dodge and found the factory receiver hitch had broke and was just barely hanging on. He pulled the empty trailer the remainder of the trip with his show truck. Last week I had a lawn maintnance crew in a 2500 3rd gen pulling a 16 foot lowboy drive by me at a red light and you could see the receiver hitch almost hitting the ground going up and down like a door hinge. I'm sure they might of overloaded it with dirt or something at one time. Just a heads up to inspect the factory hitches.

 

[CDonaldson]

I was up and under my truck taking a real close look at the construction of the hitch a couple of weeks ago. The hitch is pretty slim pickens if you ask me, can't be even a 500 tongue/5000 gross with any kind of a safety margin at that estimation. The whole tube structure is light weight and the way it is mounted as an integral to the bumper - poor design at best. I'm moving on to a better bumper and a better tube receiver, something at 1K/10K. Time to add the Ranch Hand Cowboy Bumper I guess. I would not want to risk anything on the stock receiver. You would think for as many $$$'s as we shell out on these trucks at least the hitch would be a good one. Most all truck people I know use their hitches a lot.



CD

 

[ScottRoberts]

The hitch looks pretty solid. If I remember, it's rated at 1200# tongue and 12000# total with a weight distributing hitch. I imagine a lot of people don't bother with weight distributing hitches, which probably puts excessive strain on them. I really doubt they fail very often. As far as the Ranch Hand goes, they are great in that they won't immediately fold if you back into something. They aren't really the best for towing though, especially with the reciever tube(rated at 500#/5000#). I would like to hear if others have had this problem though.

 

[jsimpson]

I cut off my receiver hitch and had my welder shorten a Titan to mount high. He took a look at my cut off hitch and said it was a strong hitch, and he puts them on an builds them for a living. That tube is THICK metal, and the saddle mount is NOT going to come loose. You have to raise the bed to get it off!

 

[steved]

I would have thought that if there was an issue that we would have seen a lot more than this single post about it...



steved

 

[CDonaldson]

There have been many questions raised with DC about the hitch and it's rating. Nowhere in their literature will you find their rating. Their bumper is rated at 500/5000 and is stamped as such. Since it is an integral part of the receiver and no stamped of labeled rating on the receiver, this does raise ???'s I know that it is 'over the frame' and the bed has to be raised to remove it, but have you looked at the thickness of the materials and also the bolts? The Ranch Hand bolt-on receiver has a secondary rating of 1K/10K if you both bolt it and weld it into place on the bumper, it is viewed as part of the bumper when welded. I know of 2 people who have had problems with the stock receiver already, the 'over the frame' bracket has cracks at the bends, must have been cold bends. These people are not members of any forums as they have no computers. There are lots of people computerless like them out there with new Dodge trucks, so I would not take a single post as the only information out there. The forums over at Carson Dodge have a post regarding this and the answer about rating is still open. I have to remove the stock receiver anyway to put the bumper on as I am putting on a 10" drop bumper, so my stock receiver will be history anyway, one thing less to worry about as there are questions that seem not to be answerable at this point in time.



CD

 

[steved]

There are lots of people computerless like them out there with new Dodge trucks, so I would not take a single post as the only information out there.



CD

So your saying that we don't have any 3rd gen owners that tow on this board?



You have a couple isolated cases... If it as widespread a problem as you are making it to be, then there should be at least a couple people on this board who have had issues, wouldn't you think??



Did you ever think that maybe someone got a bad hitch and not every hitch is bad??????? Someone has a problem and automatically EVERY truck is affected... well, I guess EVERY CP3 will leak because mine did... better run out and get it replaced... :-laf



steved

 

[CumminsBu]

I towed a 10,000 pound trailer with 1000 pound tongue weight across country (3500 miles) with no problems, I think you got a defective receiver.

 

[JWChessell]

Take a look at this post by member Ken Irwin, in a thread on this forum: "Is a W/D hitch needed for a long bed/quad cab" -- originally posted by "Betterthanstock" on 4-27-06:



"Your stock receiver is only rated at 350 lbs tongue weight without a W/D hitch. Reference page 290 of the 2005 owners manual. I know its hard to believe but the bumper is rated higher at 500 lbs tongue weight. Its rated at 1,200 lbs tongue weight 12,000 lbs trailer weight for W/D trailers. You are correct that the W/D portion places additional stress on the receiver hitch, but it also balances the additional tongue weight over the suspension for more stable towing. The additional stress that occurs when you go over a oscillating type of bump is completely felt on the rear suspension unless you use a W/D set up. IMHO Ken Irwin"



I found the same thing on page 243 of my 2003 Owner's Manual:



"Equalizing hitch (sic) are required for Class III or IV trailer hitches and tongue weights above 350 lbs (159 kg) and use of trailer sway control is recommended. "

 

[CDonaldson]

I am not trying to say that we do not have any 3rd gen owners that tow, I am saying that our receiver hitches may not be adequate for how many are trying to use them, thus a breakdown is/may occur in the way we ASSUME these hitches WILL perform in the long run to meet our needs. Based in the info regarding the hitch in the owners manual as pointed out by JWChessel, it IS obvious that one MUST use a W/D system to gain the maximum potential of the receiver. My point then is that everyone NEEDS to understand this, and IF using this hitch BEYOND just a hookup and it's 350lb tongue capacity without the W/D they can expect a failure/problem in direct proportion. My other point that I may not have made well is that I bought a 1-ton vehicle specifically to use it at it's implied performance capability and since it was equipped with a receiver I would have expected that receiver to be equally capable without additional hardware. Not too much to ask, but certainly much too much to expect.



CD

 

[cosborne]

Class IV Hitch rating:



Class IV hitches are for up to 10,000 lbs. GTW and 1,000 to 1,200 lbs. of tongue weight.



FWIW, my hitch seems to be VERY well made and strong enough for my needs.

 

[MAshley]

after 17K miles almost all towing a 14K trailer, I decided to upgrade to a Supper hitch by touq lift http://www.torklift.com/superhitch.php



Anyways I don't think the stock hitch is really worth much, mine was starting to bend down, but the new one uses and adds strength to each other so now I have a 15K or 17K with distirbution. Oh and its a lot better while towing. So I recomend upgrade if you tow with your 2500 or 3500 truck...

 

[GAllen]

I've had my Weekend Warrior behind our Yukon XL and the Dodge, both with stock hitches. My trailers GVWR is 13,000 lbs, slightly over the factory rating. I use weight distribution and routinely have @1,100 pounds tongue weight with no problem on either hitch. Anyone that's towed 86 east going past Salton Sea can tell you there's a couple of spots in the road that will launch you out of your seat and should rip the trailer loose. The ultimate hitch test. It passed, many times.

 

[JCrockett]

I pulled 10,000lbs w/ WD Hitch from MT to AK last year over the ALCAN. Hitting those frost heaves at 60 will test any hitch and I have had no problems.

 

[JOblenes]

Class specifications?

Does any body know or have a copy of SAEJ684 (SAE wants like $50 for a copy)? It would appear that this document outlines the specifications for the hitch classes. From what I can gather class 4 is for hitches for trailers from 5,000 to 10,000 lb. I am just wondering if there are any requirements around minimum tongue weight capacities. Where I am going with this is I wonder if Dodge can claim it is a class 4 hitch, like they do in my manual, but then "de-rate" the tongue weight to 350 lb. Though I could see an argument around Dodge saying for "vehicle handling" reasons you need a WD hitch, even though hypothetically the hitch could handle 1,000 lb tongue weight if it is required by SEA standards. Anyonw know what SAEJ684 states?



Jonathan

 

[CIverson]

after 17K miles almost all towing a 14K trailer, I decided to upgrade to a Supper hitch by touq lift http://www.torklift.com/superhitch.php



Anyways I don't think the stock hitch is really worth much, mine was starting to bend down, but the new one uses and adds strength to each other so now I have a 15K or 17K with distirbution. Oh and its a lot better while towing. So I recomend upgrade if you tow with your 2500 or 3500 truck...

How low does it hang? It says it installs below the stock reciever, sounds like it would be quite low.

 

[JoeDiesel]

I totally agree with your post. I paid nearly 40k for my rig so I can tow an Arctic Fox trailer that weighs about 8,500 lbs loaded. I did not expect to be towing so close to the capabilities of my hitch. Some people say that they tow heavy with no signs of trouble. The hitch "look" solid enough for me but I don't want to take any chances with my family on a long distance camping trip. After many searches on this thread, I came to the conclusion that will install a "Putnam XDR" after hacking the receiver tube with a plasma cutter. I hear only good comments on this forum about this hitch. I am also smack dab in the middle of deciding on the Hensley Arrow or the Equal-i-zer brand hitch. I wish I could have stayed with my original hitch but I just lost confidence in it after reading so many "issues" about it. Has anyone else installed the Putnam and have not had any problems??? Thanks in advance.

 

[wcjp]

Over on the nwbombers there has been some failures of the 3rd Gen hitch. Most upgrade to the Titan or Superhitch.

 

[betterthanstock]

It should be covered for 36K, and if you break it while properly loaded, DC is liable regardless of mileage.

 

[JoeDiesel]

Thanks wcjp. I looked into the Titan-Reese hitch and the Super Hitch. The Titan requires no mods. which is good, but sits too low. My trailer is very high and the ball mount would have to have raised too high for my liking. I did see a Titan on a friends Ford and man it was unbalievablely stout. It was called the Tow Beast from Reese. I think it is the renamed Titan. Correct me if I'm wrong. Now the Super hitch has the double 2" receiver tubes, usually for towers with truck camper. The main reason I like the Putnam is because it actually comes closest to the actual stock location after you lop off the stock receiver tube.