Factory Hitch

[blacksheep4x4]

I suggest everyone throw away the factory hitch asap. They are not durable.

I have towed my 03 Quad cab w/my Megacab several times using the factory hitch no problems. I am also a trailer transporter and have towed probably 115 travel trailers with my 03 using the factory hitch last year. Most were 26' long and weighed over 6,000lbs.

 

[Nate]

Thanks. For whatever reason I didn't see that the first time you posted.

The URL was in my January 30, 2006 reply.





Here is something to click: http://dodgeram. info/tsb/recalls/872.htm

 

[MRosinski]

I've towed a ton of 8-12,000 pound equiptment trailers(pintle) with my 05' and no problems yet. And alot of drop sites are off road and real bumpy. The hitches are fine imo but the suspension on the 2500's is another story

 

[CumminsPower98]

I just had a car rear end me last week. They hit the 9" drop and 2" ball at 50 mph with 65' of skid marks. It did no damage to the receiver, drop or ball. Sure messed up the bumper, box, extended fenders (bubbles), tailgate and exhaust pipe and who knows what else when they get to replacing all that. Point is, those factory receivers are tough as nails, so said the adjuster and body repair shop.

It's the 2nd gen stock hitches I'm talking about that are weak. I have seen several cracked ones and talked to people who install hitches and they see cracked Dodge hitches all the time. I even saw one in thier store that they had setup as a display and it was cracked just like mine.



IMHO a hitch standing up to a crash says nothing at all about how it will handle towing over a pereod of time.

 

[Grizzly]

What specific factory receivers are you refering to? The receiver that Nate asked about is on a model year 1998 Ram, a receiver that is the subject of Safety Recall #872.

My factory receiver is on my 2005, 3500 DRW.

 

[JOdell]

I know one thing about our factory hitches is that they rust. BAD! I paint mine 4 - 6 times a year. I had a 97 gasser and I rhino lined the hitch on that truck. -Jason

 

[Grizzly]

I know one thing about our factory hitches is that they rust. BAD! I paint mine 4 - 6 times a year. I had a 97 gasser and I rhino lined the hitch on that truck. -Jason

Where do you live that they rust so bad?

 

[Demons_Ram]

I know one thing about our factory hitches is that they rust. BAD! I paint mine 4 - 6 times a year. I had a 97 gasser and I rhino lined the hitch on that truck. -Jason

I wouldn't recommend spraying a coating on something that needs to be inspected for cracks/structural failure. The coating could cover up failures...

 

[JOdell]

Demons- that is why I haven't done it to this truck. the last Ram was a 1/2 ton and the biggest thing I pulled with it was a jet ski this truck I pull a 22' enclosed trailer with equalizer hitch setup.



Grizzly- I live in Indianapolis, IN I don't know why it rusts so bad. a few times a year I get the 3m disks out and sand it down to bare and repaint it. I am getting good at it after 5 years. now the rust on the truck is the beloved door rot. -Jason

 

[Nate]

Recomendations on a new hitch... class IV or V??? Trailer I'll be pulling will weigh 10k max

 

[Thomas]

As suggested by CumminsPower98, a Putnam XDR - an easy bolt-on class V receiver for second-generation Rams at a reasonable price.
The XDR series...
* 5/16" endplates
* 1/4" maintube wall
* Accepts 2" ball mounts with 5/8" pin hole
* Shipped with all mounting hardware and instructions.
* Rating: 10,000# weight carrying, 1200# tongue weight
* 14,000# weight distributing, 1700# tongue weight

 

[Nate]

I was just thinking too. The guy that owned the truck before me pulled a big 30' enclosed trailer loaded with heavy oak furniture, tools, a Jeep Cherokee, etc. Wonder how much that was over the hitch rating?





I'm guessing they make receviers and balls that are rated for class V as well? Mine is only to 5k, and the ball 6k.

 

[JOdell]

www.etrailer.com is a good website for information on trailer hitches and they have reasonable prices as well. -Jason

 

[Nate]

Ok. I happened to look at the hitch today and the saftey recall had been done to the hitch, with the extra bracing installed.



I was talking to my Dad this afternoon and he asked why not put equalizer bars? He pulls a 28' travel trailer with an F-150 and said the equalizer bars help a ton with that setup with how it rides



Now does it make sense to keep the stock hitch and get equalizer bars? Or replace the stock hitch?



It looks like the bars are around $300. While a hitch is around $200.

 

[Nate]

anyone... anyone... anyone

 

[CumminsPower98]

I personally prefer to use a heavy duty hitch and run without the bars and of course it helps to have air bags to level things out and shift some of the weight forward but since your hitch has been updated you would probably be just fine running it with the bars.

 

[Beast2B]

if you get the chance, tow the same trailer/same load with and without the distrib setup. WORLDS of difference on handling, braking and porpoising over bumps. I tow a 10k trailer, just a flatdeck equip hauler, and even with the air bags you cannot transfer weight anywhere near as efficiently as you can with distrib hitch properly adjusted.

 

[Nate]

How often do you seen someone pulling a car hauler with bars on it though? ?My Dad said the same, but he pulls a 28' travel trailer with an F-150.

 

[nps]

If you stick to the 10% tongue weight, with a 7-10K trailer, go with the bars. How many car haulers use bars? I'd answer "How many weigh 10K#?"



I have pulled my 10K trailer without the bars for short (around the block) respotting - with my Rancho 9000s on full hard. Even at slow speeds I can feel the effect. I would not want to pull it on the road at speed without the bars. Plus, after you add a class V hitch and airbags (unless you want to drag tail) you'll have spent many more $ than a WD hitch.

 

[Nate]

The air bags I want to get since the back of the truck is low without any weight. Air bags will level it out.



I've pulled a car hauler with the Jeep on it 2 times. Once was a old homebuilt like 12-15k trailer that weighed a good 3000lbs, and the second time was a C&B 16' 7k trailer. I didn't find the truck to ride bad at all, except when I first loaded the homebuilt trailer, I didn't put enough tongue weight on it and you could feel the trailer sorta lifting up on the back of the truck when I went over bumps.