How much drop for hitch ball?

[crabjoe]

I need to pick up a Ball mount and Ball. I know I need a 2" ball but I need to know what amount of drop to go with. I tow a few different trailers so I'm not sure what amount of drop I need for a ball mount to give me the best over all fit. Can you tell me what amount of drop your using on your '03/'04 Rams?



Thanks!!

 

[SRadke]

Mine is custom made but it's about 2-3 inch drop. Works well for most trailers.



-Scott

 

[Jeremiah]

Drop

You will need to tell us what truck you're driving (1500, 2500, 3500) and what kind of trailer you pull. I have a 3500 LB SWR, so the back bumper is kinda high in the air. I pull an ATV trailer that's low to the ground. My drop is 6," which is perfect for that application.



Northern Equipment sells an adjustable hitch that will vary the drop up or down by 6 or 8 inches. It ain't cheap, about $45 plus shipping, and DO NOT forget to buy a hitch lock at the same time. Best insurance you can have. If you don't have one I can guarantee you someone will steal the hitch. I know ...



Call Northern Equipment's 800 number if you don't have a catalogue, or look them up on the Internet.



Good luck!

 

[crabjoe]

I've got a 2500 SWB 4X4 with 315's. I havn't towed with the Ram yet, but will towing a boat and utility trailer. In the near future a 9000lbs boat or a 2 horse trailer. Dang, my woman is expensive!



I've been towing with an Expedition using a 2" drop and it's perfectly level. Looking at the back of the Ram, I feel like I need a 6 inch drop, but I keep thinking that might be too much and 5inch would be dead on. I think I'm going to order a ball mount with a 4 inch drop and see if that works. Hopefully, it'll be enough once I throw a bunch of stuff in the bed.

 

[CTDCAL]

I tried a 4" drop and for most of my trailers (utility, dump, boat) it was not low enough, causing the tongue to sit to high, especially on my tandem axle trailers. Switched to a 6" drop and it tows all of them level or just a little high. I prefer to be just a little high in the tongue on my trailer, like about 1/2" to 1", when they are empty so they have the ability to level out when loaded. Too low in the tongue and they tend to sway too much, JMHO based on about 20k miles of towing with this truck.



You will be hard pressed to find a retail (non-custom made) hitch with a 5" or 7" (odd number) drop. I have a pile of ball hitches in my shop and tend to always go with the 6" for everything now unless I tow something with an unusual ground clearance.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by crabjoe

I've got a 2500 SWB 4X4 with 315's. I havn't towed with the Ram yet, but will towing a boat and utility trailer. In the near future a 9000lbs boat or a 2 horse trailer. Dang, my woman is expensive!



I've been towing with an Expedition using a 2" drop and it's perfectly level. Looking at the back of the Ram, I feel like I need a 6 inch drop, but I keep thinking that might be too much and 5inch would be dead on. I think I'm going to order a ball mount with a 4 inch drop and see if that works. Hopefully, it'll be enough once I throw a bunch of stuff in the bed.

It'll be your choice, of course, but the tendency is to buy short. Don't use the Expedition as a comparison. Most shops will let you bring hitches back if you don't tighten the nut down. IMHO, you're going in the wrong direction w/a 4-inch drop. You will want your tongue level or slightly high to trail properly. But if it's too high (as in a 4" drop) it'll sway on you.

 

[Driver72]

Park your trailer on a level spot and measure from inside the ball coupler to the ground. This will be your "top of ball" measurement.



Park truck on level and measure to the center of your receiver tube. Do a little math and you will come up with the approx. drop needed to match your "top of ball" measurement. I agree with the other guys. A 6" covers most applications. Most trailers are designed to ride level. This is especially true for tandem axle trailers. They must ride as close too levels as possible to insure proper braking and suspension action.



If you guess wrong on the drop and your vendor will not take back the hitch platform you can also purchase different heigth balls. Make sure you match the class rating for both the ball and the hitch platform to your load. Buy class V if in doubt.

 

[CROW]

Measure 18 and one half inches up from the ground, that point is likely to be the center of the ball location with the trailer sitting level. You can then figure the drop from the hitch to the first point you measured. Read that this works for most trailers. Tow a boat trailer with my 2 WD and have about a 2 inch drop. Good luck.

 

[TheWolf]

you could just get something like this.

http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/948/lc/pfpt/CategoryID/29/SubCategoryID/190



they come in many price ranges(from around $50-$150) but check around and at your local truck accessories or towing place.



then you can adjust to any trailer or what every you would change on your truck(suck as a lift , air bags, larger tires)

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by TheWolf

you could just get something like this.

http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/948/lc/pfpt/CategoryID/29/SubCategoryID/190



they come in many price ranges(from around $50-$150) but check around and at your local truck accessories or towing place.



then you can adjust to any trailer or what every you would change on your truck(suck as a lift , air bags, larger tires)

That's the same one I recommended from the Northern Equipment catalogue. Same price too ($49. 95). It's a great hitch if you don't know what inch drop you're looking for.

 

[bulabula]

Hey Crabjoe, before you go out and buy a couple of ball mounts, go look at one of those adjustable ballmounts that are rated up to 10,000 lbs. Get one that has all 3 ball sizes on it as well.



Small trailers usually use small balls and larger drops, while larger trailers use large balls and less drop. They don't mix.



By the time you've invested money in a 10K ball mount and 2 5/16" ball, you're well on your way to having paid for that big adjustable ball mount anyways. You'd be surprised to the trailers that you may find yourself hooked up too once in a while. Its nice to have that flexibility at a moments notice without carrying a bunch of iron in the back.



BTW, the adj hitch listed above is only rated to 6k; and you'd still be stuck using big wrenches on it whenever you want to change trailers with different ball sizes. Its easier to change out ball mounts than screwing/unscrewing balls.



If you're near Millersville, MD, go visit Jiffy Hitch to see those mounts in person.



Heck, c'mon over to my house and make me an offer for my ball mounts. I've almost talked myself into ordering a large adjustable one.

 

[nickleinonen]

my drop hitch is 4" i think, and it recieves very little use [i transfered it over from my tahoe that i had] perfect height to stop honda/toyota/nissan from going under and scratching bumper paint eh... :-laf

 

[crabjoe]

I looked at the adjustable tri-ball mounts but they only drop a max of 6 inches. Because of this, I'm was thinking getting a 6in drop for a 2 5/16" ball and a 8" drop for a 2" ball. Also the drop mount I'm looking at is rated to 13K lbs with 1300 tongue weight.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by bulabula

Hey Crabjoe, before you go out and buy a couple of ball mounts, go look at one of those adjustable ballmounts that are rated up to 10,000 lbs. Get one that has all 3 ball sizes on it as well.



Small trailers usually use small balls and larger drops, while larger trailers use large balls and less drop. They don't mix.



By the time you've invested money in a 10K ball mount and 2 5/16" ball, you're well on your way to having paid for that big adjustable ball mount anyways. You'd be surprised to the trailers that you may find yourself hooked up too once in a while. Its nice to have that flexibility at a moments notice without carrying a bunch of iron in the back.



BTW, the adj hitch listed above is only rated to 6k; and you'd still be stuck using big wrenches on it whenever you want to change trailers with different ball sizes. Its easier to change out ball mounts than screwing/unscrewing balls.



If you're near Millersville, MD, go visit Jiffy Hitch to see those mounts in person.



Heck, c'mon over to my house and make me an offer for my ball mounts. I've almost talked myself into ordering a large adjustable one.

Go to Northerntool.com. Click on Towing, then Ball Mount Hitches. You'll find 46 hitches to look at, more than enough for you to make up your mind what want you.

 

[pstillo]

I have a few trailers so i bit the bullet and bought a adjustable drop hitch from northern tools.

Adjustable Tri-Ball Hitch

Fully adjustable from 6in. drop to 6 1/2in. rise. 1 7/8in. ball supports up to 6000 lbs. 2in. and 2 5/16in. balls each support up to 10,000 lbs. Includes 3 hitch pins. U. S. A.

In Stock

Ship Wt. 44. 0 lbs

Item# 68533

Discount Price... $134. 99

Sale Price... $119. 99



http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...1&PHOTOS=on&KEYWORDS=tri+ball&kw_fmt=tri+ball