Lift Kits and towing???

[TXRam]

Hey guys,



I was wondering if anyone here has a lift kit and does any towing? If so what height is the lift?



I'm looking at a 6" lift with 35-37" tires and have a concern about pulling with my receiver hitch. My main concern is towing a camper (doulbe axle, bumper pull) and using a weight distribution hitch with this amount of lift.



Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[243]

I find it hard to believe nobody on TDR has a lifted truck and tows a trailer or camper with a reciever hitch.

 

[MDW]

What happened to the other thread that I responded to??



You will have to do the engineering on this one. You havn't said how much the current hitch you have is rated at? How heavy the trailer that your going to pull is?



What I said before about lifting the trailer is a very real help to the situation as many people "flip" the axles on there trailers for more height.



You might try posting this at www.irv.com and see what you get.

 

[TXRam]

Not interested in lifting the trailer. Rating is not the issue (it is a Class V hitch), it's the height and the angles. Just wondering if anyone that tows has a lift kit, and what their experience is.

 

[Steve Graham]

OK, I pull a 25' Airstream with a 2" lift on my Dodge with 35" tires. It's not the best way to do it and if I had my wish I'd have another truck to pull the trailer with. It's the tail wagging the dog, mostly do the length of the dropped hitch. If you can raise the heigth of you trailer, say do a spring over on you trailer, that would help.



Steve



#ad

 

[243]

Steve~



How much drop do you have on the draw bar?



Do you know the height of the ball with the current setup?

 

[Steve Graham]

243,

The drop is approximately 8", mesured from the center of the hitch mount to the center of the ball. The Airstream hitch is approximately 17" off the ground.



Steve

 

[Steve Graham]

243,

Here's the beast:



Steve

 

[MDW]

Ok Clint, never mind just trying to help. I'll leave your threads alone.

 

[243]

Steve,



Is it a custom hitch?



Can you provide the source, thanks.

 

[Steve Graham]

243,

Yes custom from off the shelf parts. Cliff's Welding in Made this for me many Years "BIGMW" (Before i got my welder) One thing you don't see is the outriggers that attach at the bottom of the drop hitch on each side and come up at a 45 degree and attach to the bumper to stableize the hitch.

Steve

 

[fmj]

TxRam, I have a hitch that is longer than Steves and it was custom made also. It is made of 2x2 solid bar stock and fully gusseted. It cost about $300 to make and while I have a welder, I wouldn't trust my welding on something like this. I had the opposite problem of you, I had a custom made 24' trailer made with a beaver tail door to make sure that my lowered car would fit with no problems, and I tow it with the 4X4. The hitch bar stock cost more than the welding, as I got cold roll. I've had no problems towing, but here's something else to consider. The length of the drop on the hitch has to create greater leverage than one with a 6" drop, which is about the longest standard you can buy. I am worried about the extra stress I placed on the whole towing package attached to the truck. I check it every so often and so far no signs of stressing. The raised height that your talking about will also create some instability, so you would have to watch speed. Here in So Cal I see a lot of guys jacked up higher than you are talking about, and they don't seem to have any problems. Just be careful. Hopefully someone here has exactly what you are considering and can really give you better info. Have fun.