Towing TT with factory receiver

[PRawls]

I have a Crossroads Cruiser CT32SB.

Dry Weight: 7496

GVWR: 11265

Carrying Capacity: 3088

Hitch Weight: 1105

Hitch Weight Ratio: 15%

Axle Weight: 6391



I have a blue ox weight distributing hitch and antisway setup (nice equip, incase you're looking). I have not weighed the trailer loaded for travel. Am I exceeding my factory class III receiver with the figures above??

 

[MPerez]

Well, the receiver on my truck is "supposedly" a class IV, and is rated to pull no more than 10K with load distribution bars. I would guess that if you have a class III you are exceeding it a lot. FWIW Dodge says right in every owners manual that any bumper pull can not exceed 10K and if over that you need to go to a goose/fiver connection.

Following is a paste from Reese's web site:

* Class I
* Class I hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 2000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 200 lbs.

A Class I hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.

A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.

Class I hitches usually attach to the bumper, truck pan or vehicle frame.

Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating.

* Class II
* Class II hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 3500 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 300 lbs.

A Class II hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.

A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.

Class II hitches usually attach to the bumper or vehicle frame.

Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating.

* Class III
* Class III hitches are weight carrying (WC) and also are weight distributing (WD) depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.

Not all Class III hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.

Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.

Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.

A Class III hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.

A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

Class III hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating.

* Class IV
* Class IV hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.

Not all Class IV hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.

Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.

Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.

A Class IV hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.

A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

Class IV hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating.

* Class V
* Class V hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.

Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.

Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.

Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.

A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.

Class V hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating.

 

[PRawls]

My factory receiver has a sticker that says 10000/1000# trailer/tongue weight with weight distribution. Wondering who else is towing a similar load with stock equipment?

 

[RCook]

I've been towing a boat trailer weighing 11,500 or so with my 1998 - some 38,000 miles all over the mountainous west. Tongue weight is about 900-950.



Have also towed my much lighter travel trailer nearly 30,000 miles, including an 11,000 mile trip to Alaska, on some pretty bumpy roads. All this with the Dodge receiver, and I don't use weight-distributing gear.



Before every trip, I check the receiver for signs of bending or cracking, and have seen none since Dodge recalled and replaced the original stock hitch with a reinforced version, in maybe 1999.



My original factory receiver did develop cracks, but I had also done some boat towing with a different setup that had the tongue weight upwards of 1200 on that original receiver.

 

[brista]

My factory receiver has a sticker that says 10000/1000# trailer/tongue weight with weight distribution. Wondering who else is towing a similar load with stock equipment?

I do. .



Specifications

GVWR (lbs) 10,700

Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) 2,649

Gross Dry Weight (lbs) 8,051

Hitch Dry Weight (lbs) 1,215



I've been closely watching my hitch on the truck. No problems with it so far but I will be going to something heavier.

 

[bagd99dak]

well i haul my show truck around to shows all the time, the trailer loaded up is about 7k. tongue weight is almost 1000 lbs. never a problem and truck handles its perfectly. i have no antisway or weight distribution on it. just airbags in the rear of the ram.

 

[Jeepinjason]

I towed my Arctic Fox 31W and it weighed in over 10,000 pounds and it really handled well. I am not sure how you would get your trailer up to much over 10,000 pounds unless you towed it with a full water tank. Even my wife would have a hard time stuffing in 2,500 pounds of crap into the trailer. I always tow with just enough water in the tanks to flush the toilets and wash your hands. You can generally fill up at the campground or close to your destination if you are camping dry.

 

[PRawls]

Its not so much the tow weight as the tongue weight. Empty the tongue weight is right at 1K. I could help that out by packing the tail end of the trailer rather than the front.

 

[GCULP]

I could help that out by packing the tail end of the trailer rather than the front.

YES, but be careful, you may reduce the tongue weight, but increase your chance of swaying due to the trailer being out balance.

 

[PRawls]

I need to get the thing on the scales and see what reality has dealt me. Then I'll decide on if I'm really overloading the receiver or not. I keep getting conflicting information about tongue weight and weight distributing hitches. The Reese site says...

"Weight distributing hitches apply leverage between the towing vehicle and trailer causing the TW to be carried by all axles of the tow vehicle and trailer. When TW is distributed in this way, trailers with greater TWs can be towed, resulting in a more level ride which reduces stress on the rear of the tow vehicle and provides greater steering and brake control. "

Do you take this into account when figuring the max tongue weight? or after? I. e. if my tongue weight is 1100# sitting on the ground am I over my receiver rating? Or its 1100#, but when I crank up the arms on my WD, I've only got 800# at the coupler now, so I'm not over the rating. Not sure if I explained the question correctly or not, but its the best I can do.

 

[brista]

I need to get the thing on the scales and see what reality has dealt me. Then I'll decide on if I'm really overloading the receiver or not. I keep getting conflicting information about tongue weight and weight distributing hitches. The Reese site says...



"Weight distributing hitches apply leverage between the towing vehicle and trailer causing the TW to be carried by all axles of the tow vehicle and trailer. When TW is distributed in this way, trailers with greater TWs can be towed, resulting in a more level ride which reduces stress on the rear of the tow vehicle and provides greater steering and brake control. "



Do you take this into account when figuring the max tongue weight? or after? I. e. if my tongue weight is 1100# sitting on the ground am I over my receiver rating? Or its 1100#, but when I crank up the arms on my WD, I've only got 800# at the coupler now, so I'm not over the rating. Not sure if I explained the question correctly or not, but its the best I can do.

Good question... I understand what you are asking. Hitch manufacturers take the weight into account before you strap up the WD system. i. e. They will rate a hitch for 800 lb. weight carrying OR 1200 lb if you use WD system. In this example the hitch will carry 800 lb on the tongue safely, but if you use WD which will redistribute the load on all the axles then you could haul a 1200 lb TW trailer. Make sense?



Yes you should get to a scale and check things out. I did and was quite surprised to find out my 1200 lb dry TW trailer was at 1600 lbs TW the way I had it loaded. I did some experimenting at the scales because they were closed so I could use the self weigh all I wanted and not bother anyone. I found out that my WD system unloaded 700 lbs off my rear axle and put 500 lbs back on the front and 200 lbs on the trailer axles.



I can verify the load on the coupler thing shortly as I was also testing a hitch from http://www.airhitchtechnology.com I know what it took for PSI in the air bag of the hitch to raise it to operating position without WD bars. The dealer will soon have the WD bracket in for the hitch and I'll try it again with my WD bars and see how much psi it takes to raise the hitch to operating position. If this doesn't make any sense click on the link and look at the receiver hitches.



Brian

 

[PRawls]

Surprise. Didn't know but my factory hitch is a class IV 12000/1200# with WD. Also didn't know that the round tube that the receiver is welded to is actually a STRUCTURAL CROSSMEMBER!? If I replace the hitch I have to cut the receiver off and keep the tube crossmember. OR go with the Reese tow Beast. The manual also considers the bumper mount to be a class III hitch?

 

[GAmes]

The classes of hitch capability vary by manufacturer. What is a class V to Reese is a class IV for someone else. There is no industry standard. My after market receiver is rated at 1500/15,000. According to Reese that is a Class V, (by weight rating) but it has a 2" sqare opening, so it is a class IV by their standard. Forget the "class" designation and go by what the actual hitch you have installed is rated for.