What size drop hitch?

[StevenJ]

What size drop hitch do you recommend for a 2 wheel drive 3500 DRW? My 20 ft car hauler has a 19" top of ball height. It appears that to allow an inch or so of suspension travel with a load I would need a 3" drop which would give me about a 20 1/2" top of ball on the truck. Problem is, no one seems to make a 3" drop for a heavy duty ball mount. How much will the suspension compress with a load? Would a 4" drop and a ball with a 1" rise work OK?

 

[Hoagie]

I think that the real question is how the trailer sits when it is on the ball. If it is tilted upwards from level and you break hard the trailer weight will lift at the rear of the truck through the ball and cause possible loss of control. If it is level or slightly downward then the weight transfer presses the rear of the truck downward and the weight is transfered onto the axle allowing for breaking and control.

Hope that makes sense.

Hoagie

 

[rbattelle]

How heavy is the trailer and car? If it's under 6000 lb you could use an adjustable mount.



Ryan

 

[DPelletier]

You should probably be using a WD hitch set-up anyway since you will be way over the factory hitch's dead weight rating without one even if your trailer isn't enclosed. IF your loaded trailer only weighs 6000 lbs, then with the tongue weight between 12% and 15% (720 - 900lbs) is way over a Class IV deadweight rating of 500lbs. A WD set-up gives you a 1000 lb rating on a standard Class IV.



My equalizer head is adjustable as are most that I've seen. My advice is to use an adjustable WD set-up.



Cheers,

Dave