Bet Your Towing Illegally!!!!! So Check Your Balls!!!!!!!

[Redlands Okie]

All the above is good info to have. The one downside is that every trailor you pass or follow will have you wondering
I suspect very few of the failures of balls or hitches are accurately accounted for in accidents.
I also wonder why there is even a choice. Make em all good for 10,000 or 15,000 lbs and be done with it. If all of them were built that way do you really think anyone would notice a price difference, talking about mass production here. Some of that corporate penny pinching haunting us.

 

[searcyfarms]

I worry more about the knuckleheads than anything I am towing with my rigs - so many don't know how to tow let alone how to set up something for towing or even get electric brakes and how to set them up or even know they need a brake controller to make them work -

what kind of shape is your vehicle in that is doing the towing too........great info and great ideas and great logic I just wish so many more would think about things - so many think baaaah I thot that is what the safety chains are for

 

[r porter]

a long long time ago I bought a new truck and needed a new ball. so I asked the wife to stop at a trailer sales place that sold large gooseneck trailers and buy a 10,000 lb ball. all the guy had in stock was 5,000lb balls and he was installing them on hitches of trucks he sold for pulling 15000 lb trailers.

so yes there is a lot of under rated balls out there.

and yes I have heard of one breaking and I had one break on the farm just 3 years ago.

 

[bdog]

2-5/16 are the ones that scare me. I have seen them range from 7,500 to 30,000. The lower end ones are normally put on receiver hitches and the higher rated ones on gooseneck hitches. Years ago we had three brand new work trucks and took them to a reputable trailer shop to have flatbeds with gooseneck hitches installed. They used 7,500 lb balls for the goosenecks on all three when 14k gooseneck trailers are very common and about the smallest anyone uses around here in a gooseneck configuration.

 

[3Lfarms]

The part that really scares me is most pickups come with a class IV hitch rated at 10k lbs with a weight distribution hitch. Most will hitch up a 14k trailer without a second thought.

I installed a 16K B&W class V hitch on my dually with an 18k shank and 18k ball.

 

[mcfarmall]

One of my favorite pastimes is to sit at a state park campground and watch the rigs roll in. MANY of them have improperly set up weight distribution hitches with the tow vehicle sagging and the rear end of the trailer high up in the air. First concern is safety. Secondly, dumping the gray and black waste tanks must be a real treat when the trailer is so far out of level front to rear.

With my travel trailer, it has to be pretty much dead nuts level front to rear in order for the tanks to drain completely. Although this is straying from the original balls conversation, I also enjoy people towing their travel trailers at 75-80mph down the road. My TT tires are rated for 65mph.

 

[ddbackhoe]

One of my favorite pastimes is to sit at a state park campground and watch the rigs roll in. MANY of them have improperly set up weight distribution hitches with the tow vehicle sagging and the rear end of the trailer high up in the air. First concern is safety. Secondly, dumping the gray and black waste tanks must be a real treat when the trailer is so far out of level front to rear.

With my travel trailer, it has to be pretty much dead nuts level front to rear in order for the tanks to drain completely. Although this is straying from the original balls conversation, I also enjoy people towing their travel trailers at 75-80mph down the road. My TT tires are rated for 65mph.

Some of you guys get overly concerned. Weight ratings are only guesstimates, tie downs are for sissies and real men use the brakes to steer. ****, why bother having insurance if you never plan on using it?

 

[fried1765]

Ok, so Let me explain,,,, Up until a year ago I been running a New Holland t1510 with loader Ballasted rear tires approximate total weight of say 5000 lbs Not exact just estimate. So i been pulling it around with my 1500 chevy no problems pushing the limits with 16 ft trailer but no problems. Then I go get A New Holland Workmaster 60 f.e.ll and Ballasted tires. Estimated weight 7000 lbs give or take. Realizing I needed a larger pull truck I found a 1985 ford 350 with the 460 and C6 trans Plenty of payload/gvwr of 15000 lbs. Then i got to looking at my trailer its a 20 ft hauler with a 7500 lb rating and it has a steel deck. So now i got to find me a trailer because 7000 plus 2000 lbs estimated trailer is more than 7500 lbs......:thumbsup: But in my quest i have ran into an interesting find that i think most people overlook.... The Receiver and ball and pin, now my f350 has a bumper hitch class 5 rated for 10,000 lbs. and 14000 with LOAD LEVELERS INSTALLED. So I got the receiver ........ But do you realize that most 2" hitch tubes are rated for 5000 to 7500 lbs. and then they are held in the receiver by only a 5/8 pin and that pin may or may not be rated for more than 5000 lbs. and on top of that the ball themselves may only have a rating of 5000 or 7500 lbs stamped on them,,, heck i just looked at a 2 5/16" ball at a local parts store today that only had a 8000 lb rating. Now i am no stickler here and have over loaded farm equipment to "get er Done" more than once but after looking around and only finding a few 2" hitches actually rated for 10,000 lbs. I'm taking a second look at a lot of towing stuff.

So CHECK YOUR BALLS!!!! and I bet you, and me, for now, are towing Illegally weather it be your Receiver, Your Hitch, Your Ball, or Your Pin that's the weak link It's worth a look and cheaper than the possible lawsuit after the accident to...... FIX IT NOW......

And YES to those of you who want to say it I know....Just get a Gooseneck...My reply Check you GVWR'S You may be surprised after you take your truck and trailer weight out just how little you can legally haul and don;t forget to take your weight out too ... But this is not the debate!!! Receiver Balls and Hitches are.......

Though my trailer has a 14.000 lb. GVW rating, my class IV Curt receiver is rated for 12,000 lb,(with Equal-i-zer hitch) so I limit my tow to 12,000 lb., and use my Equal-i-zer hitch.
I weigh my loaded trailer if I think I may be anywhere near my 12,000 lb. limit.
My hitch ball is rated for 15,000 lb. and ball mount is rated for 14,000 lb.
I use properly rated breakaway safety chains, and test/charge my breakaway battery regularly.
Works (and is safe) for me!

 

[ultrarunner]

Looked to see what Balls I had on the shelf.

1", 1 3/4, 1 7/8, 2 and 2 5/16

The one inch are for the 1950's tent trailer... it is of the single wheel variety seldom seen today... towed like a dream behind the VW rabbit.

The 1 3/4 is for an old tow behind cement mixed... it was old in the 1960's so who knows how old?

Accumulated lots of hitch parts from when I worked at a dealership... passenger cars taken in on trade with a hitch were sold without the hitch...

One hitch I used a lot is the bumper clamp on hitch... it word well for the little box trailer everyone was always borrowing... professional Valley model... last car I had it one was a 1976 Ford Granada...

 

[JimWalch]

This looks real safe! Ha