Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

[Dftodd]

There's definitely good reason for having 2-5/16". I think the original argument made a good point though, in that 2" and 1-7/8" are so similar that having both of these standards yields more trouble than solutions.

How many of us have backed up to a trailer where the tongue is coated in paint so thick you can't even find the stamped coupler size? Towing a lot of boats at the marina, this was a constant source of frustration. I had to always make sure I had both size balls in the truck, and the ball size I needed was always on the wrong height (drop) hitch.

Having both 1-7/8" and 2" standards should have never been allowed, and discontinuing one or the other cannot come soon enough, IMO. I honestly wonder how many trailers hop off balls every year, due to people putting 2" couplers onto their 1-7/8" balls, not even realizing it's not a match. When you skip up to 2-5/16", the mismatch is obvious to even the most amateur hauler, but I could see a lot of less experienced people mixing up the smaller two sizes without even realizing it.

There are a bunch that come off with people putting 2 5/16 on a 2" ball as well. People don't pay attention. Get complacent, etc....

My father in law stopped by to pick up the tractor.

Borrowed a trailer from his friend.

My brother in law guided pops back and hooked the trailer up for him.

They get to my place. Pops brings the tractor around.

I stop him until I can chock the trailer tires.

Pops starts up the trailer and the tongue flies up off the ball

If I hadn't chocked the tires, the trailer tongue would have gone through the back window of my mother in laws buggy

Brother in law latched the hitch, but neglected to make sure it was on the ball properly before latching.

It was sitting on top of the ball.

I pulled my father in law off to the side and mentioned that is the exact reason, I do not allow someone to hook up a trailer for me.

 

[Dftodd]

There's definitely good reason for having 2-5/16". I think the original argument made a good point though, in that 2" and 1-7/8" are so similar that having both of these standards yields more trouble than solutions.

How many of us have backed up to a trailer where the tongue is coated in paint so thick you can't even find the stamped coupler size? Towing a lot of boats at the marina, this was a constant source of frustration. I had to always make sure I had both size balls in the truck, and the ball size I needed was always on the wrong height (drop) hitch.

Having both 1-7/8" and 2" standards should have never been allowed, and discontinuing one or the other cannot come soon enough, IMO. I honestly wonder how many trailers hop off balls every year, due to people putting 2" couplers onto their 1-7/8" balls, not even realizing it's not a match. When you skip up to 2-5/16", the mismatch is obvious to even the most amateur hauler, but I could see a lot of less experienced people mixing up the smaller two sizes without even realizing it.

On a side note. I haven't seen 1 7/8 for quite a while. Even the wood splitter I purchased about 8 years ago came set up for a 2" ball.

I think the only thing I've seen set up for 1 7/8 in 20 years was pops Harbor Freight 4x6 utility trailer.

 

[WinterDeere]

On a side note. I haven't seen 1 7/8 for quite a while. Even the wood splitter I purchased about 8 years ago came set up for a 2" ball.

I think the only thing I've seen set up for 1 7/8 in 20 years was pops Harbor Freight 4x6 utility trailer.

Yeah, I've been noticing the same. All of my newer light trailers, and yes... even my little log splitter, are 2".

I race Thistle Class sailboats, and because the heyday of that class was somewhere between 1950 and 1990, there are a lot of older trailers floating around in the fleet. For those guys 1-7/8" seems to be the most common, and even my own Thistle trailer is a restored 1980's Wesco with a 1-7/8" ball coupler welded onto it from the factory.

So, maybe it's that 1-7/8" used to be more common than it is today, and trailer manufacturers have already seen and addressed this potential problem.

 

[LD48750]

Growing up 1 7/8 was the standard, 2 was unheard of.
By the time I got old enough to tow things, both were in use but 2 came to be standard.
Never saw a 2 5/16 until a few years ago & still don't have anything that uses that size ball.

 

[ning]

I should probably explain my fetish for having receiver tubing on most everything.

I've been thinking of putting a receiver on the back of my rotary mower and/or my tiller, so I can tow my log splitter easily and have a big counterweight on the tractor to handle totes of wood.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I think the only thing I've seen set up for 1 7/8 in 20 years was pops Harbor Freight 4x6 utility trailer.

Even the first 4x8 Harbor Freight trailer I bought in the '90s came with a 2-inch coupler. Of course, they're rated at a whopping 2,000 lbs.

Pieces of crap, really, but cheap enough to have around and use on the property when real trailers aren't needed. Well, at least they used to be cheap.

 

[ning]

My log splitter has a 1 7/8", and I used to have a 3-rail motorcycle trailer that was 1 7/8".
Yes it's a pain, I should swap the coupler.

Come to think of it

for $16 I'll definitely swap the coupler. I'm sure the HF coupler will stand up to the rigors of occasionally moving the log splitter a couple hundred feet here or there on the land...

Derp, why didn't I think of that.

 

[California]

When I bought the little 4 ft x 4 ft HF trailer for a camping Jeep trailer, I insisted they give me a 2" coupler in place of the 1-7/8.

And I bought and installed a 2" coupler on the second 4x4 trailer that I modified with a Tote, to make it into an orchard watering trailer. That trailer is grossly overloaded but in 10+ years use nothing has broken - to my surprise.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

That trailer is grossly overloaded but in 10+ years use nothing has broken - to my surprise.

I've managed to bend the axle a bit on one 4x8 by overloading it big time, but a weak spot is where the two halves come together in the middle.

Some reinforcements in that area took care of it.

 

[deezler]

There are a bunch that come off with people putting 2 5/16 on a 2" ball as well. People don't pay attention. Get complacent, etc....

My dear neighbor, old man Bob, hauled his 10k dump trailer for YEARS using a 2" ball. I didn't discover it until my other neighbor buddy borrowed it one day and I saw up close what he was doing. Neither of them noticed any issue at all, thought it was fine. I bought them both 10k rated 2-5/16" hitch insert balls the next day.

 

[Dftodd]

My dear neighbor, old man Bob, hauled his 10k dump trailer for YEARS using a 2" ball. I didn't discover it until my other neighbor buddy borrowed it one day and I saw up close what he was doing. Neither of them noticed any issue at all, thought it was fine. I bought them both 10k rated 2-5/16" hitch insert balls the next day.

We had a huge pothole in front of the shop. I was leaving the yard with a 10,000lb piece of equipment.

One side of the equipment dropped into the pothole really cranking the hitch to the side.

The hitch popped off the ball.

The equipment would balance on the two axles. Well, when it came loose, the tongue dropped under the bumper and got hung up.

I bailed out of the truck, and had to grab the forklift from the shop and lift the back end of the truck up about two feet to free it from the equipment

 

[Too many Kubotas]

My dear neighbor, old man Bob, hauled his 10k dump trailer for YEARS using a 2" ball. I didn't discover it until my other neighbor buddy borrowed it one day and I saw up close what he was doing. Neither of them noticed any issue at all, thought it was fine. I bought them both 10k rated 2-5/16" hitch insert balls the next day.

Unrelated, but there are 2-inch balls rated at 10K. Had to search for a while after buying a little 10' Thule 3-way dump trailer that came with a 2" coupler and needed more than a typical 2" ball.

Eventually got really tired of hooking up that special (and swiveling) coupler, lopped it off and welded on a tow ring.

 

[BigBlue1]

Unrelated, but there are 2-inch balls rated at 10K. Had to search for a while after buying a little 10' Thule 3-way dump trailer that came with a 2" coupler and needed more than a typical 2" ball.

Eventually got really tired of hooking up that special (and swiveling) coupler, lopped it off and welded on a tow ring.

I think he's implying that the neighbor managed to get away with using a 2 5/16" coupler on a 2" ball.

 

[BigBlue1]

My dear neighbor, old man Bob, hauled his 10k dump trailer for YEARS using a 2" ball. I didn't discover it until my other neighbor buddy borrowed it one day and I saw up close what he was doing. Neither of them noticed any issue at all, thought it was fine. I bought them both 10k rated 2-5/16" hitch insert balls the next day.

As long as there is good tongue weight, a smooth road and a bit of luck they can get away with hooking that 2 5/16" coupler to a 2" ball. When you lose any of those then things get messy.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I think he's implying that the neighbor managed to get away with using a 2 5/16" coupler on a 2" ball.

Which is why I wrote "Unrelated".

 

[WinterDeere]

My dear neighbor, old man Bob, hauled his 10k dump trailer for YEARS using a 2" ball. I didn't discover it until my other neighbor buddy borrowed it one day and I saw up close what he was doing. Neither of them noticed any issue at all, thought it was fine. I bought them both 10k rated 2-5/16" hitch insert balls the next day.

Not as bad, but I realized after several years that the drop hitch I was using between my truck and 7000 lb. trailer was rated only 6000 lb (or was it 5000 lb.?). I had bought that hitch years earlier for a much lighter trailer, and re-purposed it for the new trailer, never taking the time to read the little "max load" numbers stamped on it. It was all 2" receiver stuff, but I've since replaced it to correct that oversight.

 

[cmyoung2]

I use a tri ball, solid shank that has 1 7/8"(never used) 2" and 2 5/16".. I have 2 trailers that use the 2", a bigger 16' that uses 2 5/16" and all the trailers at the farm use the larger size. I painted the 2" side with orange paint, 2 5/16" with green paint so I can tell at a glance or in my backup camera if I have the correct ball size. Before the paint, I have been know to forget to rotate the balls---I do love safety chains.

 

[WinterDeere]

I use a tri ball, solid shank that has 1 7/8"(never used) 2" and 2 5/16"...

Those things look wonderfully convenient for the rare person who's truck and trailer are near the same height. I've never been that lucky, and run drops of 4" to 6" between my current truck and various trailers.

 

[square1]

Those things look wonderfully convenient for the rare person who's truck and trailer are near the same height. I've never been that lucky, and run drops of 4" to 6" between my current truck and various trailers.

Between 2 tow vehicles & 3 trailers it takes 3 stingers to keep everything level. The 2 15/16" ball in the 3" drop is swapped 180 degrees at times depending on which vehicle is hooked to the cargo trailer. I really should buy a 2nd set up for that trailer. Far to often I find myself trying to hook up a trailer - vehicle combo with the needed stinger in the "other vehicle" or no wrench to swap the ball to the other side

 

[Oaktree]

My log splitter has a 1 7/8",

Mine too. Only place I ever use it is on my own property so I just put a 1 7/8 ball on the ATV. Don't use the ATV to tow anything else so it all works out.