Trailer hitch question?

[joshuabardwell]

Thanks Josh, I have been pricing class 5 s. What I have found so far has been $400 and up. I'll keep looking if I go that route. The trailer tongue weight won't be anywhere near the 500 lb. rating according to what the dealer told me. The sticker on the truck hitch just has 10,000 lb rating and 500 tongue. No other info.

If you're bumper pulling a 12k trailer and your tongue weight is much under 1.2k, you've got a problem, unless you know something I don't.

I would suggest looking into your owner's manual or calling the dealer, because those numbers are possibly incomplete, since they don't mention with or without WD. But rated tongue weight is basically always 10% of rated trailer weight, so 10k / 500 lbs is very unusual.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using TractorByNet

 

[Bday]

The first thing I would do is find a 2-5/16" ball rated for 14K, and the correct height 2" square ball mount rated for 14K.

No use beefing the hitch if you cant trust the mount and ball.

That's exactly what the dealer told me. Upgrade to the rated ball and mount. He told me not to spend the money on a heavier hitch. With that info, I thought adding some more meat to the hitch itself might help.

 

[Xfaxman]

Point taken on the liability issues. The trailer is only used here on my farm. Just hauling tractors and equipment from one farm to the other. The trailer wasn't purchased for long hauls with my truck. The trailer dealer I bought it from said my hitch would be fine I just needed to upgrade to a heavier receiver for a 2 1/2" ball. Hence the question for adding some structural strength to the hitch for the added weight.
If I was hauling long distances all the time and not just short trips a few times a year then I could see spending the money for a new hitch. Gross trailer weight shouldn't be much over 12,000 with what I haul. Thanks for all the competent posts! The trailer was bought at Tc trailers out of Frankfort, In. Call them up and see what they recommend for a hitch! That's what threw me on the hitch requirements.

Some salesmen will say anything to make a sale. A 2 1/2 ball mount is class 5.

How much does the empty trailer weigh?

My 14K metal deck gooseneck weighs 5150 pounds, leaving 8850 pounds to total 14K gross trailer weight (GTW).

From Reese hitch.

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.

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.

 

[s219]

Welding is just your ticket in the door, but to do it right you need to be able to design/analyze the mods, and to me that means having engineering skills and design tools. Or at least have a copy of an existing hitch rated for the loads you're after, which you can reverse engineer. I wouldn't go into this just based on welding skills alone though. Beefing up an existing design can often mean you overlook important details or weak points.

 

[aczlan]

How does $238 for a hitch rated at 1800# Tongue weight and 18000# Maximum gross trailer weigh sound?
Put the $150 you were going to spend in metal and the $100 that you can probbaly sell your current hitch for and you can pay yourself $18 to install the hitch while saving the time and consumables that you would have spent to beef up your current hitch.
See: Trailer Hitch for 2008 Dodge Ram Pickup - Curt C15604

Aaron Z

 

[Bday]

How does $238 for a hitch rated at 1800# Tongue weight and 18000# Maximum gross trailer weigh sound?
Put the $150 you were going to spend in metal and the $100 that you can probbaly sell your current hitch for and you can pay yourself $18 to install the hitch while saving the time and consumables that you would have spent to beef up your current hitch.
See: Trailer Hitch for 2008 Dodge Ram Pickup - Curt C15604

Aaron Z

Wow can't argue with the prices. Do you know anything about this brand? Thanks Aaron

 

[aczlan]

Curt is a fairly big name in trailer hitches. IIRC, they are made in the US.

Aaron Z

 

[s219]

Several of the big names in hitches are even made in the same factory, so often times you'll see the same hitch under a couple brands (perhaps even OEM) and if one is good they all are. I have installed a couple Curts over the years and they are good.

 

[Shield Arc]

Welding is the easy part, the engineering is the tricky part. Do you have any pictures of the hitch you want to beef up?

I've built several hitches, and a couple gooseneck adapters to convert bumper pull trailers to gooseneck.
I've also been involved in law suits for the company I worked for. Our legal system considers you an expert when you have 20 or more years in your field.
Here are some pictures of a Super Hitch I built for a friend. He has a 10-feet long camper that hangs over the back bumper, but he still needs to pull his horse trailer. I built this hitch about 10-years ago, still going strong.
First picture is of a factory hitch, with a longer extension. The last picture is of the completed hitch, before he installed the chains.

 

[Bday]

Welding is the easy part, the engineering is the tricky part. Do you have any pictures of the hitch you want to beef up?

I've built several hitches, and a couple gooseneck adapters to convert bumper pull trailers to gooseneck.
I've also been involved in law suits for the company I worked for. Our legal system considers you an expert when you have 20 or more years in your field.
Here are some pictures of a Super Hitch I built for a friend. He has a 10-feet long camper that hangs over the back bumper, but he still needs to pull his horse trailer. I built this hitch about 10-years ago, still going strong.
First picture is of a factory hitch, with a longer extension. The last picture is of the completed hitch, before he installed the chains.

Hey looks great shield arc! Amazing how easy it is to fab something up isn't it. Is that 3/8s for the brackets? What's the wall thickness on the tubing? What's the weight rating on it? Are you worried about any liability issues with your work?

 

[Shield Arc]

That was so long ago I don't remember a lot about it. It does look like 3/8-inch material. I think the pipe was 4-inch, sch 80.
I don't know the weight rating, but Jack has a L3200 Kubota tractor with all most 2,000-pound counterweight. When he got home he hooked up his flatbed trailer, backed his tractor on the trailer, and bounced the counterweight a dozen or so times. Then placed a straight edge on the stinger part. Looked good to him.
No I'm not worried about liability issues at all. These are nothing compared to what I use to build.
Sure I don't recommended everybody build a trailer hitch, and especially with a 120-volt Mig welder! When ever I build something I'm not sure about, I know lots of engineers that I just e-mail a drawing to, for their approval. Like this bridge crane I built for my shop, I designed it, but the head of the engineering department of the company I worked for approved it. Just like this gooseneck adapter I built, approved by an engineer. Like I said the welding is the easy part!

 

[Diamondpilot]

Curt is a great hitch. We sell and install quite a few. Best finish in the industry in my opinion.

Chris

 

[Bday]

Thanks Guys!! That's the info I was looking for!

 

[Bday]

That was so long ago I don't remember a lot about it. It does look like 3/8-inch material. I think the pipe was 4-inch, sch 80.
I don't know the weight rating, but Jack has a L3200 Kubota tractor with all most 2,000-pound counterweight. When he got home he hooked up his flatbed trailer, backed his tractor on the trailer, and bounced the counterweight a dozen or so times. Then placed a straight edge on the stinger part. Looked good to him.
No I'm not worried about liability issues at all. These are nothing compared to what I use to build.
Sure I don't recommended everybody build a trailer hitch, and especially with a 120-volt Mig welder! When ever I build something I'm not sure about, I know lots of engineers that I just e-mail a drawing
to, for their approval. Like this bridge crane I built for my shop, I designed it, but the head of the engineering department of the company I worked for approved it. Just like this gooseneck adapter I built, approved by an engineer. Like I said the welding is the easy part!

Trailer looks great!!:thumbsup:

 

[Willl]

That overhead crane would look awesome in my shop. Nice.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've built most of my hitches and a few couplers back when I worked in a Fab Shop and welding certified.

If anything... they are overbuilt and never a problem in more than 30 years...

A lot of my equipment is one off or custom made... some 60 years ago or more and not a single weight rating or stamp to be found.

Anyone remember the first Barden Bumpers with tow platform for pickups? No rating on those either.

 

[Shield Arc]

Here are a couple of the last hitches I've made. And an extension for a friend. I wouldn't use that thing, but that's what he wanted. :laughing:

 

[Bday]

You sure that will hold? :laughing:

 

[Shield Arc]

You sure that will hold? :laughing:

I think it puts too much leverage on the receiver myself! But he likes it. He says it helps to back his boat around the corner of his house.:confused3:

 

[joshuabardwell]

SA, on that first one, on the Ford truck, does the tube extend further back to counteract the leverage, or is it welded on to the plate that is visible in the photo? No gussets or anything? Coming from a woodworking background, I constantly have to rethink how I design things with metal. Something that, with wood, you'd need a ton of bracing/gussets, with metal, you just take two pieces, weld them together, and call it done. But I'm never sure just how far that principle extends.