Towing a TT one time

[HammaMan]

If it's a 2" trailer, the limitation is there. There's a 3:1 on a hitch as you've posted -- but he said nothing of a 2" drop hitch. I carry a 3 in 1 10klb tri-ball for the uni work. OP needs to clarify as to what he's referring to. The C4 hitch on fords has a sticker on it that says 500/5klb.

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[DT444T]

There's a 3:1 on a hitch as you've posted

what?

but he said nothing of a 2" drop hitch.

the amount of drop is irrelevant

I carry a 3 in 1 10klb tri-ball for the uni work

irrelevant

OP needs to clarify as to what he's referring to

he did. He asked if he should use a hitch rated for 5000 pounds to tow something heavier than 5000 pounds. It is that simple. You're reading WAY too much into this.

The C4 hitch on fords has a sticker on it that says 500/5klb.

The hitch is the ford C4 hitch rated to 12klbs

Which is it? 5000 or 12,000?

 

[HammaMan]

Which is it? 5000 or 12,000?

12k (his is actually max tow rated at 14k). There's a sticker that says 500/5k and see manual. If he did in-fact mean that he's got the 500/5k hitch/ball combo, that'd handle his single tow w/out issue. Trying to use that for regular towing of such a weight would eventually start to bend it. It's got a safety factor built into of 3:1, as in it'll break at 1500/15k. Look into the destructive testing of them if you want more info.

 

[kevdog0710]

As someone above already stated, check the trailer. Tires, bearing especially. As long as the hitch is correct for the weight of the trailer, the truck will be fine. If the tires are bad or the bearings are bad you could put yourself and others on the road at risk. Nothing worse than a trailer tire blowout.

 

[mdn14]

Thank you for the replies everyone! I will definitely be taking a look at the tires, brakes and bearings before pulling the trailer off the lot as well as where the holding tanks are and filling them if needed. It is worth mentioning that this trailer has at least been under a covered overbuild for a majority (90%+) of its life.

As for the hitch questions, my ball mount is rated for 5000lbs. Not sure what my ball is rated for (its stamped on the top - just haven't looked yet) but I figure its also got to be at least 5000 since it was purchased with the mount.

As for the receiver, it is my understanding that the receiver is limited to 500lbs tongue weight and 5000 lbs gross trailer weight with a weight bearing hitch (like what DT444T posted in post 15). I can only achieve the higher tongue and trailer pull capacities with a WDH.

 

[hedge]

This is where using the correct terms is useful. The part attached to the truck ie the receiver is the 'hitch'. The piece that slides into the hitch is called the 'ball mount'. Drives me crazy (OCD) when people call the ball mount a hitch, although I know it is quite common to call it that.

 

[Tosh]

I'm not an expert on travel trailers by any means, but I do have some experience with my rig.

My understanding is that the hitch receiver is not limited to 500 lbs of tongue weight. That limitation might be imposed by the hitch/ball assembly that is inserted into the receiver, however.

 

[Aron]

I'm not an expert on travel trailers by any means, but I do have some experience with my rig.

My understanding is that the hitch receiver is not limited to 500 lbs of tongue weight. That limitation might be imposed by the hitch/ball assembly that is inserted into the receiver, however.

You might want to check your truck again. The limit is 500 lb without a WDH.

Admittedly, it’s not the easiest label to notice if you’re not looking for it—you have to crawl under the truck and look up at the hitch receiver from below.

 

[{tpc}]

You should be able to pick up a WDH online, probably on craigslist. I would probably just do that, and pay the $200-$300 it might cost. Round bar styles should be easy to come by, and unless you want to add in a friction sway bar, I think most of the stuff just bolts right on, no drilling necessary.

If you wanted to add the friction sway bar which would need to be mounted to the trailer, it probably would take all of 20 minutes.

A quick craigslist search of central ohio shows a few different ones, ranging from $100 on up depending on style and what area you are in. Just be sure it has all the brackets necessary or buy them separately if they don't have them. A lot of people sell/trade in trailers and forget the hardware left on the trailer itself.

In the end it will be safer and easier. I imagine even with the max tow, your going to take some weight off the front wheels which could make for not much fun steering in the event of bad weather. The WDH will help with that, and should you ever have to do it again, you will have the hitch.

 

[Aron]

As for the hitch questions, my ball mount is rated for 5000lbs. Not sure what my ball is rated for (its stamped on the top - just haven't looked yet) but I figure its also got to be at lest 5000 since it was purchased with the mount.

If this is the case, then I revise my previous answer. I thought that you were referring to the weight carrying limit that I posted above (coincidentally at the same value). The 5000lb ball mount likely wouldn’t fail, but you’re knowingly exceeding the strength specs of a critical part, and hoping that the designers’ factor of safety is high enough to keep it from failing. I would not risk an expensive trailer (and an even more expensive truck) on such a cheap part. Spend the little bit of money to ensure that you don’t have failing parts. And if you’re going to buy a new ball mount anyway, I recommend that you spend the extra hundred dollars and buy a cheap weight distributing hitch instead, to gain the obvious benefits from that setup.

 

[Tosh]

You might want to check your truck again. The limit is 500 lb without a WDH.

Admittedly, it’s not the easiest label to notice if you’re not looking for it—you have to crawl under the truck and look up at the hitch receiver from below.

thank you for that - it's news to me!

 

[RickBullotta]

I wouldn't go on the PA Turnpike at 55 though. That's gonna create some traffic issues and a lot of stress.

 

[mdn14]

I wouldn't be on the turn pike if I take any highway. Would be OH-22 to I-79 then I-80. I haven't fully determined the route yet. I think I am leaning towards buying a used WDH and towing @ 65. Still very fluid here though

 

[mdn14]

I guess my next question is: will just about any WDH work for any travel trailer? I assume they're pretty universal?

A few Husky centerlines, a reese with friction sway, and an equalizer torsion hitch are near me.

 

[Aron]

Are they all the same? No. Different setups will provide differing amounts of counter-moment to "bend" your truck-trailer profile back closer to straight. However, in your case, where you have an empty trailer just over the maximum threshold to need a WDH at all, it's probably less important to dial in the WDH to fit your exact needs. On bigger trailers, or trailers that are more front-weighted (which impart more vertical load onto the hitch), it's more important to get something that's tailored to the individual need, especially if you're going to be towing a lot.

Think of your truck like a big lever: your trailer tongue puts a whole lot of weight on one end of the truck frame (with the rear truck tires functioning as the lever fulcrum), which has the effect of over-weighting the rear truck axle while pushing up the front of the truck. If this upward force is too large, your front tires have less contact with the ground, which could significantly impact your ability to control the vehicle at all. If there's enough weight on the hitch, your trailer-truck profile will look kind of like a "V," where the vertex is at the hitch point. A weight distributing hitch setup is designed to provide moment (twisting force) in the opposite direction to straighten out that "V." This has the practical effect of counteracting the vertical force on the rear truck axle and pushing that force to the outside of the "V" (to the trailer axles and the front truck axle), and will help to keep your vehicle steering properly. You'll sometimes hear people say that WDHs remove tongue weight, but that's not really accurate. The trailer tongue still has just as much weight as it always did...it's just that the WDH forces that load to be carried by other axles rather than the rear axle of the truck.

You can purchase WDHs that impart more or less moment than you really need, and as you can imagine, the effects of those setups is that the truck has either too much or too little force transferred to the front axle, potentially resulting in your trailer-truck profile still looking like a "V", or even possibly the reverse ("/\"). I suppose that your specific situation might warrant this more if you take @Buyer2021 's advice to fill up all water tanks; I don't know what your trailer's individual fluid capacities are. Remember that water weights about 8.5 lbs per gallon, and do the math--you might be adding quite a bit of weight by filling them up fully, and that could potentially affect these calculations.

I think that your situation would be adequately served by one of the less-expensive WDHs that you can find. Here's one example that I just found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/XtremepowerUS-Distribution-Equalizer-Trailer-Control/dp/B01NBP7XT8/ref=sr_1_9?crid=3M6UONWGZBCQS&keywords=weight+distribution+hitches&qid=1679498534&sprefix=weight+d,aps,166&sr=8-9&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

(Note that there's an even cheaper option on amazon, but it looks awful fiddly, so I might suggest avoiding this one: https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Ball-Drop-Rise-Chains/dp/B0BG2D2229/ref=sxin_26_ci_mcx_mi_sr_m_ts?content-id=amzn1.sym.5aa38d01-f4e4-49d0-aaaa-bf65d3f91314:amzn1.sym.5aa38d01-f4e4-49d0-aaaa-bf65d3f91314&crid=3M6UONWGZBCQS&cv_ct_cx=weight+distribution+hitches&keywords=weight+distribution+hitches&pd_rd_i=B0BG2D2229&pd_rd_r=b8d897c8-1d5e-479e-ac80-8eee3cf46e00&pd_rd_w=g1xrx&pd_rd_wg=ndD4q&pf_rd_p=5aa38d01-f4e4-49d0-aaaa-bf65d3f91314&pf_rd_r=QD0T2BWDYGS1XP28YHHX&qid=1679498644&sbo=RZvfv//HxDF+O5021pAnSA==&sprefix=weight+d,aps,166&sr=1-1-adf8a58d-854e-4c79-9f56-e84cb8dfa902)

Regarding the three brands that you mentioned: those are all pretty similar designs, and all pretty well-known and popular brands. You would be well-served if you chose any of them. You'll have to decide if you want the added sway-control; it's really a shock-absorber to dampen the side-to-side force. Just be aware that these types of mechanical sway-control are kind of fiddly as well; most require you to disconnect them if you ever need to back up, and you can potentially break the shock absorber if you turn too sharply too quickly.

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