swap 5k lbs hitch to a 10k lbs hitch

my996duc1 wrote:
I found a local shop that only does hitch work. They said bring it by and they can easily determine what will work best and advise me from there.

Thank you for all the thoughts and concerns. I am going to leave this project to the professionals and see what they can come up with...

Sounds like a great plan. Please let us know what they tell you, and what you end up doing. I'm curuious to see what the professionals say on this. Don't let the 'safety police' on here discourage you from posting back on this.

Will

Thank you for all the info... I guess I should have asked my questions differently and asked for people that had actually first hand knowledge of doing it. I understand this forum is full of safety police and that is a good thing but not always practical.
I got caught up with the safety police when adding a third axle to my old toyhauler. In the end the manufacture said it was the absolute best thing to do and they actually did it for me.

I found a local shop that only does hitch work. They said bring it by and they can easily determine what will work best and advise me from there.

Thank you for all the thoughts and concerns. I am going to leave this project to the professionals and see what they can come up with.

_

wolfe10 wrote:
Yup, don't bother to stay within the towing limits of your coach. And, if you have an accident, hope you can explain to police and insurance company why you exceeded the legal limits of your vehicle (they are smart enough to ask).

'legal' limits? LOL, the only 'legal' limit in most cases is defined by the DOT limits on the roads you're on (typically 20,000 lbs per axle, not something you have to worry about). Or in some cases, the max. amount of weight your vehicle is registered for with DMV.

GCWR, and GVWR limits, contrary to popular belief, and contrary to the MYTHs that keep getting spread on here, are NOT legal limits. They are purely RECOMMENDATIONS from the manufacturer. No more.

Insurance? LOL, lets PLEASE not start spreading that ridiculous MYTH again, suggesting that insurance can deny a claim if they find you are exceeding a manufacturer's RECOMMENDED maximum weight. That urban mythological bit of nonsense just needs to die.

Having said that....Like other posters have alluded to, you do need to take several factors into consideration before just swapping a 5k receiver for a 10k receiver. Frame/chassis strength, weight balance/distribution, and axle,tire weight ratings to name a few. However, paranoia spread on internet forums about non-existant 'legal' limits is not one of them.

I know cops and every one of them has said that unless the vehicle LOOKS unsafe, they don't care. I don't know about Texas but here in CA the mfg's sticker on the MH does not determine legality.

Yup, don't bother to stay within the towing limits of your coach. And, if you have an accident, hope you can explain to police and insurance company why you exceeded the legal limits of your vehicle (they are smart enough to ask).

Can you do it-- sure. Can if BITE YOU-- SURE.

Note: this is from someone in their younger years really pushed the limits-- pulled a Mercedes 280SE 220 miles with a Volvo 244 on a tow rope. Thankfully, at the time I had few assets and would not have lost much if I were in an accident and sued.

TXDego wrote:

This is kind of the wrong place to look for answers to your question. Their are a lot of people who tell you the sky will fall, your coach will explode, and you will put their familys life in danger by changing out your hitch, trust me on this, I made the same mistake you did when I asked the same question.

IF you go to any of the racing forums, off-roading forums, etc., you will find hundreds of people who will gladly help you through this. If you ever go to any races, off-roading places, or big weekend events, you will see thousands of MH all towing everything imaginable, and none of their rigs are RATED to tow what they are pulling. Evey single time I go to an event, I ask everyone I can, if they have ever had a problem, the answer is alway NO. Also ask if they have ever heard of anyoen having a problem, the answer is also NO.

Good luck!

Yep, what he said...

Note the words tow and hitch. Most 2" receiver hitches are sold at 5,000 or 10,000lbs. Then there is the tow rating of the motorhome. Engine, driveline, weight and frame strenght will generate this number. Then you take the lowest value of the motorhome or the hitch and that is your tow rating.

The hitch rating is determined by the hitch maker (IE: Reese, Draw Tite) but the ability of the motor home to tow is more complex and is generally NOT the hitch rating, Example, my gasser has a 5,000 pound hitch, it's been modified to improve it's rating, but it can only tow 4,000 pounds. MAX.

To find the maximum you can safely tow, Load the rig for travel, have it weighed (all 4 corners) find the Max COMBINED vehicle weight rating, subtract total weight of RV from that rating, if it's less than 5,000 pounds, That's all you can tow..

NOTE: while you are having it weighed.. Figure out the proper tire pressure for each wheel too (Why you did the 4 corner bit).

You can swap out the hitch very easily. I swapped my 5K lbs one out for a 16K lbs one. The hitch cost $250 on Amazon. Was very easy to mount the new one. I also tow a Jeep, which weighs about 5K lbs and my trialer is around 1.5K lbs.

I spent a lot of time working on this issue, and you will be fine doing what you are proposing. In my case, spoke to chassis manufacture, Ford, who explained to me that their chassis was rated to pull X (can't remember the exact amount, was like 12K or 15K lbs.)

Then spoke with the coach manufacture, who told me that they put a 5K lbs hitch on for to prevent seveer overloading. The coach manufacture did agree that the chassis was rated for what Ford designed it for, but they choose to install a smaller hitch for the idiot factor. Their thinking was, if we put a 10K lbs hitch on, people would try to hook up a lot more than 10K. So we put a 5K and knowing that people probably wont exceed 10K.

In my case, my load is around 6,500 lbs. I swapped out the hitch to the biggest one I could find.

This is kind of the wrong place to look for answers to your question. Their are a lot of people who tell you the sky will fall, your coach will explode, and you will put their familys life in danger by changing out your hitch, trust me on this, I made the same mistake you did when I asked the same question.

IF you go to any of the racing forums, off-roading forums, etc., you will find hundreds of people who will gladly help you through this. If you ever go to any races, off-roading places, or big weekend events, you will see thousands of MH all towing everything imaginable, and none of their rigs are RATED to tow what they are pulling. Evey single time I go to an event, I ask everyone I can, if they have ever had a problem, the answer is alway NO. Also ask if they have ever heard of anyoen having a problem, the answer is also NO.

Good luck!

There is a big difference in the stress put on a hitch towing 4 down and with a trailer. FighterP you do not need to do anything as you are only putting 25lbs of tongue weight on the hitch so you can use the rating for WeightDistb.
OP, you cannot just swayp hitches. What is the difference in you Combined weight rating (GCWR) and the GVWR? If like FighterP it's 7-8K then a welding shop may be able to add more supports/bracing to your current hitch to make it a WD. Instead of the hitch looking like a 1- (single cross support with - being the receiver) by adding another cross support it looks more like a H- and is now capable of being a WD hitch. Need to find a welding shop in a farming area (shade tree) that will be willing to work on it IF you have enough difference in your two weights.