Help with hitch and ball setup

Just a quick update for you all. My Buddy is going to come with me tomorrow and pick up my trailer with his f250. I did not want to risk pulling it with my truck with out a proper WD Hitch and sway bars. Now I can get it home and parked and spend some time getting a good setup.

Thanks for all your opinions and help!

That If the dry tongue weight is 655, that will likely put you north of 800lbs of actual tongue weight. 800lbs of tongue weight will add somewhere between 1000 and 1200lbs to the rear axle (tongue weight plus the weight transferred off the front axle).

Odds are Ford recommends a weight distributing hitch for anything more than 500 lbs of tongue weight. Is there a safety factor engineered into it? Probably. Will anything break in a 20 minute drive? Probably not. Would I do it? Not a chance. The rough setup of the hitch shouldn't take more than an hour following the instructions. If you don't have time to do that, wait until you do to make the pick-up. Seriously... It really is the right way to do it.

jerem0621 wrote:
I can't in good conscious recommend or okay you to tow over the hitches rating. Will it be fine...probably...300 lbs is not a lot of weight...but at the same time I can't recommend it.

This decision is squarely at your discretion.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

X2

I can't in good conscious recommend or okay you to tow over the hitches rating. Will it be fine...probably...300 lbs is not a lot of weight...but at the same time I can't recommend it.

This decision is squarely at your discretion.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Your receiver max TOWING weight without a wd hitch is 5000lbs, but you still need to look at the max TONGUE WEIGHT of the receiver hitch when weight carrying! Probably 500, but maybe 600lbs max!

Should be 4 weights listed, 2 for weight carrying- max trailer and max tongue. Then 2 with a wd hitch-max trailer and max tongue weight.

jerem0621 wrote:
Just a note...most weight distribution hitch heads are rated at 500lbs in weight carrying mode. When I had my TT and my Dually I had a heavy duty draw bar That more than covered the hitch weight...experiencing a hitch head failure myself...I never towed without my back up WC draw bar.

Here is a pic of what I have.





IMHO...your probably Okay to tow your trailer home without weight distribution as long as your receiver and your draw bar is rated to handle the weight...I would look at the dry tongue weight ...(the brochure tongue weight)...and add 150-200 lbs...(for propane and battery) and look at the hitch on the truck...does it say that you can tow that much tongue weight in weight carrying mode? If yes, make sure your draw bar is rated for that guesstimated tongue weight ... Then hitch up and see how the truck settles.

Don't forget that you will need a 2 5/16th ball... You will need to torque that ball down to about 450 ft lbs too....

Thanks and good luck!

Jeremiah

Thanks jerem. the draw bar I will get will handle the trailer. My receiver on my truck says Max 5000lbs. Trailer is 5200 dry with a hitch weight of 655. I could be over by 300 lbs or so if im right. Will that be ok for a 20 min drive?

Just a note...most weight distribution hitch heads are rated at 500lbs in weight carrying mode. When I had my TT and my Dually I had a heavy duty draw bar That more than covered the hitch weight...experiencing a hitch head failure myself...I never towed without my back up WC draw bar.

Here is a pic of what I have.





IMHO...your probably Okay to tow your trailer home without weight distribution as long as your receiver and your draw bar is rated to handle the weight...I would look at the dry tongue weight ...(the brochure tongue weight)...and add 150-200 lbs...(for propane and battery) and look at the hitch on the truck...does it say that you can tow that much tongue weight in weight carrying mode? If yes, make sure your draw bar is rated for that guesstimated tongue weight ... Then hitch up and see how the truck settles.

Don't forget that you will need a 2 5/16th ball... You will need to torque that ball down to about 450 ft lbs too....

Thanks and good luck!

Jeremiah

handye9 wrote:

Campsask wrote:
I'm going to borrow my neighbors eguilizer e2 hitch to get the trailer home. It wont have the bars just the receiver and ball. then I will go and buy either the e2 or the e4. Will this work?

I also looked and the max weight is 5000 for my hitch on my truck

The term "receiver", refers to the 2 X 2" or 2.5 X 2.5" tube that you slide the WD hitch or draw bar into. What you're talking about borrowing, is the drawbar and hitch head portion of an E2 WD hitch. The bars add the weight distribution function.

Towing that trailer without weight distribution, is probably not the best idea. Be aware of possible hazzards and be very careful, if you do so.

When you hang the tongue weight on the back of your truck. The truck is like a see-saw. The rear axle gains a lot of weight, and the front axle looses weight. Too much lost weight on front axle, can cause steering issues, and makes the towing combination less stable. Subconscious hand movement (could be cause by simply breathing), can cause the tow vehicle to wiggle. That in turn induces trailer sway. Passing big rigs could cause some tail wagging the dog issues.

Does that trailer have the tongue weight needed, to do that to your truck? Maybe, maybe not. Without WDH, it will have some impact.

The hitch receiver, part of the tow package on your truck, has two ratings. One, is most likely 500 (dead tongue weight) lbs / 5000 (trailer weight) lbs without WDH, and a higher rating, with WDH.

(Link to Ford towing guide where it shows that 500/5000 lb rating.

If the trailer is close to, or over 5000 lbs, it most likely has more than 500 lbs of tongue weight.

Be safe.

Thanks for all your help Handye. I will not be towing this trailer anywhere but home and then will be installing the right wd hitch. Its just that I will not have time to install a wd hitch before I need to get it out of there. Plus I have never done it so it will take awhile. Maybe I should see if i can borrow my neighbors f250 just to bring it home.

Campsask wrote:
I'm going to borrow my neighbors eguilizer e2 hitch to get the trailer home. It wont have the bars just the receiver and ball. then I will go and buy either the e2 or the e4. Will this work?

I also looked and the max weight is 5000 for my hitch on my truck

The term "receiver", refers to the 2 X 2" or 2.5 X 2.5" tube that you slide the WD hitch or draw bar into. What you're talking about borrowing, is the drawbar and hitch head portion of an E2 WD hitch. The bars add the weight distribution function.

Towing that trailer without weight distribution, is probably not the best idea. Be aware of possible hazzards and be very careful, if you do so.

When you hang the tongue weight on the back of your truck. The truck is like a see-saw. The rear axle gains a lot of weight, and the front axle looses weight. Too much lost weight on front axle, can cause steering issues, and makes the towing combination less stable. Subconscious hand movement (could be cause by simply breathing), can cause the tow vehicle to wiggle. That in turn induces trailer sway. Passing big rigs could cause some tail wagging the dog issues.

Does that trailer have the tongue weight needed, to do that to your truck? Maybe, maybe not. Without WDH, it will have some impact.

The hitch receiver, part of the tow package on your truck, has two ratings. One, is most likely 500 (dead tongue weight) lbs / 5000 (trailer weight) lbs without WDH, and a higher rating, with WDH.

(Link to Ford towing guide where it shows that 500/5000 lb rating.

If the trailer is close to, or over 5000 lbs, it most likely has more than 500 lbs of tongue weight.

Be safe.

Need-A-Vacation wrote:
If I understand Campsask post right he is looking at just a weight carrying ball mount to get the trailer home.

Get the weight distribution hitch before you bring the trailer home. Depending on the trailer weight, you could be over the trucks max weight carrying for the hitch. Not to mention the possible lack of steering from the lost front axle weight.

Congrats on the new trailer!!!

Thanks! I'm going to borrow my neighbors eguilizer e2 hitch to get the trailer home. It wont have the bars just the receiver and ball. then I will go and buy either the e2 or the e4. Will this work?

I also looked and the max weight is 5000 for my hitch on my truck