Nervous Nelly Newbie

Yep. All of the above. Also... the electric trailer brake was not set up (no controller) so I was driving around with no trailer brakes working. So I had a controller installed as well.

Good.

If you bought that trailer from an RV dealer, I am surprised that they let you off the lot without selling you a WD hitch.

That trailer absolutely NEEDS a WD hitch with that truck. Your F150's factory receiver is only rated to 500lbs of tongue weight without a WD hitch, and that trailer certainly has more than 500lbs of tongue weight. Not only would you risk overstressing the receiver, you would also experience a mushy, bouncy ride.

OK finally opted for a WD hitch. Makes a difference.

Well if you are just going to change the dials/knobs...note that an instability 'might'
manifest itself when raising the ball/tongue...go back to a slightly nose down
as you have right now

You are fixing something that seems to not be broken...

There were a few other threads from both newbies and an old timer who asked and
they went into this mode...re-dialing it in without knowing the goal...

Meaning do you know the why of these adjustments? It's not just for
the looks, but for some change and benefit to the handling of the setup
that these adjustments are made

They added/removed links, tilted the head both back and forward, changed bar
ratings, raised/lowered the ball/tongue, increased and/or reduced weight off their
TV's front axle and a big ETC

Good luck with the knobs...

I don't see any WD bars. Unless you have an Equal-I-Zer or Reese SC weight-distributing hitch system installed, then the bars would be invisible in that picture with the lighting.

Is this just a normal straight hitch shank?

If so it will go from 2-1/2" drop to 1/2" rise.

You might want to consider a Weight-Distributing hitch with integrated sway control instead of a straight ball.

innermusic wrote:
Thanks for the replies.
To raise the ball: This tongue has a 2 inch drop. Do I need to get a different tongue? Or can I invert this one so instead of dropping 2 inches it is RAISING 2 inches? (Sorry for the dumb questions.)

I'm a newbie as well, and if you think this is a dumb question, search out some of mine ;)

If you have a simple drop hitch and flip it, you'll raise it 4" -- from 2" drop to 2" rise. From the photo, I'd say that's too much. Do you have a 1" drop you could try?

You can invert the shank and use it either up or down. I agree witht he others that you need to raise the front and the proper way to do this is to move it up on the shank.

If the shank is pointed down and there is not another higher hole to use, then turn the shank around so it points up. You can usually find a hole that will let you get the trailer just about level.

I am assuming you are using a weight distributing hitch that has an adjustable shank. If you are simply using a drawbar with a ball on the end, and it sounds like that may be the case, then you need to purchase a shank and a WD hitch to use on that trailer.
Barney

Thanks for the replies.
To raise the ball: This tongue has a 2 inch drop. Do I need to get a different tongue? Or can I invert this one so instead of dropping 2 inches it is RAISING 2 inches? (Sorry for the dumb questions.)

Truck doesn't look bad just the ball is too low. Like the others have said I would consider raising the ball a tad.

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Raise the ball an inch and take another pic.

X2

I bet it'll be perfect.