Tailgate to jack clearance

I would "guess" that any extension would reduce the weight capacity of your receiver
bumpy

Thanks for the thought Bumpy. I had thought the same thing, but consulted the F150 towing guide and don't see anything about the length of the shank changing the specs. If the WD is adjusted correctly, and torque or twist on the receiver would be minimized?

I bet the F150 manual also doesn't say a word about the very long/huge extensions that are required for some of the larger TCs out there that drastically reduce carrying capacity.
and to go from 10 to 14 is almost adding 50% to the sideways force? don't have any idea about the effect of a WDhitch however.
bumpy

Good point. I was thinking about the down torque rather than the sideways torque.

Personally, I would never hitch extend. I never found a need to have my tailgate down while hooked up/towing. If im out of room in the truck bed I usually just put stuff on my bumper mount cargo carrier on the back of the trailer. ..Or pile it higher lol


Countless times I've seen people forget about their tailgate being down while backing into a site. It may clear it going straight down the road, but on a tight turn into a campsite...The jack wins more often than the tailgate

I am not sure why this would be considered "hitch extend". The manufacturer has three shanks available for my hitch, a 10", 12" and 14". The dealer where I bought it chose to install the 10", probably because it was cheapest (he included hitch in camper price). If he had chose the Husky 12 or 14 inch shank I wouldn't be asking this question. My TT has relatively low amount of storage so I put a lot in the back of the pickup and it would be convenient to be able to have it open. I understand you would never extend your hitch and that is your decision. Personally I would never attach a cargo carrier to the rear bumper of a TT. That is my decision. Yes I know they can be welded/bolted to the frame. Yes I know a few TT come with one. Mine didn't come with one and the manufacturer strongly recommends againstit.

iagary wrote:
I have an F150 and a Rockwood Mimi Lite 2109S. Currently I have a manual jack and the tailgate does not clear the jack. My question is what are the issues involved in using a longer hitch shank? I have a Husky Round Bar WD hitch. I am seeing 10", 12" and 14" shanks. I have the 10" so I could gain either two or four inches for the needed clearance. Would this make a significant difference in towing and/or would I need to re-adjust my WD setup? It would seem to me if the WD setup were re-adjusted correctly there would be no significant difference? Any help and advice would be appreciated.

I found I had a similar issue with my RAM 1500. In the end, I just rotated the jack motor controls 90 degrees so as to access from the side and not the front. I can now open the tailgate without hitting the jack.

I don't recall if your post mentioned manual or electric jack, but in either case, you may be able to rotate it in the frame and solve your problem.

Should not be a problem. I had to do that years ago when we had a TT.

I lower my gate while hooked to the trailer every trip to grab stuff.
I wouldn't put up with the gate hitting the jack very long.

Yep. With two very small children we are always needing something from our cooler, a stroller, etc. from the back of the pickup. I also like to store my hitch and WD bars in the back of the pickup when unhooked. Easiest to put them directly into the pickup when unhooking. WD Bars and Sway bar before unhooking trailer.