16 in Shank on WDH

hprince wrote:
I currently have a 12 in shank coming out of my receiver on my truck, I need about 4 more inches to be able to lower my tailgate without hitting my trailer jack. Several companies offer a 16 in shank but I am concerned about extending out that much farther and creating stress problems on the receiver and hitch. Has anyone used the 16 in shank and have you had any problems with doing so, my trailer weighs about 7000# loaded, pulling with a 3/4 ton truck.

You didn't mention if you need to do this due to the tailgate hitting the motor on the jack. I had this problem and had to turn the jack approximately 120 degrees to fix the problem. I did have to drill one new hole in the jack base plate. Simple task.

Of more concern to me is the drawbars that lower the ball height by a foot to accommodate lifted trucks with big tires. It may be within limits but it just looks like a huge lever trying to twist the hitch from the truck frame when braking or accelerating. I understand that the drawbar is rated for that but is the hitch rating the same with that much offset?

It may be WAGGING, and I will not go through the physics involved, but it makes a sizeable difference in the forces involved in the receiver hitch whether the lever arm is 10 inches or 16.

It depends on the tongue weight rating of the truck's hitch and how much tongue weight you have. 4 inches isn't much length difference. It will only matter if you're using up most of the hitch's tongue weight rating already. If the hitch is well under it's rating, there is nothing to worry about.

hprince wrote:
I currently have a 12 in shank coming out of my receiver on my truck, I need about 4 more inches to be able to lower my tailgate without hitting my trailer jack. Several companies offer a 16 in shank but I am concerned about extending out that much farther and creating stress problems on the receiver and hitch. Has anyone used the 16 in shank and have you had any problems with doing so, my trailer weighs about 7000# loaded, pulling with a 3/4 ton truck.

Been using a 16 or 18 for the last 35 years on two trailers with GVWR from 6,500 to 8,000lbs with absolutely no issues. As long as the shank you use is rated for the wts it will see then there are absoutely NO ISSUES to really be concerned with IMO. Evidently Reese does make a shank with an additional hole where the rating changes based on what hole is used, but AFAIK that is the only one that has multiple ratings for the shank. The additional length relative to what is of concern is minor again IMO. Many folks are using these length shanks and those concerned are just WAGGING concerns in the wind w/o any real facts to base their concerns on.

Larry

You are right to be concerned. What I did was lower the jack by mounting it underneath the A-frame. That way I was able to keep the ball closer to the bumper.

We have a Reese Titan 15" shank (think it's that long) towing ~9000lbs. Seems to be ok so far!

There is a current thread about this over in the towing section HERE . Check it out