2 1/2" receiver on new trucks with extension?

Hi Buzzcut!

Glad to see you made the upgrade on the tires. The supertruss is a well known hitch for heavy duty application. Going with the Beefy upgrades you have done, the fasteners you are using makes me nervous. I say this from investigating hundreds of trailer/towing accidents. You are using a high grade chain, mixed with low grade rated turnbuckles and Cleve connectors. Sort of the strength is as strong your your weakest link. A Tractor Supply or Ranch Supply would be a better sourcing location for these parts. Also consider the D ring and how beefy it is, as well. As you know from, your work. Too many will disregard as"I've always done it this way." Have fun and the best to you and the wife!

b

My Ford originally came with a class 5 receiver but after running the numbers for the horse trailer I swapped it out for a Superhitch and a 48" extension. It just isn't worth the risk of metal failure and potential injury to the horses and wrecking the rig over a few hundred dollars.

ScottG wrote:
A 2.5" receiver is stronger than a 2" - that's why it's that size.

Even when both are the same class, still stronger..look under there and see what the capacity is. Many 2.5's have tongue ratings over 2000lbs.

A 2.5" receiver is stronger than a 2" - that's why it's that size.

Using the Ford hitch mentioned by Golden_HVAC, the design only accounts for 666 ft-lb of torque. Compared to the 800 ft-lb of torque the 200# load at 4'. These are only static (non-moving) measurements.

Now, when you throw in the momentum which is also multiplies due to the length, you will exceed the hitch rating with much less weight. Good example would be to hold a 20# weight next to your shoulder for two minutes. Now hold a 2# weight at arm's length for two minutes. Pretty easy huh? Now do the same, but this time while jumping up and down. Understand better?

200 pounds sitting on the end of a 4' hitch extension is 800 foot pounds! It is like trying to twist your hitch off the mounting bolts.

While the Ford hitch is designed to handle more than 1,000 pounds at 8" from the hitch end, (like a normal receiver) putting 200 pounds 4 feet back is more like 800 pounds and will be near the limit of the hitch ability.

The Super Hitch with dual receivers act much like a bridge support, where the bottom and top ones can both transfer some of the weight, and it is stronger than a single one, by a factor of about 2.5.

So yes it will depend on what you will be towing. If it is horses, I would go for the Super Hitch upgrade! If nothing live would be in there, and the hitch weight will be less than say 350 pounds, then the 2.5" hitch is pretty strong, and should work fine.

Fred.

My new silverado has a class V hitch.

It depends on what you want to tow. If you have an opportunity to compare a Curt, Reese or Draw-Tite to a Superhitch, they will look small. It's one thing to be able carry a heavy weight on a receiver, it is some thing else to put that weight on a 4' extension. Take a good look at the OEM receivers and you will see the 2.5" are still smaller and lighter than any of the aftermarket ones I mentioned.

I just went through this on my chassis cab. Although many deck/bed builds will integrate a 10k-20k lb receiver into the rear skirt, none of them would allow towing more than 5000 lbs with an extension.

I bought a new 2007 Chevy that came from the factory with a 2.5" receiver. I used it with a Reese 4' extension to tow my 4,500 pound boat and sometimes my 5,000 pound cargo trailer. I didn't have any problems with the set up. I did this for about 2 years until I upgraded to a dually. The dually only had a 2" receiver so I replaced it with a Superhitch.

I did it for awhile until I upgraded to a Reese Titan. I only tow a light aluminum ATV trailer and probably could of got away with it but decided to spend the $300 and be safer than sorry. When I removed the factory hitch and laid it beside the Titan there was a big difference.