Draw bar length, anything magical?
I was wondering about the length of the draw bar (piece that goes into the receiver) on a WD hitch. Is there anything "magical" about it? ie. relationship between it and the weight ratings of the spr...
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A popular RV dealership in Canada actually cuts off about two inches from the shank and re-drills the pin hole to bring the hitch head as close to the vehicles rear bumper as possible. The impact of doing this is to reduce the overall length from the hitch head to the rear axle. This makes a better handling vehicle and eliminates the unnecessary leverage that the long shanks exert on the receiver.
This also helps with the slack in the receiver tube. Most receiver tubes are oversized and the WD shanks tend to angle up in the receiver tube. While shortening the shank as much as possible doesn't change the amount of angle this slack creates it does shorten the shank so there isn't two more inches of shank height to overcome by the hitch set up.
Thanks!
Jeremiah
This also helps with the slack in the receiver tube. Most receiver tubes are oversized and the WD shanks tend to angle up in the receiver tube. While shortening the shank as much as possible doesn't change the amount of angle this slack creates it does shorten the shank so there isn't two more inches of shank height to overcome by the hitch set up.
Thanks!
Jeremiah
