Boatycall wrote:
.....I'm one of the ones people hear about but never actually know - I had a factory Class V hitch fail.
I had a nice ski boat, about 4500lbs on a factory installed Reese Class 5 hitch running a 48" extension. One day I went in to Superhitch to have my Torklift tie downs installed, and they pointed out that the welds on the receiver had cracked and only had about 50% of the weld left holding it on.
....
I didn't even think twice about fix/re-weld vs. replace. I immediately had it removed and bought a new Superhitch.
meatwagon wrote:
I need to change my statement regarding oem hitch & ext. I just returned from a trip with the cargo trailer to find it sagging about 2", no cracked welds but it concerned me enough that I ordered a reese titan. Better to have to much hitch than try and squeak by. Glad I made it home safely and no harm was done to the load or ANY ONE ELSE ON THE ROAD!!!!!
Thanks Boatycall & meatwagon for sharing some real world experiences! Always better than "guestimates"
Using an extension in a receiver greatly reduces the capacity due to the leverage which magnifies the force on the bolts and welds.
I have estimated the de-rating of standard receivers based on the length of the extension. The following graph must only be used as a guideline as it is an estimate only, but it will give you some idea of what the maximum loading should be.
I have more info on using a hitch extension at
http://www.visualsc.com/hitch_calc.htm. It includes a calculator to estimate the impact on your truck when you tow a trailer (increased axle and tire weights, etc.)
