Forum Discussion

HawkTX's avatar
HawkTX
Explorer
Mar 06, 2020

SHANK question

I have a 23ft trailer and I recently went from a GMC Yukon to a Ford F150/Raptor. The shank and old hitch works fine after some adjustments, but I noticed today I can't open the tailgate without it hitting my tongue jack. The fix would be to go from a 12 inch shank to a 18 inch shank. Not a huge difference, but was curious if others have done this and does it compromise ride, etc.? I've always had motorhomes and 5th wheels so I'm sorry for the NEWB question and thanks in advance for your thoughts. Here is a picture of it with the 12 inch and it rides great. Hate to compromise that, but I would like to be able to open the tailgate while hooked up.

  • CaLBaR's avatar
    CaLBaR
    Explorer
    Mar 06, 2020
    HawkTX wrote:
    I have a 23ft trailer and I recently went from a GMC Yukon to a Ford F150/Raptor. The shank and old hitch works fine after some adjustments, but I noticed today I can't open the tailgate without it hitting my tongue jack. The fix would be to go from a 12 inch shank to a 18 inch shank. Not a huge difference, but was curious if others have done this and does it compromise ride, etc.? I've always had motorhomes and 5th wheels so I'm sorry for the NEWB question and thanks in advance for your thoughts. Here is a picture of it with the 12 inch and it rides great. Hate to compromise that, but I would like to be able to open the tailgate while hooked up.



    You could try to go to an 18" shank so you can open the tailgate. It might not tow as nice because now the trailer is another 6" further from the truck's rear axle.

    I have always had that problem too so I just lived with it and it never bothered me. I always wanted to get the trailer tongue as close to the rear axle as possible for towing stability.

    Try it if it doesn't tow as nice you will only be out the price of the shank.

    Rob
  • troubledwaters's avatar
    troubledwaters
    Explorer III
    Mar 06, 2020
    I put a longer shank on my F150 to clear the tailgate; there is no difference in before an after. However, I don't know for sure, but it might be only 3" longer.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Mar 06, 2020
    Obviously it puts a greater bending moment on the back of the truck (like more weight) which will be more not able with the very compliant suspension of the Raptor.
    Not a lot though, guessing the equivalent of 100lbs more at the most.
    If you’re running a wdh and notice a difference you can crank up the wdh a bit more.
    Either way it is not going to be a major difference.
  • Huntindog's avatar
    Huntindog
    Explorer
    Mar 07, 2020
    I went from a 12 to a 18 for the same reason you are thinking of.

    The ride got kind of bumpy when lightly loaded. On heavily loaded trips it was fine. Weh had a bitg debate about this here some years back, and the upshot of it was that a longer bar lengthens the leverage point of the bars, making them act stronger. I was going to see if I could adjust the bumpy ride out, but never got around to it (it really wasn't that bad), and got a new truck. When I set it up on the new truck, no bumpy ride. So I believe that it can be readjusted.
  • Lynnmor's avatar
    Lynnmor
    Explorer
    Mar 07, 2020
    No image.

    Could you turn the jack 90 degrees to clear the tailgate?
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Mar 07, 2020
    I went to a slightly longer draw bar without any issues at all.
  • Mickeyfan0805's avatar
    Mickeyfan0805
    Explorer
    Mar 07, 2020
    This likely has a lot to do with tongue weight. For a lighter tongue, likely not an issue - try it and see how it goes. For a heavier tongue, you are increasing the torsion on the hitch which would lessen the actual weight the tongue could safely carry. I'm not an engineer, so I would not be able to try to quantify the difference, but that would be my consideration.
  • Huntindog's avatar
    Huntindog
    Explorer
    Mar 07, 2020
    Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
    This likely has a lot to do with tongue weight. For a lighter tongue, likely not an issue - try it and see how it goes. For a heavier tongue, you are increasing the torsion on the hitch which would lessen the actual weight the tongue could safely carry. I'm not an engineer, so I would not be able to try to quantify the difference, but that would be my consideration.


    This was part of our discussion some years ago. We had our resident engineer in on it, and some input from hitch manufacturers.
    The consensus was it isn't an issue
  • Huntindog's avatar
    Huntindog
    Explorer
    Mar 07, 2020
    beemerphile1 wrote:
    Simple fix, turn the jack head 90 degrees.
    Maybe.

    It depends where the interference is, and what jack he has.
    In my case, I had an Atwood, it has a top mounted motor, so it doesn't cause clearance issues. The tailgate would hit the jack shaft. The only solution to that is a longer drawbar.

About Travel Trailer Group

44,029 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 13, 2025