SHANK question

One can tow with a two foot long stinger, be 1000 pounds over ratings, and not use a brake controller. Until that bus load of school kids pulls out in front of you. Relatively easy to relocate the jack and keep the trailer snugged up to the tow vehicle.

Perhaps you don't need one 6" longer (from 12" to 18"), maybe you could figure out how much longer you need, add a little bit, then drill a hole in shank so it sticks out far enough for tailgate to clear jack, but not to far.

I've used a longer hitch shank on two trailers and two different tow vehicles with no problem. Works fine. Both trailers weighed right at 10,000 lbs and have been towed maybe 18,000 miles combined.

As in most things, "Follow the money". Dealers love selling a hundred dollars worth of iron for six hundred dollars at the closing. There is a time and place for WD hitches. I own and use one when required. I have owned several. Their popularity was promoted and needed more when we towed with sedans and station wagons. Ever see Grandpa's 58 Buick hitched to his Airstream with the back end six inches lower than the front? Modern pickups with payloads of 2,000-4,000 pounds are entirely different animals. But the myths linger on.

Which begs the question. Some engineers say use WD when towing a trailer above half the weight of the TV. In 2010, engineers decided I needed to use WD when towing a trailer above the total weight of my truck at 6k~ lbs. Now, the engineers at Ford have decided, with a 2020 duplicate of my truck, I can tow a trailer weighing over twice the truck’s weight without WD. What changed as far as physics goes? Leverage is leverage. Weight off the front is the same. Upgrading the hitch does not change the rating of the truck they say. Yet Ford has effectively done exactly that.
My hitch is rated for 600 lbs dead weight. Apparently, that includes a 500 lb motorcycle on a 100 lb carrier 24 inches out from the pin. This puts 1200 lbs of downward torque on the receiver. All peachy! If I tow our travel trailer on a short 6” drawbar, it’s 1,100 lb tongue weight would put 550 lb/ft of downward torque on the receiver. This, according to the engineers, would be way above the receiver’s weight rating.
Countless contractors tow dump trailers with often over 2,000 lbs of tongue weight on receivers rated to tow far less than half that weight with no trouble. Where do these arbitrary ratings numbers come from? Engineers? Lawyers? Marketing departments?

Huntindog wrote:
Years ago when this was discussed, Ron Gratz weighed in with the following comment.
" A first year engineering student would think that the longer drawbar would reduce capacity due to more leverage on the reciever. A second year student would know that the WD bar force is increased by this leaverage"Ron Gratz comment


Old thread on this with some manufacturer quotes

Me thinks perhaps the engineers at Reese realize not everyone uses WD when it’s not needed. Even still, side forces aren’t reduced with WD. A shorter draw bar will reduce side forces. In my humble opinion, WD is a crutch for not enough truck. Mine included.

Huntindog wrote:

Huntindog wrote:
Years ago when this was discussed, Ron Gratz weighed in withthe following comment.
" A first year enfgineering student would think that the longer drawbar would reduce capacity due to more leverage on the reciever. A second year student would know that the WD bar force is increased by this leaverage"

Ron Gratz comment

Here is what you are missing. It is not only about WD hitches. Many people don't use them, for one thing. The other is the effect on emergency handling. Imagine which is more stable in a hard swerve to avoid an accident. Moving the ball farther from the rear axle increases the chance of the "tail wagging the dog". A five foot lever will have more effect than a four footer. Pretty simple. Just because some people get by with their setup doesn't prove anything, Some people tow without brake controllers for years. Ron had some good ideas but missed the effect on lateral stability not just weight distribution. The closer one can keep the ball to the rear axle, the better. Move the jack if it interferes with tailgate.

CaLBaR wrote:

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

A longer Shank will mess with the Tongue Weight.
I had that problem with my last trailer and vehicle.
I lived with it. I don't like the idea of making towing and backing up a little different. Why make it more difficult?
My simple hack was to put things in my F-150 before I hitched up, and to unload my truck after I unhitch.

CaLBaR wrote:

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

A longer Shank will mess with the Tongue Weight.
I had that problem with my last trailer and vehicle.
I lived with it. I don't like the idea of making towing and backing up a little different. Why make it more difficult?
My simple hack was to put things in my F-150 before I hitched up, and to unload my truck after I unhitch.