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.

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

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.

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.

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.

No image.Could you turn the jack 90 degrees to clear the tailgate?

SHANK question | Good Sam Community

beemerphile1
Explorer
Mar 07, 2020
Simple fix, turn the jack head 90 degrees.
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
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.
ScottG
Nomad
Mar 07, 2020
I went to a slightly longer draw bar without any issues at all.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Mar 07, 2020
No image.

Could you turn the jack 90 degrees to clear the tailgate?
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.
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.
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.
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

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