Max. Ball Drop

I have the same quandry on my Winnebago f53 which specifies a max of 4 inch drop.

Even though my atv trailer rides a little high, I will stick with the 4 inch max for now. Total towing weight is around 2000 lbs.

For those adventurous/science folks, a max moment can be figured out....4 inch drop x 5000 lbs works out to be 20000 in-lbs. 5000 lbs is the max tow weight.

If you are only towing 2500 lbs, than you could divide 20,000 in-lbs by 2500 lbs, and that would say a 8 inch drop would give the same moment. I have no idea if this is what the Winnebago engineers were thinking, but it is something to consider.

afrescop wrote:
My 2013 Ford C Max necessitated a 10" drop to connect within the Blue Ox 4" +/- of level of my 2013 Itasca Sunstar 35F. I have towed over 5,000 miles so far without any problems.

Have any of you had a personal issue while using a 10" drop? Not "I heard about this guy, yada, yada"?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my (perhaps mistaken) understanding is that since he proposes to tow a bumper pull trailer, there'd be quite a bit more torque on the O.P.'s hitch than on yours with the four-down setup.

Adjust the trailer to meet the 4" maximum drop.

My 2013 Ford C Max necessitated a 10" drop to connect within the Blue Ox 4" +/- of level of my 2013 Itasca Sunstar 35F. I have towed over 5,000 miles so far without any problems.

Have any of you had a personal issue while using a 10" drop? Not "I heard about this guy, yada, yada"?

The problem with a long drop (I have one that is 13 inches If I did not trash it), is the torque it puts on the hitch cross bar.

With anything resembling half the rating of the receier, that's gonna turn that cross member into one very expensive pretzel.

Tom/Barb wrote:
When using a large dropped stinger one must consider the torque that is exerted on the receiver. and some installations are not made to take a lot of twisting moment.

Spot on, and the likely reason for the 4" drop limit imposed by the rig's builder.

Question:

Would replacement of the receiver be an option, or would further reinforcement of rig attachment points be required?

Think about what happens when you put on the brakes or accelerate with a 10" drop. Even tho the drop hitch attachment may be designed to handle this load, that does not guaranty that the hitch installed on your coach is designed to handle that downward twist push or upward twist pull. Winnebagos 4" restriction is probably based on their hitch design criteria, the frame it is attached to, and should seriously be considered when contemplating this arrangement.

The ft/lbs of torque changes on the hitch itself. A 10" drop would put more twisting up/down motion on the hitch than a 4"drop for a given load. I suppose side motion also but probably not a problem.

With no drop the torque on the hitch would just be side to side and back and forward not a twist movement.

When using a large dropped stinger one must consider the torque that is exerted on the receiver. and some installations are not made to take a lot of twisting moment.

Why would Winnebago call for only a 4 inch drop on this hitch? I'm thinking a disclaimer for the manufactor to cover themselves in case is installations issues.