Hitch extension or longer trailer tongue?????

[Troyby]

Hi Everyone, This is my first post here... I'm picking up a new Host Cascade in two days and trying to make plans for pulling my enclosed Trailer. My truck is a 2013 chevy crewcab dually cab&chassis. The trailer is a heavy duty snowmobile/car hauler. GVWR of 10,000. It will have 2 rzr's in it total trailer weight of 8000 lbs.

SuperHitch does not make a hitch that will fit my frame and they want my truck for two days and $1600.00 to make a hitch for me. Thats a no go as I live in SLC Utah. My truck has a curtis class V hitch on it now.

Here's my question. Should I have my hitch converted into a two receiver like the superhitch and buy their extension or should I have the trailer tongue lengthened? I'm not sure how much extension I need yet but I'm guessing its about 24"

The trailer has an adjustable Coupler that is bolted on and can be raised or lowered. I'm thinking of adding the extension there.

Whats everyones thoughts on this? Do you see any problems that may arise?


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[Troyby]

Well I have great news! I was on my way to Portland to pick up my new camper and received a call from John and Torklift. I now have a nice shiny new Superhitch on my Truck. The customer service I received from them is way above what anyone could expect from a company. It was so good it deserves it's own post so I will create one now.

[burningman]

Stretching your trailer tongue is the only good option.
I did mine, a 10,000 pounder, because I consider it crazy to tow with it hanging on a four foot extension.
It’s also a whole lot easier, there’s no big heavy extension to mount and dismount.
Do you really want to add that much extra hassle to mounting and dismounting your camper?
The weight transfer physics are infintely better. That fact no one can begin to argue. It’s just mechanically superior.

I’ve towed thousands of miles, no camper crunching.
When I had a lower truck, I built the tongue extension low to the ground for more camper clearance.
No one would drive with their camper off towing with a four foot extension.
I wouldn’t do it with mine on, either.

All the people who are against this way seem to have never done it.

[mike_kellie]

As Bedlam pointed out, there is a lot of plate secured to the frame. This is mine from behind. I was a certified welder including 7018 LH but just to old to be fabricating these days. Here is a shot from the back:


Click For Full-Size Image.

[Troyby]

Thanks everyone for your input on this. I've contacted a local trailer dealer who is going to beef up my current hitch and make it work with the superhitch extension. He was recommended by a few different dealers as the local expert.

[Kayteg1]

But as it was already pointed, with long extension you might hang your camper on trailer tongue pulling onto any driveway.
There is limit to everything.

[theoldwizard1]

My gut say make the tongue longer, but to do that proper is going to take a lot of cutting and welding on that trailer frame !

[Reality_Check]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Baaaawaaaahahahaha..

awesome

[Bedlam]

Plenty of Torklift dealers close to you. Maybe you should try your local resources and see what they can do for you.

Bestway Trailer (4.5 mi)
645 W 3410 S, West Valley City, UT 84119
(801) 268-1412
Contact: Gene, Casey, Chris, Paco, Greg
Certified Since: 4.10.14

Legacy RV (4.8 mi)
3711 State St, Salt Lake City, UT 84115
801.265.3711
Contact: Matt
Certified Since: 12.10.15

Motor Sportsland (5.3 mi)
4001 S State Salt Lake City, UT USA 84107
(801) 262-2922
Fax: 801.713.0679
Contact: John, Justin
Certified Since: 12.15.16

State Trailer Supply (5.3 mi)
3600 S. Redwood Rd. Salt Lake City, UT 84119
801.978.0400
Contact: Travis, Damien, William
Certified Since: 4.10.14

Access RV (5.5 mi)
550 S Redwood Rd North Salt Lake, UT 84054
(801) 936-1200
Contact: Nathan, Tyson and Craig
Certified Since: 1.8.15

Terry's RV Center (7.6 mi)
5545 South State St. Murray, UT USA 84107
801.262.2486
Contact: Dave, Stephen, Todd
Certified Since: 9/27/10

Recreation RV Sales (16.7 mi)
12771 South Minuteman Drive, Draper Utah 84020
(801) 571-6439
Contact: Zac
Certified Since: 4.10.14

Stewart's RV (28.7 mi)
854 E 1100 S St, American Fork, UT 84003
801.610.9201
Contact: Daniel
Certified Since: 12.10.15

State Trailer Supply (31.2 mi)
3088 Washington Blvd Ogden, UT USA 84401
(801) 334.0700
Contact: Michelle, Shawn
Certified Since: 4.10.14

T. J. Trailers (31.8 mi)
2939 Pennsylvania Ave Ogden, UT USA 84401
(801) 627-0885
Contact: Brandon or Larry
Certified Since: 12/11/09

American Dream Vacations (32.4 mi)
986 N. State St. Orem, UT 84057
801-960-9678
Contact: Ken
Certified Since: 12.10.15

Darren Bideaux RV (33.0 mi)
1448 W. 2100 S. West Haven, UT 84401
801.392.2400
Contact: John
Certified Since: 12.10.15

Sierra RV (34.2 mi)
1010 S 1700 W, Marriott-Slaterville, UT 84404
801.728.9988
Contact: Tyler
Certified Since: 12.10.15

Advanced RV Supply (5.2 mi)
4615 West 3500 South West Valley City, UT 84084
(801) 965-0661
Fax: 801-965-1028
Contact: Michelle

Parris RV Inc (5.8 mi)
4360 S State St, Murray, UT 84107
(801) 268-1110

Bountiful RV (8.7 mi)
295 S Main St Bountiful, UT USA 84010
(801) 298-0081
Contact: Del B

Camping World (17.2 mi)
13111 S Minuteman Dr Draper, UT USA 84020
(801) 572-6340
Phone: (800) 294-1240
Contact: Dave

General RV Center - GD (21.1 mi)
14295 S. Minute Man Dr. Draper, UT 84020
801-307-1070
Phone: 877-570-7708
Contact: Mike

Ray Citte RV (29.1 mi)
1677 W. Riverdale Rd. Roy, UT 84067
(801) 779-3954
Phone: 855-577-7848
Contact: Bret

Sam T Evans Trailer (31.0 mi)
3272 Wall Ave. Ogden, UT 84401
(801) 621-3815

Miller's Trailer Sales (46.3 mi)
950 E 800 N Spanish Fork, UT USA 84660
(801) 798-7447

[jimh406]

Troyby, your experience with Torklift is atypical.

In any case, getting a local shop to fab the hitch would make more sense. Let them worry about how to get the parts. There was a thread a bit ago and someone had their shop add a second tube to their hitch and I think build their custom extension.

[discovery4us]

To properly extend a trailer tongue you need take the A frame back to where it meets the parallel frame rails. Being a V-nose I think the extension would be to costly requiring modification to the sheet metal and the trailer floor. I wouldn't trust tying on to the coupler channel unless you completely cut it off and extended all the way back to the frame header tying the side rails together. The welder that would do the trailer mods could build the truck hitch faster, stronger, and cheaper.
Unless you can find a prefabbed option I think two days won't be enough for any of the options.

[Kayteg1]

I guess they did not set CS in India office yet - those people are very polite.
I am a welder and I did several modifications like that on my own, so once again, if you manage to convert your receiver to 3" you have very affordable and good way to go.
I can lift my 4 foot long stinger with single hand, while TL stingers weight a lot.

[Troyby]

Hmmmm This is quite the dilemma... After the runaround I received from Tech support and all of the superhitch people I talked to yesterday, I dont think I will be calling them back anytime soon. Probably never again. To try and mix and match parts from them without actually being there would be next to impossible. I sat on hold trying to make an appointment for twenty minutes then was cutoff. Tried again and waited on hold then sent to voice mail. When I finally did get through they said they needed my truck for two days to build the hitch (knowing I was driving up from SLC) and the price was $1600.00. Nope, not again. They have lost my business. Way overpriced and terrible customer service. I'll figure something else out.

[Bedlam]

Troyby wrote:
Isn’t that a picture of a super hitch in your post? It doesn’t look anymore heavy duty than the Curt’s hitch I already have. Looks like the same plate thickness and my cross tube is 3”. Where’s the beefed up part?

The side plates run from the rear leaf spring hanger all the way to the cross section and are also very tall.


Click For Full-Size Image.

Call Torklift tech support and get the measurements from them on their chassis cab receivers (844) 369-9358.

Dodge/Ram D1103-30
Ford F1003-30

You might see if one of the GM side plates is close like the C1208-30, C1211-30 or C1205-30, but you may need to mix and match cross bars from a chassis cab to get the correct width.

[Troyby]

Does anyone know where I can get the frame measurements for the ford and dodge chassis cabs? I’m trying to figure out which would be the best one to modify. I’d hate to have to order multiple hitches to find the correct one.