Hitch Extension Questions for Pulling a 7 x 14 Cargo Trailer

[Mooredb]

I am looking at Reese Hitch Adapter - RP45292 34" extension to pull my enclosed cargo trailer (7 x 14 dual axle). Max weight rating for the Reese hitch is 4,500 lbs. I will be pretty close to that weight when the trailer is loaded (4,200 lbs or so)

My truck camper is about 3,200 lbs. The tongue weight for the trailer is about 325 lbs. I am driving a F-350 diesel dually, I should be fine with payload capacity.

Here's my questions.

1) I was looking at the Torklift hitch but those seem fairly pricy and might be overkill for what I need possibly? Do you think I can get by with the Reese hitch adapter? I want to feel and be safe when towing for sure. I'll be traveling all over the country pulling this trailer with the truck camper on it.

2) Also I've been reading that it's nearly impossible to back the trailer up with a hitch extension on of 34". I am not foreign to backing up single axle trailers or dual axle but I've heard it's extremely difficult even for someone with experience backing up.


Thanks for any advice and tips.

DM

[Grit_dog]

Wow those new Cirrus campers are sweet looking! Nice choice in truck and camper!
Couple things.
Reported dry weight is 2900 lbs. if that’s true you will be well over the 3200lbs you said wet and full ready to camp. More like 4000lbs. Report was dry weight with no options. But non issue with your truck.
Wait on the extension until you have it loaddd up. I’d bet money you don’t need anywhere near a 34”. The back bumper looks pretty long but there’s no vertical overhang lower than the truck bed. With that you do not need the hitch to protrude out past the back of the bumper. How short depends on the trailer you’re towing tongue length, amount of drop in the hitch, how much articulation you need, etc.
With a 3” receiver and rough weight of your trailer I wouldn’t think twice about hauling it on a straight bar extension 2’ long or so. Use a 3” bar or heavy wall tubing and throw the adapters in the garbage or only use them when necessary. Hitch adapters are a terrible idea for heavy or regular towing duty.

[Kayteg1]

NautiqueFamily wrote:


TC and hitch/weight info site.....

This is excelent site that will do calculation for you.
Except extension rating 😉

[Kayteg1]

NautiqueFamily wrote:


I don't really understand the above - The Supertruss lower truss bar is solid cast. I am no structural engineer but I cannot agree that a 3ft tube of welded steel is stronger than a trussed set with a solid lower truss..... but you are right; the Supertruss is heavy.

The hitch on the truck comes only as 2.5 not 3 inch, so you are placing the 3 inch OVER the adapter and the ball mount?

The beam bending strength comes with square of the height.
So for example 3" square / 2.5 square= 1.44 and that is how much stronger 3" bar is over 2.5" bar.
Or make it 3" bar is 2.25 times stronger than 2" bar.
I did not know the cross-measurements on SuperTrust, nor the material strength - that is why I consider my calculation rough and since I am not planning to tow anything above 2000lb, that is good for me.
For some reason nobody makes rated 3" extensions, but year ago I could not find 3" ball mount, when now see plenty of them, so hopefully it will come.
OP has 3" receiver and those are rated for 21,000/2,100 lb. Derate them all you want ;). End of the story.

[NautiqueFamily]

mkirsch wrote:
I've researched this myself extensively. There doesn't seem to be an official de-rating guide for hitch extensions. I suspect that the receiver manufacturers don't want to chime in out of liability fears, "We never said it could be used with an extension, so you're on your own." Except of course Torklift...

Some people will tell you that your extension is de-rated 50% no matter how long the extension is, but coming from an engineering background I know that's pure baloney. Most likely you are limited by the capacity of the extension itself rather than the de-rated receiver, but while my engineering concepts are still good, my finite element analysis skills are rusty as 20 year old truck.

I personally run a homebuilt extension that IIRC gives me around 16" of extra length. It's just a 24" Curt "weldable receiver tube" with an extra cross hole drilled in it, and two 15000lb D-rings welded on to it for safety chains. Short safety chains secure the D-rings to the factory receiver, and then the trailer safety chains attach to the D-rings. I've always wondered what the rating/capacity on this extension would be.

This was a site that helped with perspective. As always with engineers, use a pinch of salt.

TC and hitch/weight info site.....

[jimh406]

NautiqueFamily wrote:
The hitch on the truck comes only as 2.5 not 3 inch, so you are placing the 3 inch OVER the adapter and the ball mount?

Newer Ford trucks have 3" hitches.

[NautiqueFamily]

Kayteg1 wrote:
With 3" receiver you are fooling around using 2.5" extension with reducers.
I bought 3 ft of 3" tubing for $35 and per rough calculation the 3" tubing is stronger than double bars SuperTruss.
Lighter too. The only issue with 3" tubing is that it has weld along the inside, but since I was using reducer for my 2" ball mount, I just grind notch in the reducer.

I don't really understand the above - The Supertruss lower truss bar is solid cast. I am no structural engineer but I cannot agree that a 3ft tube of welded steel is stronger than a trussed set with a solid lower truss..... but you are right; the Supertruss is heavy.

The hitch on the truck comes only as 2.5 not 3 inch, so you are placing the 3 inch OVER the adapter and the ball mount?

[Kayteg1]

With 3" receiver you are fooling around using 2.5" extension with reducers.
I bought 3 ft of 3" tubing for $35 and per rough calculation the 3" tubing is stronger than double bars SuperTruss.
Lighter too. The only issue with 3" tubing is that it has weld along the inside, but since I was using reducer for my 2" ball mount, I just grind notch in the reducer.

[Bedlam]

I think you are underestimating 325 lbs of hitch weight on a 4200 lb trailer. It will probably be closer to 500 lbs which is the cutoff where I start pointing people to a SuperHitch and SuperTruss.

It's not just the strength of the double truss extension that gives Torklift such high ratings when using an extension. The receiver uses thicker and deeper reaching side plates and a larger diameter cross tube holding the dual receiver ports.

[jimh406]

I think the shop meant that the shortest they sell is a 34. I'd put the camper on and remeasure while allowing for a ball mount. I'd also go with a 3" extension. There's no sense in reducing it's strength and using a reducer. I've found reducers make it harder to remove.

If you have a local shop that also does hitches and welding, go there. For the record, my extension overall is 24 inches. Too long also interferes with getting in/out and possibly will run into your steps.

[Mooredb]

Thanks for the info everyone! The truck that I have is a 2018 F-350 Super duty 8' dually diesel. It has a 3" hitch receiver with reducers on it. The truck camper is Cirrus 920 NuCamp, it weighs in around 3,200#. I took it to a shop where they put hitches on and they said that I would need a 34" extension which just puts it just a couple of inches past the truck camper bumper.

I want to make sure this is SAFE for everyone.

thanks.

[stevenal]

etrailer.com wrote:
For use with Titan 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" trailer hitch receivers only

[Kayteg1]

325lb weight placed 8 feet behind rear axle is serious matter, so I would check everything with magnify glass.
The stinger you posted is 2.5" so I assume your truck has 2.5" receiver?
I assume the weakest point in the set is going to be receiver, but you'll be taking about 300lb off front axle and that will affect stability, wchich with TC sucks in the first place.
Stinger will amplify steering maneuvers when backing up.
I have 8' utility trailer that I was pulling with 4 foot stinger.
Small move on steering wheel would have trailer kicking by huge degree, so you have to be more precise.

[Grit_dog]

^ This.
I’d question the need for that long of an extension. Need to add more info. Presuming long bed truck, that length of extension may be needed for a 10.5-11’ camper but the weight sounds more like a shorter camper. Of course vertical overhang and trailer tongue length are part of the equation too.
That said, 34” extension is a lot for just a straight tube receiver extension without stabilizing chains.
I wouldn’t unilaterally reccomend it without knowing more information. I have used a straight bar extension 12-18” without issue with heavier trailers than you have on a 2” receiver.
You have 2, 2.5 or 3” receiver?

[jimh406]

Making the hitch extension as short as possible will give you move strength and less to hang up, through low spots, going up hill or down hill. How long is your TC? 34 seems longer than probably necessary since you say your TC is 3200. The TC has got to be pretty short.

[mkirsch]

I've researched this myself extensively. There doesn't seem to be an official de-rating guide for hitch extensions. I suspect that the receiver manufacturers don't want to chime in out of liability fears, "We never said it could be used with an extension, so you're on your own." Except of course Torklift...

Some people will tell you that your extension is de-rated 50% no matter how long the extension is, but coming from an engineering background I know that's pure baloney. Most likely you are limited by the capacity of the extension itself rather than the de-rated receiver, but while my engineering concepts are still good, my finite element analysis skills are rusty as 20 year old truck.

I personally run a homebuilt extension that IIRC gives me around 16" of extra length. It's just a 24" Curt "weldable receiver tube" with an extra cross hole drilled in it, and two 15000lb D-rings welded on to it for safety chains. Short safety chains secure the D-rings to the factory receiver, and then the trailer safety chains attach to the D-rings. I've always wondered what the rating/capacity on this extension would be.