Receiver hitch size on newer Tow vehicles?

blt2ski wrote:

Majja13 wrote:
My 2015 2500 came with the 2 1/2 and a reducer sleeve. I have only towed with it twice and it seams to be ok. That being said I am going to sell my 2x2 and get a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 for next year. I just do not like adding parts that I feel are not necessary.

This works great "IF" you have only one trailer to tow. If like myself, I owned 4 different trailers at one time. ALL needed different ball heights, some were 2", 2 5/16" and a pintle hitch. When I got the 05 dually, I got a pintle in a 2.5", but kept the 2" for the 2" SAxle trailers I owned. Worked fine for my daily use of towing trailers in a landscape biz.

Marty

That is so very true. I do have a small 12ft boat trailer that i will still have to use the adapter for but that thing does not weigh very much so I am no worried about hitch wear that bad.

We also have several trailers and it would be very expensive to replace all the different ball mounts just to avoid the rattling noise.
2 of our ball mounts are identical just because I don't want to change balls from 2" to 2 5/16 when I switch from stock trailer to horse trailer. the other trailers and farm equipment use different drop or rise setups and various pin or ball sizes and they all fit any of our 3 trucks.
We have a 2x2 18in stinger rated for 900lbs TW and 9000lbs towing weight that we use to get the ball past the camper for towing the horse trailer or flat towing the Jeep. We may and up replacing that one with a 2 1/2 inch ball mount.

brulaz wrote:

blt2ski wrote:
Then again, some trucks did not come with a factory hitch, as my 96 K3500, 2000 - C2500 and 2005 DW 3500. Kind of nice this way, as then you can choose a hitch that fits the needs you have, vs the engineers in Detroit etc, that do not know what you are going to do with the truck etc. I put higher rated hitches on ALL three trucks than came stock. The 96 and 2000 had 2" hitches, the 05 I went with a 2.5" hitch. The 2' were good to 10K with or with out wd bars. the 05 IIRC was around 15K with or with out bars.

Marty

I wonder if the hitch receiver ratings on factory installed hitches have as much to do with the whole truck as with the mechanical design of the hitch receiver.

My truck's factory hitch receiver has a WDH rating of 11,500# (1150# TW) but only 5000# (500# TW) weight carrying. Perhaps Ford is afraid that when you put on over 500# of weight carrying tongue weight, you will move too much weight off the front axle onto the rear axle. So they derate the WC rating of the hitch receiver to 500#, even though mechanically it can probably carry a lot more.

I'm not sure I would agree with this statement. As the amount removed on the FA will depend upon many factors. WB, rear overhang, spring rating, and the amount of wt on the FA. At least these have been factors in large and small ways from how much wt has been taken off the FA on my rigs. Some will say it is only the WB and rear overhang.....

The only trailer I towed with a WD was my travel trailer, which was around 7000 total, 5500-6500 on the axels, and 550-700 HW, depending upon how it was loaded, for how long a trip etc. My Equipment trailer I use to tow a bobcat, mini excavator, single or both at the same time, is 2800 empty with around 300 lbs of HW< upwards of 11K on the axels, and 1500-1600 HW. With one truck I lost just over 300 lbs on the FA with 6400 lb springs. Switched out to 8400 lbs springs, and the wt removed from the front went down some 60-80 lbs per local DOT scales.

marty

Majja13 wrote:
My 2015 2500 came with the 2 1/2 and a reducer sleeve. I have only towed with it twice and it seams to be ok. That being said I am going to sell my 2x2 and get a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 for next year. I just do not like adding parts that I feel are not necessary.

This works great "IF" you have only one trailer to tow. If like myself, I owned 4 different trailers at one time. ALL needed different ball heights, some were 2", 2 5/16" and a pintle hitch. When I got the 05 dually, I got a pintle in a 2.5", but kept the 2" for the 2" SAxle trailers I owned. Worked fine for my daily use of towing trailers in a landscape biz.

Marty

My 2015 2500 came with the 2 1/2 and a reducer sleeve. I have only towed with it twice and it seams to be ok. That being said I am going to sell my 2x2 and get a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 for next year. I just do not like adding parts that I feel are not necessary.

45Ricochet wrote:

IdaD wrote:

SouthpawHD wrote:
My understanding is that new GMs come with 2" for the 1500s and 2.5" for 2500/3500s.

This is the way Rams come these days. You get a reducer sleeve with it to take it down to 2".

That might be true but it's going to be sloppy IMO. I would get the one that matches the truck receiver for a better towing experience.

I haven't had any issues with it as of yet - it's a pretty tight fit.

On my 05, I did not find any real issues with the sleeve. Other than misplacing it, or it being noisy due to not as tight a fit as I personally would like to see. Then again, a tighter fit would probably mean it rusting/dirt sticking it in the main sleeve.

Marty

45Ricochet wrote:

IdaD wrote:

SouthpawHD wrote:
My understanding is that new GMs come with 2" for the 1500s and 2.5" for 2500/3500s.

This is the way Rams come these days. You get a reducer sleeve with it to take it down to 2".

That might be true but it's going to be sloppy IMO. I would get the one that matches the truck receiver for a better towing experience.

Agreed... I tried the reducer sleeve on my boat setup and didn't like it.

IdaD wrote:

SouthpawHD wrote:
My understanding is that new GMs come with 2" for the 1500s and 2.5" for 2500/3500s.

This is the way Rams come these days. You get a reducer sleeve with it to take it down to 2".

That might be true but it's going to be sloppy IMO. I would get the one that matches the truck receiver for a better towing experience.

blt2ski wrote:
Then again, some trucks did not come with a factory hitch, as my 96 K3500, 2000 - C2500 and 2005 DW 3500. Kind of nice this way, as then you can choose a hitch that fits the needs you have, vs the engineers in Detroit etc, that do not know what you are going to do with the truck etc. I put higher rated hitches on ALL three trucks than came stock. The 96 and 2000 had 2" hitches, the 05 I went with a 2.5" hitch. The 2' were good to 10K with or with out wd bars. the 05 IIRC was around 15K with or with out bars.

Marty

I wonder if the hitch receiver ratings on factory installed hitches have as much to do with the whole truck as with the mechanical design of the hitch receiver.

My truck's factory hitch receiver has a WDH rating of 11,500# (1150# TW) but only 5000# (500# TW) weight carrying. Perhaps Ford is afraid that when you put on over 500# of weight carrying tongue weight, you will move too much weight off the front axle onto the rear axle. So they derate the WC rating of the hitch receiver to 500#, even though mechanically it can probably carry a lot more.