Trailer queston

SirGeorgeKillian

Actually it is about balls to be specific (figured if I put that as the title the thread would vanish :tooth:) Is there a reason that there are so many different sizes? Honestly how much is gained with a 2 5/8" ball over a 2" ball? Does that 5/8" really do anything but make me cuss when I have the wrong ball on my receiver? Now I know what you are thinking, they make the one that has 3 different balls on it. Problem is at work we pull our HAZMAT trailer with a 350 dually, and the tongue on the trailer is low, so we have to use a drop hitch.

When you add this to a few :cuss: that I work with who are clueless that they, like real life, come in many sizes. Took me 30 mins today to move a trailer out of my way to hook up to another one because I couldn't find the right sized hitch....

Teach

Actually, there are three common ball sizes, 1 7/8", 2", and 2 5/16". The light-duty trailer hitches used back in the 1950's and 60's for utility trailers, small boats, etc. usually had a 1 7/8" diameter ball with a 5/8" thread bolt holding it onto a bumper bracket or maybe some sort of clamp-on device that fit the center of the old style spring steel bumpers. Eventually, the bolt size got standardized at 3/4" diameter and the old 5/8" bolt hitch balls became obsolete, then illegal. Heavier-duty hitches ("Class II") used 2" diameter balls with either 3/4" or 1" diameter bolts and frame-mounted tow hitches. Most of them are rated for 2,000 pound gross weight trailers, and 200 pounds of tongue weight, maximum. Getting up into Class III and Class IV hitches, the gross weight goes up, as does the ball size and shank diameter and thread. A Class IV hitch usually uses a 2 5/16" ball, with a 1 1/4" or larger shank, and trailer weights of 10,000 pounds or more. It's all about handling the gross weight and tongue weight safely.
Jerry

SirGeorgeKillian

I agree there, just wondering why a smaller trailer cant use a bigger ball! That way there are no small balls to deal with. 1 ball for everything that can be pulled.

Teach

The ball isn't the problem- - - - -it's the size and weight of the trailer coupler that would have to be used on lightweight trailers if there was only one ball size. A 750-lb. capacity golf cart trailer would look ridiculous with a female hitch on it built to handle a 10,000 lb. mobile home. The only safe way to build a one-size-fits-all hitch would be to install the heaviest possible capacity ball and coupler on everything.
Jerry

1911fan

Just convert everything to towing pintle and lunette like in the military. That'll fix things:yikes:.

ed

dlk

Just use the 1 7/8" ball and drive slow so the tongue doesn't bounce off.:jester:

The last trailer my dad bought has 2 axles, so they just HAAAAD to put a stupid 2 5/16" on it. Now if I want to borrow it I'll have to open the hole on my bumper from 3/4" to 1" because big brother won't let anyone sell a 2 5/16" ball with a 3/4" shank. There was no excuse to use that big of a ball on that trailer, it isn't THAT heavy.

Varmintmist

If it a dual axel with brakes then it is a min 8K lbs trailer. Trailer weighs in around 1900lb and you can put another 6K on it. 2in balls would be maxed at 8, and there is no way to let wiggle room in with a 10K ball. The other problem is your bumper is rated to about 5K max. You have no buisness putting anything bigger than a small stock trailer on a bumper. Auto part stores sell frame mountable recievers every day.

............................

The easiest solution is to get a reciever on your truck, and get 2 hitches, one with a 2 in and one with a 2 5/16. My 2in is class 3 and 6klb and the 2 5/16 is a class 4 hitch with a 10K ball on it.

You can buy a double hitch that will drop http://www.easternmarine.com/EZ-Hitch-Adjustable-4-Drop-w/2-2-5/16-Draw-Bar-3290/ or replace the coupler with a 2 5/16 on the smaller trailer. http://www.championtrailers.com/COUPLERS.htm http://www.easternmarine.com/Trailer-Couplers-Straight-A-Frame/

BTW, lock the hitch in the coupler. Take it off the truck, put it in the coupler, close the coupler and run a bike lock through the hole where the safe pin goes. You will be able to find the hitches then.

DoctorWho

Maybe the best option is some type of fifth wheel ? That way even a smaller trailer can be gotten with larger payload capacity, not to exceed actual vehicle / trailer recommendations.

Teach

One thing I learned pretty quickly when I was building trailers and hitches- - - - -build it twice as heavy as you think you'll ever need, and don't be too surprised whern some fool bends or breaks it! Some people will overload whatever type of trailer and/or hitch anybody can design, no matter how well-engineered the setup is. I made a lot of money over the years, replacing trailer wheel bearings on 18-wheelers with double the legal payload on them. When the Wheeler Ridge truck scales north of Los Angeles closed at midnight on Sundays for maintenance, the truckers waiting at Milt's Truck Stop in Bakersfield headed south with the overloads they had bribed shippers to put on their trailers. Sometimes, they would burn a wheel bearing down a couple of hundred miles north of their holding point, and they didn't care what they had to pay me to fix the rig as long as they made it past the scales before 6:00 AM when they reopened!
Jerry

NCFUBAR

DoctorWho wrote: »

Maybe the best option is some type of fifth wheel ? That way even a smaller trailer can be gotten with larger payload capacity, not to exceed actual vehicle / trailer recommendations.

I love the 5th wheel and gooseneck setup too but size and weight might not be needed there. They are more suited to the heavier loads like a 4 horse gooseneck type and here in NC that requires a Class A license. Now since it is a dually it should have a 5th wheel anyway just in case. Our dually has both and as said above we have a Reese with multiple hitches including a pintle cause you never know.

Bham Shooter

So can one of you tell me why they have two sizes of receiver hitches? My old truck had the larger one. This one has the smaller one. Had to tow a u-haul recently and had to go get a new hitch and ball for it. Seems like it would make sense to just stick to one size of those.

mkk41

Bham Shooter wrote: »

So can one of you tell me why they have two sizes of receiver hitches? My old truck had the larger one. This one has the smaller one. Had to tow a u-haul recently and had to go get a new hitch and ball for it. Seems like it would make sense to just stick to one size of those.

As Teach said. It's all about weight ratings. Gross weight of the trailer , weight on the tongue. Rolling weight = momentum. Sure ya could put a 2 5/16 ball on a 1 1/4sq receiver , but yer gonna break something , or hit something when yer brakes fail trying to tow a 6,000lbs on a 4wheel trailer with an Astro Van.

And IIRC , a 1 1/4in.sq. Class I receiver uses a 1/2" dia cross pin. A 2in.sq. class III uses a 5/8" dia pin.

I have a class III receiver (2in sq) on my truck. Had a 1 7/8 ball in the bumper (till I got a ticket for obstructed license plate!) and carried a 2in ball on a drop-down mount and an extra 2 5/16 ball. I now carry one of these.




Hitches and ratings explained in depth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tow_hitch

Varmintmist

Bham Shooter wrote: »

So can one of you tell me why they have two sizes of receiver hitches? My old truck had the larger one. This one has the smaller one. Had to tow a u-haul recently and had to go get a new hitch and ball for it. Seems like it would make sense to just stick to one size of those.

Weight of what you can tow.
You likely have a class II receiver now, and you had a class III (2 in) before. Class IV allows you to tow heavier, but is still 2 in square.

The hitches are different to. The class III hitch with the 2 in ball I have is 6Klbs hitch AND the ball is 6K also. It is made out of square stock. The class IV hitch will haul more than I ever will with that truck, I think they are rated at 20K+(?) It is solid all the way through and I have the 10K 2 5/16 ball on it.

Bham Shooter

Yeah, I forget which class mine is, but I do remember that it said I could tow up to 3,500 lbs. A 5x8 U-haul trailer with some mattresses and furniture/boxes in it was all I had to tow. Not like I'm lugging a big boat around. I tell ya, trying to back that thing down an incline was a PITA. My mother in law lives on a hill (like about half of Birmingham does) and there wasn't enough room for me to pull into a driveway (since every last one on the street is also a hill, either up or down) and turn it around. So I had to back the thing down the hill. Took a couple of minutes and a ton of little corrections on the steering wheel to keep her straight, but I was glad I only had to do it once.

mkk41

BTW , a class 1 is usually what most bumpers with ball holes are rated for. A class III or better is mounted directly to the frame.

Funny how much easier it is to tow a well designed trailer. When I got my latest bike , I went 200mi each way with a trailer made from an old pop-up camper. It had 2 small (12in?) wheels. It felt like I had a parachute back there even without the bike.

A few weeks ago , I helped move a friend who had a nice Big Tex 4x10 cargo trailer with 4 15in wheels. Fully packed , I didn't even feel it back there on the road.

Varmintmist

Its tongue weight as much as anything else with a trailer. If you are loading light, like a single bike, the weight means nothing, but if you are back to far, hang on.

I got reminded of that moving my dads JD 950 w/hoe from WV to PA. I stuck her on with the bucket at the front edge of the trailer. looked OK. Pulled OK until I hit 77N and 60MPH. When you can see the rear hubs in your rear view mirrors, you got sway. Big pucker factor. Grabbed trailer brake and let off the gas. She whoa-d down and I ran 50 to the next exit. Moved the tractor forward 10 inches, and she pulled like she should

dlk

You need to get a bigger flatbed trailer with the 2 5/16" ball and put the smaller trailer on it, then you'll never have to switch to the smaller ball again!:jester:

Nomadac

Varmintmist wrote: »

Weight of what you can tow.
You likely have a class II receiver now, and you had a class III (2 in) before. Class IV allows you to tow heavier, but is still 2 in square.

The hitches are different to. The class III hitch with the 2 in ball I have is 6Klbs hitch AND the ball is 6K also. It is made out of square stock. The class IV hitch will haul more than I ever will with that truck, I think they are rated at 20K+(?) It is solid all the way through and I have the 10K 2 5/16 ball on it.

A trailer hitch typically bolts to the chassis of the vehicle. In North America there are a few common classes: I, II, III, IV, and V that are defined by the SAE.

Class I —up to 2,000 pounds (910 kg) — light loads
Class II —up to 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg) — light loads
Class III —up to 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) — larger loads (campers, boats, etc.)
Class IV —up to 10,000 pounds[/B] (4,500 kg) — larger loads (campers, boats, etc.)
Class V Receiver opening: 2-1/2" x 2-1/2"

Rating: Class V
Maximum gross trailer weight: 18,000 lbs
Maximum GTW when used with weight distribution: 18,000 lbs
Maximum tongue weight: 2,000 lbs
Maximum TW when used with weight distribution: 2,500 lbs

Receiver-type hitches are typically offered with a square receiver opening of 1.25 inches (32 mm) (for Class I/II) or 2 inches (51 mm) (for Class III/IV/V). Some Class IV/V hitches are available in 2.5 inches (64 mm) opening sizes.

The trailer tongue (North America) or coupling (outside North America) slips over a tow-ball. Tow-balls come in various sizes depending on the load they carry and the country of operation:

17⁄8 in (47.6 mm)
2 inches (50.8 mm)
2 5⁄16 in (58.7 mm)

I have a Reese Class V Tow Beast Receiver on my MH which has a 12K towing capacity with 1200 max. tongue wt.