I’m going to buy a decent hitch to keep in my truck in case something comes up at the family ranch. I have a Platinum 2020 4x4 3.5 with a stock rake probably 2”. My question is about how much drop might I need for the hitch for most trailers. Would 5” be enough?

edit
I should have stated I intended to buy an adjustable hitch and wondered if the 5” drop was enough?

 

That depends on the tongue height of “most trailers”. Best thing to do is get an adjustable hitch. I have 3 different trailers and all 3 have different tongue heights.

after re-reading your post, are you asking if a 5” drop adjustable hitch is enough? If so, yes. If not, a 5” drop hitch would probably be too much for some trailers.

 

There are some additional variables. First, are you simply towing around on the ranch, vs. driving on a public road or highway? If so, then unless the trailer has a lot of weight, being off a bit wouldn't matter that much, and a straight hitch would work just fine.

 

I have a 5" drop and 2" ball on one of my receivers and it puts my little cargo trailer and a uHaul very level. That is the perfect drop for my Lariat, that is probably similar to yours.

 

i bought an adjustable BW hitch becasue my camper needed about a 0-1 inch drop and my flatbed trailer needed a 3...so i got the 0-3.

 

It really depends on the trailer.

 

I got this.

https://andersenhitches.com/Products...alumiball.aspx

Lightweight, easy to handle, no rust aluminum. It's rated beyond what my truck is rated for, and works fine towing a lobster boat rig that's under my 5k pound limit.

Anderson has an easy hitch selector on their site that goes over proper measurements.

 

I just keep a 6000# 2” drop in my in bed storage box for general, just in case, use. Easy storage, too.
My travel trailer 8000# WDH is kept in the TT front storage.
I have several ball mounts for use between my truck, Explorer, Travel Trailer and a small cargo box trailer at significant height differences.
The 3500# 4” drop I keep in the Explorer is set for my small cargo trailer. My second, larger cargo trailer (now sold) had an even different height.
Years ago I found a 5000# capacity screw adjustable height ball mount by Haulmaster, IIRC. With the screw adjustment, I can get exact level vice in increments and I used a silver sharpie to mark heights per trailer. However, it’s a bit big and heavy to haul around for its now rare use. Plus I keep a box end wrench with it for adjusting.
Some things it’s hard to have too much of, if you have storage for them. Different drop ball mounts are one of them.
If you’re trying to stay with just one ball mount, get the highest weight capacity ball and adjustable height mount you can find at a decent price.
Note: Once you have a few ball and mounts, it worth it to get the trailer ball wrench from Harbor Freight for the large nuts and it is long for leverage at a good price vs. similar Reese one at WalMart.

 

My fault. I should have stated I intended to get an adjustable hitch and wondered if the lowest drop of 5” would be enough, and would that provide the flexibility to cover most things one might trailer around?

 

5" is going to be plenty. I have a 6in lift and pulled my dad's 14ft trailer empty and didn't have the hitch adjusted all the way down, and the trailer was levelled out