Jeff Urban

I have a question about the hitch on my new truck. I attached a picture with the numbers on the hitch. After researching the web, the numbers appear to fall just short of a class 4 but are more than a class 3. So I will go with the low numbers.

My camper weighs 5200 LBS and has a tongue weight of 550 LBS. I use a weight distribution hitch so according to the numbers my camper weight and tongue weight will be fine when towing on the road. So my question is, When I pull the camper from point A to point B on my property to do maintenance or get it ready for a trip, will I have any problems not using the weight distribution setup since the weight of the camper and tongue go over the max?

Thanks for any help.

Jeff

Ricktwuhk

No issue.

smokeywren

Hi, Jeff, and WELCOME to our campfire.



Class III heavy-duty trailer has gross trailer weight of 3,500 to 5,000 pounds, or max wet and loaded hitch weight of up to 500 pounds, whichever occurs first. For a tandem-axle travel trailer, the 500 pounds hitch weight limit will almost always occur before you reach the 5,000 pounds gross trailer weight limit. So your receiver is a Class III when used with a weight-carrying hitch.


Class IV extra-heavy-duty trailer has gross trailer weight of over 5,000 pounds or max wet and loaded hitch weight of over 500 pounds. So your receiver is a Class IV when used with a weight-distributing hitch.


Class V is not an industry-standard term, but some that use it say a Class V trailer weighs over 10,000 pounds or has hitch weight over 1,000 pounds, whichever occurs first.

So if you want to get into "class warfare", your receiver is a Class V when used with a weight-distributing hitch.

The receiver will be slightly overloaded, but probably no problem because of the built-in fudge factor of the weight limits. However, because the receiver will be overloaded, avoid dragging the trailer over chug holes and sharp bumps when you don't have the spring bars of the WD hitch tight. Or of you cannot avoid a hole or bump, then cross it very slowly so as not to stress the receiver.


But that "V-5" on the hitch weight sticker does not mean "Class V". Instead it's some sort of engineering standard that means the weights on the sticker are accurate.

Jeff Urban

Thanks for the help.

Jeff