Peanuthead

I just bought a 7x14 enclosed trailer to haul 3 motorcycles. I've got a class 4 hitch and electronic brake controller installed on my 93 2wd 5.0 auto.

What upgrades (besides air shocks/helper bags) should I look into installing? Any and all advice welcome. Thanks.

meaz93

A good weight distribution hitch with a sway control. Got mine at UHAUL . A little added security.

smokeywren

With that old Ford, that trailer loaded with three bikes will probably be more than the pickup want to tow. Itwill get you there, but only if you don't allow anything in the drivetrain to overheat. Weakest link is the automagic tranny. I would not leave home towing that loaded trAiler without a good tranny temp gauge with the sender in the sump. Never allow more than 225° sump temp. If you ever see over 215, then change the ATF to synthetic and install a bigger tranny cooler in front of the radiator.

Add what meaz said. I assume you have enough knowledge to know you should not tow that trailer without a weight-distributing hitch with excellent sway control. I pefer the Reese Strait-Line Dual-Cam Trunnion bar hitch.

http://www.etrailer.com/p-RP66088.html

Peanuthead

So the hitch that I have installed in good by itself. But y'all recommend that I get the weight distributing hitch "just in case"? I've only towed a small open 5x8 trailer before.


I'll definitely look into the trans cooler and gauge.

smokeywren

Not just in case. Required. Ford, GM and Ram all require a weight distributing hitch on any trailer that could have a hitch weight of 500 pounds or more. And your 7x14 cargo trailer can definitely have hitch weight of more than 500 pounds when loaded for the road. Plus your receiver is probably not rated for more than 500 pounds tongue weight unless you have a weight-distributing hitch.


My 7x14 tandem-axle motorcycle trailer has GVWR of 7,000 pounds. On one long trip last March, the trailer grossed 6,100 pounds including 700 pounds tongue weight. I hooked it up with a Reese Strait-Line dual-cam weight-distributing hitch and nary a bobble from El Paso to the Snake River on the Oregon border, about 1,250 miles each way. I'm glad I had that WD hitch.



You said a class IV hitch, but you probably meant a class IV receiver with a class III weight-carrying (WC) ball mount. Your receiver is fine, but the WC ball mount should be used only with light-weight trailers with tongue weight less than 500 pounds. Class IV hitch means it can handle over 1,000 pounds tongue weight, but your receiver is probably rated for less than 1,000 pounds tongue weight with a WC hitch. In fact, I wouldn't use it for trailers with more than about 250 pounds tongue weight. The adjustable shank of a weight-distributing (WD) hitch will plug into that same receiver.

Peanuthead

OK. That cleared things up for me. Thanks for the info. I'm guessing that the WDhitch should be used on our new truck too? 09 Lariat crew cab?

smokeywren

The tow vehicle doesn't matter. What matters is tongue weight. Match the hitch to the trailer, not to the tow vehicle.


You can move most WD hitches from one trailer to another, but it's a PITA. For a while I was towing both my TT and my enclosed cargo trailer with the same Strait-Line hitch. But I quickly tired of moving the parts that bolt/screw onto he tongue of the trailer. So I bought just those parts and put them on both trailers. I used the same shank, head, and spring bars on both trailers, but the lift-up brackets and the dual cams I had two sets, one for each trailer.


But that was then. I later found a good deal on a ProPride hitch and put it on my TT. The cargo trailer still uses the Strait-Line. But I no longer need the extra parts for the Strait-Line to easily use it on more than one trailer.


I now have 5 trailers. Only two of them might have over 500 pounds of hitch weight, so those two are the ones that have the WD hitchs. The other three utility trailers I use with a weight-carrying ball mount.

Peanuthead

Ok. I'll look at the trailer specs again. Since I only have the one trailer, the WD hitch would stay mounted to it all the time.