Something to think about hitch wise
07-16-2017, 11:18 AM
#22
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Usually the trailer determines the ball rating by the diameter used. When you get to 2 5/16" *****, then there are different ratings based on the shank diameter. At that point you definitely need to make sure you have the proper one for your trailer.
07-16-2017, 01:20 PM
#23
Senior Member
Even with 2" *****, there are different capacities ... Curt, for example, has ratings from 3500 to 12,000 lbs. It's not JUST shank size. http://www.curtmfg.com/Category/144/...20Balls?page=1
07-16-2017, 08:04 PM
#24
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Other than one, the shank diameters did make a difference, the 3500 pound had 3/4" shanks, the 6000 pound had 1" and the 10K had 1.25". The oddball was the 12K with a 1" shank. I wonder why bother making all the others in that weight range with a thicker shank. Some of the others were plain to see why, longer shanks, taller *****, etc.
Whats interesting is all the trailers I saw that were over 6000 pounds had 2 5/16" *****. I guess car dollies are 2" couplers, and maybe some flat bed heavy duty ones would be 2", but even the car haulers I saw had the larger couplers. Another of those, hmm moments I guess.
Whats interesting is all the trailers I saw that were over 6000 pounds had 2 5/16" *****. I guess car dollies are 2" couplers, and maybe some flat bed heavy duty ones would be 2", but even the car haulers I saw had the larger couplers. Another of those, hmm moments I guess.
07-17-2017, 02:17 PM
#25
Senior Member
Well it's not brand specific. As I stated, why isn't there a weight rating for those trailers like a boat, that has a light tongue weight, but is over the 5000 pound mark.
OK, let me put it another way, Hook a car dolly up and tow an F250 that weighs in at 6500 pounds. Tongue weight is almost nothing, so no WDH is needed, and we know that the receiver can handle pulling 11K pounds, so why is there no label for these kinds of loads?
It's just a thinking discussion, nothing more. It's one of those things that makes you sit back and say, hmmm.
OK, let me put it another way, Hook a car dolly up and tow an F250 that weighs in at 6500 pounds. Tongue weight is almost nothing, so no WDH is needed, and we know that the receiver can handle pulling 11K pounds, so why is there no label for these kinds of loads?
It's just a thinking discussion, nothing more. It's one of those things that makes you sit back and say, hmmm.
Incidentally, the UHaul computer didn't like it when I rented one of their car haulers to pull my first-gen XTerra (3500-4kish lbs) up to the dealer as a trade on my 150, based on the relatively weight of towed assembly vs. tow vehicle. With the UHaul car haulers being over 2k unloaded, that makes some sense, but I had zero problems pulling, turning or stopping that trailer (just had to remember it was there when I was headed back home with it empty). The local UHaul guy just punched in the tow vehicle as a Super Duty to make it happy, but YMMV.