F250 4x4 Trailer Hitch Drop

My son-in-law and daughter own a 1989 22' Funchaser. The tow vehicle has been my '07 Tundra 4x2. The receiver hitch has a 1" drop on it and when my Tundra pulled Miss Daisy she was pretty level.

My SIL purchased a '07 F250 4x4 and it's stock.....no lift. He used the same hitch receiver and I noticed the front of the trailer is higher than the back.....not significantly, but enough to notice.

We figure he needs a receiver with a 2"-2 1/2" drop on it. What's the best way to figure out which one he needs?

Do we connect the trailer to his truck and use a level below the trailer tongue to get to a level position and measure the distance?

As you can tell we are novices (not kidding). LOL

getting correct set up on hitch

Take your truck and trailer to an RV place. They will be able to set you up correctly for towing. They should have the drop that you need. Our HiLo dealer did this for us. It still was tricky and they had to make an adjustment with our f250 in the second year of towing. Perhaps you can find a utube tutorial on this. It is a good thing to be set up level when towing. We have all seen less than level rigs being towed down the highway.

For safe towing you should be using a Weight Distribution Hitch, the 2" square ball mount is adjustable, so that the trailer sets level.
http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f63/setting-up-wd-hitch-1077/

I would not say that a WDH is necessary to be safe. Towing a 22' Funchaser with a 3/4 ton truck is probably OK without a Weight Distributing Hitch (WDH).

Here's a good guide to choosing the correct height ball mount:
Choosing the Correct Ball Mount | etrailer.com. One thing that the article does not consider is the sag on the tow vehicle as a result of the trailer being hitched. You can approximate this by measuring the hitch height with your current ball mount before and after hitching the trailer up. The amount of sag can be added to the ball height computation.

Make sure that you take a couple of other things into consideration: 1- Hitch capacity - this is often on a plate or sticker on the hitch. Make sure that it can handle the gross weight weight of the trailer (I believe that it is 5000-5200 lb) and the tongue weight (10%-15% of the trailer weight). Often there are two capacities listed depending on whether a WDH is used or not, 2- Hitch ball capacity - the ball rating should be no less than the trailer gross weight. Ball capacity is usually based on the diameter of the ball shank, and not the diameter of the ball. The capacity should be clearly stamped on the ball.

Owners manual recommends a WDH. I've always heard that the rule of thumb is 17' and longer, you should use a WDH.

A WDH is certainly a good idea but not necessary if the tow vehicle is level once hitched up and none of the weight ratings are exceeded. For example, my neighbor has a business that relies on a number of 24' trailers that weigh around 5000 Lb. He and his staff have been have been towing these type of trailers with 3/4 ton pickups for over 15 years without WDHs. They have never had any issues.

I agree with Norton

I agree with Norton on this issue. A 17 foot trailer simply is too small to require a WDH. We tow a 35 foot Fountain Lightening all around the southeast with an F-250 V-10 and have never even seen another boat of this size or weight (12K with trailer) being towed with a WDH. Rule of thumb is tongue weight is about 10%of weight of item being towed. I'm curious, how much sag do you think would come from hooking up a 17 foot trailer on the average vehicle? Let's say tongue weight of about 3-400# or so......no need of a WDH. It certainly is an interesting topic, and I enjoy all the answers.

Im curious. Can you rig anti-sway control without a WDH? I get a 3/4 or, even, 1 ton would not need it for sag but I would think trailer sway would still come into play and you might want to compensate for it.

hilltool said:

Im curious. Can you rig anti-sway control without a WDH? I get a 3/4 or, even, 1 ton would not need it for sag but I would think trailer sway would still come into play and you might want to compensate for it.

Click to expand...

Yes, you can use a friction sway device like this one: Pro Series Friction Sway Control - Value Sway Control 83660