New (to me) Funlite question

[bdette]

This past weekend I brought home my newly-purchased 1993 Funlite. The original owner towed it with a Suburban; I have a Ram 2500. The receiver on my truck is significantly higher off the ground than the Suburban. I got it home safely, but I'll need to get a different weight distribution hitch or put a lift kit in the trailer, or maybe both? I've read that putting a lift kit in might provide room for full-size tires. I don't plan on doing any off-roading, but I'd like to get in my driveway without scraping things. Any suggestions, preferences for either choice?

--Bdette

 

[renoites]

The cheapest and easiest way is to get a drop hitch piece that lowers/raises the tongue ht.
ebay $20...measure the ht of the tongue when level. Measure the ht of the truck receiver, that is the lowering/raising distance required. Some can have a ratcheted adjustment so can be for people with multi tow vehicles.
Raising the trlr is significantly more work and expense. Plus , now your stairs are too high from the ground.

Almost everyone has to change the ht when changing tow vehicle.

 

[JackandJanet]

Hi, Bdette - welcome to the world of HiLo!

Most Weight Distributing Hitches have the ability to raise or lower the ball. With my new truck, I had to raise the ball and so I turned the hitch receiver "stinger" upside down so that I could mount the ball higher. I think a WDH adjustment would be the simplest solution.

But, if the spacing between your trailer tires would allow larger tires, then that would help too. My lift on my single axle trailer cost $400 at a local welding shop. Besides giving more ground clearance, the larger tires provide a better margin of safety weight-wise during travel.

- Jack

 

[bdette]

JackandJanet--It sure would have been nice if the weight distribution hitch was adjustable or flippable, but that isn't the case with this one. Since it looks like I'll be ponying up some dollars for a different one anyway, I'll add 'adjustable' to what I replace this one with.

With dual axles to lift, looks like the adjustable hitch will be the most economical option to get me mobile.

Thanks everybody for the quick response!

--Bdette

 

[hilltool]

I put three inches of lift. I'm glad I did it for clearance reasons. However, when I tried to mount larger tires they would not fit because they also got " thicker" and the wheel well was not engineered to handle the increased width. I also had dual axles so I could only go up one inch in the first place ( 13 in to 14 in) and still have clearance between front and rear tire. However, the increased width made it moot. It wasn't an obvious issue. Till we tried to put the new wheels and tires on. So, measure everything!