Hitch question

[bartman]

I have a quick question for the experts here. My truck has ranchhand bumpers front and back and a 4" lift. The RH rear is a 10" drop bumper with a 1k tongue and 10k trailer rating. The problem is that with the lift, there is little chance of actually getting a trailer on the ball. The bolt-on reciever from RH cuts the rating in half, as well as do drop ball mounts. What are my options (least expensive) for towing a 7-8k boat?

 

[oi8228oi]

cheapest.... put your old springs on

 

[bartman]

It came with the lift so I don't have them but I wouldn't want to bring it back down.

 

[Crumm]

The reason it cuts the rating as you drop the hitch is because of the leverage created by the drop hitch. Think of the drop hitch as a pry-bar on the bumper. To get the rating back up you will need to get a drop hitch built that has braces that run way up under the truck and tie into the frame.

 

[bartman]

That's an expensive option. There has to be something. I can't be the first guy wanting to tow 7-8k with a lifted truck.

 

[Crumm]

Should not be that expensive. You just need two bars from the bottom of the drop hitch up to the frame. The only other way would be more beef on the rear mounts but you still have a tremendous amount of leverage on the end of the frame. When you get 8K pushing on the end of the frame with a "pry-bar" drop hitch you will fold it up under the truck.

 

[bartman]

I understand what you mean. Now, I need to find a reputable hitch place around here that would be willing to fab something up.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Reese Hitches has a class V Tow Beast hitch (part #45012) that will fit a 10" drop bumper, and has a weight carrying capacity of 1,200lbs tongue weight and 12,000 total trailer weight.

A Tow Beast uses a 2 1/2" reciever shank size. A standard class III or IV uses a 2" shank. So a special Class V 2 1/2" shank ball mount is needed. Class V ball mounts with drops of 3", 5" and 7 3/4" are available with no loss of capacity. Between the 10" drop receiver and the availability of up to a 7 3/4" drop ball mount, I'd think it would meet your needs.

 

[bartman]

Yeah, that would do it! I wonder if it would fit with the RH rear bumper. I will have to look into it some more.