I'm not saying anything bad about 4WPW, I'm just saying it's quite fitting to be able to get a hitch for a fullsize truck that's running 37s thereHey hey now! They are ardent supporters of U4WDA and we love them.
Drop hitch
- Thread starter BroncoMama
- Start date
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
OOH! I need to see you about that tablet! expect a call!
man, almost forgot.
bobmed
- - - -
- Location
- sugarliberty
Here's one I've had in my garage for 5-6 years that you can have if we can figure how to get it to you.
It's a 30056 mount with a 30055 ball plate
http://www.putnamhitch.com/products_mounts.html#adjusttube
It's a 30056 mount with a 30055 ball plate
http://www.putnamhitch.com/products_mounts.html#adjusttube
Last edited:
bobmed
- - - -
- Location
- sugarliberty
Shipping will be the problem, It weighs about 35 lbs.
Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
I get skeered when I see 10" and 12" drop hitches. I think of 10,000# trailers and bending moments and stuff. (shudder)
BroncoMama
Rock Diva
- Location
- Just south of craziness
Thank you Bob! That could be just what I need. Let me look into the bigger tire possiblity and get back to you on that one. Getting it to me wouldn't actually be that big of a deal. I know some people heading my direction here in the next few weeks who could probably bring it with them with a minimal amount of shameless begging on my part.
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
BroncoMama
Rock Diva
- Location
- Just south of craziness
Thankfully I'm not towing 10,000 lbs. We have a 1 ton and a gooseneck for all the heavy towing. This is just for our jaunts with Lemon Joy on a very light trailer.
JackKeslerCustoms
Active Member
- Location
- Herriman
If you don't exceed the rating on the peice you get, you will be fine.
hoxviii
Ford-natic
- Location
- Draper, UT
Raise the tongue of the trailer. . .
BroncoMama
Rock Diva
- Location
- Just south of craziness
That's what I think too. I'm not even close to the rating on the hitch I currently have. We're just blowing through trailer tires and the only thing we can figure is that the trailer isn't completely level so the majority of LJ's big ole self is sitting on the rear tires.
That option has been discussed as well. How exactly would one go about doing such a thing?
hoxviii
Ford-natic
- Location
- Draper, UT
Think about how a goose trailer looks, now think about it on a smaller scale. cut the tongue off, put material between the part you cut off and the existing trailer to get it to the height you want, weld it back together, fish plate it, and gusset it.
You can do it without losing any tongue length.
Justin
You can do it without losing any tongue length.
Justin
Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
Skeer this nuber spew:
I don't have a drop hitch in front of me to measure, but assuming the flat bar it's made of is 3" wide by 1" thick, using 36ksi steel and NO safety factor, it's bent at about 1500 ft-lbs of bending...fails at 2500 ft-lbs
Tow rig weighs what, 7500 lbs avg? Coefficient of friction is .9 on a dry pavement (if you're lucky) so you have 6750 lbs of braking force.
Now consider the trailer: Assuming a 5000# rig on a 1500# trailer. Hope it's got brakes, but say they don't work...or a trailer tire on the brake axle blows out or just goes flat. You've got up to 6500# leaning on that drop hitch...hopefully not all at once, cuz the flat bar alone is only good for 1500 ft-lbs before it stays bent.
Here's the question: How far down does that gusset go?
You'd better hope it's within 2 inches of the bottom.
1500 ft-lbs / 6500 lbs = 2.8 inches with NO safety factor
Assuming the ball doesn't shear off...
Brett (has a bent 8" drop hitch)
What kind of trailer tires do you keep blowing out? (not really on topic, but what is?)
I lost several "good" trailer tires I bought (Duro, IIRC), before bucking up and spending twice as much per tire on a truly good set of Maxxis trailer tires. I haven't had so much as a leak since then, much less a flat. Before that, I could just about count on at least one flat per trip. That was 3 or 4 years ago, so I'm definitely happy with my purchase.
Snap a pic of the tongue of that trailer--I'd guess it'd be pretty simple to modify the tongue rather than find a monstrous drop hitch that Brett wouldn't feel safe with. It doesn't have to be pretty, (unless you want it to be) so just cut off the hitch, stack another piece of the same material the tongue is made from on top, and weld away. If it's 4x4 square tube now (for example), you'd raise the hitch 4" by stacking it up, so then you'd only need an unsafe 8" drop hitch instead of an unsafe 12". :greg: Plus, there could be several feet of weld on each side, so no matter how shady the welding is, it'd be OK.
I lost several "good" trailer tires I bought (Duro, IIRC), before bucking up and spending twice as much per tire on a truly good set of Maxxis trailer tires. I haven't had so much as a leak since then, much less a flat. Before that, I could just about count on at least one flat per trip. That was 3 or 4 years ago, so I'm definitely happy with my purchase.
Snap a pic of the tongue of that trailer--I'd guess it'd be pretty simple to modify the tongue rather than find a monstrous drop hitch that Brett wouldn't feel safe with.
It doesn't have to be pretty, (unless you want it to be) so just cut off the hitch, stack another piece of the same material the tongue is made from on top, and weld away. If it's 4x4 square tube now (for example), you'd raise the hitch 4" by stacking it up, so then you'd only need an unsafe 8" drop hitch instead of an unsafe 12". :greg: Plus, there could be several feet of weld on each side, so no matter how shady the welding is, it'd be OK.
Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
What kind of trailer tires do you keep blowing out? (not really on topic, but what is?)
I lost several "good" trailer tires I bought (Duro, IIRC), before bucking up and spending twice as much per tire on a truly good set of Maxxis trailer tires. I haven't had so much as a leak since then, much less a flat. Before that, I could just about count on at least one flat per trip. That was 3 or 4 years ago, so I'm definitely happy with my purchase.
Snap a pic of the tongue of that trailer--I'd guess it'd be pretty simple to modify the tongue rather than find a monstrous drop hitch that Brett wouldn't feel safe with.
"several feet of weld" LOL Love it!
I've had great luck with the Henderson tires I had (Duro's?) and whatever 2 I got from Big O this last go round. The only reason I replaced the Henderson tires was due to the tread wearing down (brake axle).
Before I lopped the bottom unused inches off my eq hitch, it was good for 6 or 8" of drop, with serious triangulating reinforcement.
hoxviii
Ford-natic
- Location
- Draper, UT
Doing it that way loses tongue length, which may be a big deal depending on how short it is already.
Check out my mad paint skills on how'd I;d do it
Color coded and pretty self explanitory, IMO. Blue is the new material, red is the gusset you'll need, and black is original material.
Justin
Check out my mad paint skills on how'd I;d do it
Color coded and pretty self explanitory, IMO. Blue is the new material, red is the gusset you'll need, and black is original material.
Justin
hoxviii
Ford-natic
- Location
- Draper, UT
Allright, i see how you did it. works either way, mainly comes down to aesthetics.
Justin
Justin
BroncoMama
Rock Diva
- Location
- Just south of craziness
The tires could not be considered stellar by anyone's standards. What lead us to this conclusion was the fact that the front tires are fine and the rears are completely bald and the trailer was bought in November of last year.What kind of trailer tires do you keep blowing out? (not really on topic, but what is?)
I lost several "good" trailer tires I bought (Duro, IIRC), before bucking up and spending twice as much per tire on a truly good set of Maxxis trailer tires. I haven't had so much as a leak since then, much less a flat. Before that, I could just about count on at least one flat per trip. That was 3 or 4 years ago, so I'm definitely happy with my purchase.
Snap a pic of the tongue of that trailer--I'd guess it'd be pretty simple to modify the tongue rather than find a monstrous drop hitch that Brett wouldn't feel safe with.
I really like the idea of modifying the tongue. I currently have a 10" hitch that I'm fairly attached to and spent quite a bit on so I'm fine not buying another hitch. The prettiness of the trailer is of little consequence to me. I just want an issue free trailer. And yes, I do know I'm delusional in that area!!
I like the picture! Now, just to get an extention cord for Hobi and we'll be sitting pretty in no time. :greg:Doing it that way loses tongue length, which may be a big deal depending on how short it is already.
Check out my mad paint skills on how'd I;d do it
Color coded and pretty self explanitory, IMO. Blue is the new material, red is the gusset you'll need, and black is original material.
Justin