Towing Hitch

[Sandy Sue]

I just bought a 13ft. Scamp and need a hitch for my 1993 Toyota 4Runner. Could someone give me advice on that? Also, being female, I can't lift a lot of weight. Is there some type of battery operated lift thingy? I can hear you laughing

[Orcus79]

to ways you can do it, get the factory toyota one and the wiring for it, or get a quality reese one installed.

What are you lifting? the tongue jack on the trailer should do all the lifting for you with a crank of the handle, if not, they are easy to find and they make power ones too.

[Carol H]

Welcome Sandra! being female I am not laughing and get your concern! As suggested if you have a tongue jack with a wheel on it you should never have to lift the trailer yourself. If your jack crank handle is hard to turn it may just need some lubrication. More often that not I do the the hook ups myself and I have never had to manually lifted the trailer tongue. With practice you will get good at getting the ball right under the tongue - if you miss it by an inch you should be able to push it over the ball using the jack wheel with little effort. There also some hitching aids that would be a lot cheaper than the electric jack that can help you get the ball right under the trailers hitch.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Orcus79

to ways you can do it, get the factory toyota one and the wiring for it, or get a quality reese one installed.

X2.... The Toy receiver is noted for it's cheap, lame design and construction. Aftermarket is the way to go. Class III is just a few bucks more and has much more beef then the II's.

[Perry J]

The best and least expensive place for a hitch install is U-haul.
John

[Greg H]

Don't buy a Curt brand hitch. Go to a U haul hitch center and have them do your install. I love Toyota's but the Toyota hitch will be very pricey.

[Carol H]

I agree with Perry & Greg there is nothing at all wrong with going to U-Haul have had good service from their hitch department and there hitch has worked/lasted fine for me.

[Sandy Sue]

Wow, I can't thank you enough. I'm learning

[Mike Magee]

If your jack is too hard to crank, they do make electric replacement jacks (for maybe $150?). But the 13's tongue is usually fairly light, so I doubt you will have a hard time cranking the manual one.

[Perry J]

Originally Posted by Greg H

Don't buy a Curt brand hitch. Go to a U haul hitch center and have them do your install. I love Toyota's but the Toyota hitch will be very pricey.

I became bored after I retired and went to work for a Toyta dealership.
I don't think we ever installed a factory hitch.
Hitch installation was farmed out to a small RV dealer nearby or went to U-Haul.
The Toyota store owner also owned a good portion of the Honda store across the street and I worked their also.
All of the Honda hitch installations were also farmed out.
John

[Greg H]

Perry, what I meant was that if Toyota has a hitch it would be way expensive. I don't know who puts the hitches on Toyota trucks but I do know if it says Toyota it would be expensive. When I couldn't locate a hitch for my Toyota P/U I went to a dealer and priced a chrome step bumper (the same bumper that used to be $99.00) was priced somewhere between $3and $400.00.

[sherad]

I just recently had uhaul install a hitch on my ford escape. Ford wanted almost $1000 and uhaul did it for just a little over $250 lifetime warranty on the hitch two year on the wiring.

[Perry J]

I knew what you meant Greg.
I just wanted to add to your comment.
If you have a hitch installed at the Dealership it's no better than a U-haul hitch and 2 or 3 times more.
John

[john warren]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

If your jack is too hard to crank, they do make electric replacement jacks (for maybe $150?). But the 13's tongue is usually fairly light, so I doubt you will have a hard time cranking the manual one.

actualy the problem with the 13foots jack is the gear ratio. its way to easy . takes about a millon revolutions to raise and lower it.

[john warren]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I agree with Perry & Greg there is nothing at all wrong with going to U-Haul have had good service from their hitch department and there hitch has worked/lasted fine for me.

another vote for uhaul,,,they have been around since davey crocket had a hitch installed on his horse...

[Cyndivg11]

Im laughing, but at myself! - I just dropped off my Fiberstream to get the wheel bearings packed, which by the way I didnt know what bearings were- but the mechanic says: just back it in bay #3. I told him Im still learning my backing up skills. So they do it for me and disappear. I had to find the mechanic to un hook the trailer!- the trailer has an electric lift, but i guess the battery isnt charged to do it. So they had to help with that too. (Cyndi hitting her head against the wall.). I am, however getting a backing up lesson next week from my trucker friend! Id love to be able to back my trailer up dead on a target!!!

[Carol H]

Cindy, you may want to plug the trailer in and charge up the battery. Once you have the battery charged up let it sit for a couple of hours and then plug in the battery monitor (you can get one that will do the job for you for under $12) and see what it reads. If it doesn't show its fully charged it means the battery is no longer holding a charge due to its condition or age. If its shows its fully charge you should turn on a light - if the battery monitor shows its dropping fast again thats a good indicator the battery isnt working as well as it should be. It is not uncommon for a battery of more than 4 years of age that hasnt been really well taken care of to need replacing. I have been told that every time a battery is allowed to go below 40% of its charged state it shortens the life of the battery. Some suggest it actually only needs to happen 4 times to seriously impact the batteries life. Costco has good prices on batteries.