Hitch height

[rabbit]

Best Use of Crystal Ball award to Brian for his work sorting the undifferentiated vernacular!!

jack

[lifermc]

Called BF and they tild ne 440 lbs dry. So tongue weight will increase with add ons. Height ti top of ball hitch 23 1/4 inches.

[Bruce H]

500 lbs may set your truck down a couple of inches. You should allow for that. Ideal is to have the trailer perfectly level when fully loaded. Bigfoots have a tall ball height. Running a one ton dually don't waste your money and especially your time on an equalizer hitch. It takes three times as long to hitch your trailer with one.

[lifermc]

Use to carry a camper and have "stable loads" installed on my springs so don't think the hitch weight will have much effect on lowering the truck bed. My concern is trying to keep the trailer as level as possible. Thanks to all for your input.

David
Socal

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rabbit

Best Use of Crystal Ball award to Brian for his work sorting the undifferentiated vernacular!!

And yet, almost two weeks later and with two more posts from David, we still have no indication of whether or not this is what he meant

People with crystal balls are usually wrong...

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

..........

People with crystal balls are usually wrong...

And walk funny.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by lifermc

Called BF and they tild ne 440 lbs dry. So tongue weight will increase with add ons. Height ti top of ball hitch 23 1/4 inches.

Never hurts to get the info from the people who build it

Did BF give you a hint as to what you might expect the tongue weight to be in real life loaded for camping situations? As the dry weight probable doesn't include your full propane tanks or battery or AC or any other extras you may have ordered and what ever you stow in the trailer so you might want to make sure your covered in case its more than double that loaded up. Looking at the Trailer Weights in the Real World Specs its very possible for it to come in at more than double. The 21' rear bed model weighed came in at 1160lbs on the tongue.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Never hurts to get the info from the people who build it

Absolutely!

But until you do that, a decent guess - 1.25" off - doesn't hurt to start planning:

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

In the only photo on the BigfootRV.com site (in the 2500 series trailer Photo Gallery) which I found that shows the B21 coupler, it appears that the top of coupler/ball height is about level with the top of the frame, which in turn appears to be at the top of the wheel, which would be about 22" above the ground.

Originally Posted by lifermc

Called BF... Height ti top of ball hitch 23 1/4 inches.

[Wallo]

Interesting posts on this thread which I think applies to questions running around loose in my head. But, it doesn't look like any hit on ones I have.

I bought a new tow vehicle a few months ago and had a u-haul hitch installed. It is the correct hitch for my vehicle, but it sits low back there. With the trailer sitting level in the garage, I measured up to the bottom of the coupler. Then went to the SUV and measured to the bottom of the ball. A good 6" lower on the SUV side. Would I be able to turn the "stinger?" upside down and reverse the ball to gain height? Or are the stingers made to be used in just one direction? It might give me the extra height instead of buying a new one.

[Dave Fish]

Originally Posted by Wallo

Would I be able to turn the "stinger?" upside down and reverse the ball to gain height? Or are the stingers made to be used in just one direction? It might give me the extra height instead of buying a new one.

That is exactly what the Casita factory did to get my Casita with high lift axle level. My hitch was normal level but needed to come up about 5" to account for the axle and the 2" drop from the toungue weight mentioned before.

[Jared J]

Sure, the one on the subaru is a 4" rise.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Wallo

Would I be able to turn the "stinger?" upside down and reverse the ball to gain height? Or are the stingers made to be used in just one direction? It might give me the extra height instead of buying a new one.

Some are okay either way up, others are for only one orientation only. Most 2" mounts are reversible, especially those with moderate drop/rise. Many 1 1/4" mounts are not reversible. I would check the specific mount (a.k.a. stinger) on the manufacturer's website (e.g. Ball Mounts - Reese)... and of course on the mount itself.

With a 2" receiver and 3/4" thick platform for the ball, the rise will be the drop minus 1 1/4"; for example, a 4" drop ball mount becomes a 2 3/4" rise mount.

[Jared J]

Good call, I forget about 1 1/4" stuff.

[Wallo]

I'll check to see if the stinger can be reversed and go from there. It may not make up the extra height I need, but it's worth a shot to save some $$ and not have extra "stuff" hanging out in the garage. Too much of that already.