Receiver Hitch Recommendations

[BCDave]

Originally Posted by Greg H

Why would you have six receiver hitches? Well I guess you could if you had as many vehicles as I do, I guess I have about 5 receiver hitches a 5th wheel and a Goose neck hitch and none of them have broken either.

Having several drawbars is not unusual. Lets see - my tow vehicles:
57 Chev hardtop
'80 GMC half ton
89 Suzuki Sidekick (only for very small light trailers)
92 GMC one ton
97 Toyota 4Runner

Things to be towed:

18 foot flatdeck car carrier and general purpose (haul big stuff) trailer Uses 2 5/16 ball (10,000 lb gross trailer weight)
tiny boat trailer 1 7/8 ball gross wt with small sailboat on it - about 400 lb
small utility trailer (uses 1 7/8 ball)
Surfside 14 (2 inch ball)
Boler 1700 (2 inch)
Bigfoot 21 (2 inch)


All the tow vehicles have different heights of hitch. The 3 travel trailers all are the same height, but the others are all different

Combinations - for the flatdeck - only the 2 trucks

The Sidekick only gets hitched to the boat trailer or the Surfside

The '57 Chev - anything EXCEPT the flatdeck (and needs weight dist for either the Boler or the Bigfoot)

All tugs have brake controllers and the only trailer sans brakes is the teeny boat trailer

Now work out how many drawbars I need!

[Greg H]

Originally Posted by BCDave

Having several drawbars is not unusual. Lets see - my tow vehicles:
57 Chev hardtop
'80 GMC half ton
89 Suzuki Sidekick (only for very small light trailers)
92 GMC one ton
97 Toyota 4Runner

Things to be towed:

18 foot flatdeck car carrier and general purpose (haul big stuff) trailer Uses 2 5/16 ball (10,000 lb gross trailer weight)
tiny boat trailer 1 7/8 ball gross wt with small sailboat on it - about 400 lb
small utility trailer (uses 1 7/8 ball)
Surfside 14 (2 inch ball)
Boler 1700 (2 inch)
Bigfoot 21 (2 inch)


All the tow vehicles have different heights of hitch. The 3 travel trailers all are the same height, but the others are all different

Combinations - for the flatdeck - only the 2 trucks

The Sidekick only gets hitched to the boat trailer or the Surfside

The '57 Chev - anything EXCEPT the flatdeck (and needs weight dist for either the Boler or the Bigfoot)

All tugs have brake controllers and the only trailer sans brakes is the teeny boat trailer

Now work out how many drawbars I need!

Drawbars and hitches are not the same, if you mean Drawbars plug into the receiver then yeah the more the merrier I probably have 6 or 7, but hitches bolt to the frame. In his case if he doesn't have 6 cars then why does he need 6 hitches? By the way it looks like you only need 5 hitches, you can have as many "Drawbars" as you want.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

Never heard of one breaking. The six I have are in perfect shape. Granted, the oldest is only 16 years old.

I have a friend who's Reese hitch broke, though.

When I bought the Curt for my '08 Highlander it was a new model version. If I recall correctly, Curt and Toyota were my only choices at the time. The one from Curt was really new I guess, because the first one didn't line up on the holes and the second one was warped and wouldn't come close to fitting. The third one was the charm... for about half or 3/4 of a year, then it snapped when I was going about 60 mph on the turnpike. Fortunately one end held so I was able to stop safely and unhook. To Curt's credit they did send a fourth one, which has a stronger design at the end where #3 broke. I've towed with #4 for probably, oh, 65K miles or so and it's working fine.

So maybe the best advice would be simply to avoid any new receiver designs, stick with receivers that have been in use for a year or so... but to do that I could not have towed with my Highlander for the first year. Toyota wanted about $700 and I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

[mcbrew]

The Curt hitch for my new Subaru Outback comes in tomorrow. If all goes as planned, I should have it installed tomorrow night. I already requested lift time in my father's garage. Fortunately, they pre-wire the Outback for trailer lights, so that is just plug and play. I will report back on how the installation goes. I may even take pictures. By the way, I bought the class III hitch. Curt also makes a class II hitch with a 1.25" receiver for the Outback.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

The Curt hitch for my new Subaru Outback comes in tomorrow. If all goes as planned, I should have it installed tomorrow night. I already requested lift time in my father's garage. Fortunately, they pre-wire the Outback for trailer lights, so that is just plug and play. I will report back on how the installation goes. I may even take pictures. By the way, I bought the class III hitch. Curt also makes a class II hitch with a 1.25" receiver for the Outback.

If your Outback is like mine, the wiring supports a normal 4 way plug. I had to run separate wires for my brake controller and power lines. etrailer.com has a good strong dual wire that serves that purpose well, available in their brake controller wiring section.

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Radar1

If your Outback is like mine, the wiring supports a normal 4 way plug. I had to run separate wires for my brake controller and power lines. etrailer.com has a good strong dual wire that serves that purpose well, available in their brake controller wiring section.

My Scamp doesn't have brakes or a battery... But I will keep this in mind if I should upgrade. Thanks! For now, all of my trailers are equipped with flat 4s, so I'm good to go.

[mcbrew]

UPS just delivered it... Curt class III hitch for my 2011 Subaru Outback.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by floyd

Class III &IV hitches are 2", if you can find one which is powder coated instead of painted,it will remain in good shape much longer.
Any brand will do what it is rated for, but at the margin, square is stronger than round.
A Scamp won't take it anywhere near the margin though, so you can go with the one which looks and fits best.

My cousins class VI is 2 1/2" and our class III is 2" Despite the light weight of his Airstream he needs the extra due to the heavy tongue weight caused by axle set back

1.5" class I and class II will meet most small trailer needs of under 2000 lbs 'they do not give extra tongue capacity'

Ours the paint came off see "Show us your hitch" link for picture of it
told paint due to usage on dirt roads?

[Borden]

Looks very nice mcbrew

Originally Posted by mcbrew

UPS just delivered it... Curt class III hitch for my 2011 Subaru Outback.

[Borden]

The Toyota Echo we had prior to our current car was a Hida hitch we had very good results with it over a 6 year period. Though not recommended we once over loaded it at double its rating for a short trip on a side road we are pleased at how well it worked.

Our current hitch is custom design to meet the car needs works great but had to be repainted yesterday as paint did not fair well on dirt roads. Flowers do not always grow in the most accessible spots

[Night Sailor]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

UPS just delivered it... Curt class III hitch for my 2011 Subaru Outback.

Looks nice and beefy. I like the new Outback. If it came in A diesel, I would buy it today.

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Night Sailor

Looks nice and beefy. I like the new Outback. If it came in A diesel, I would buy it today.

It does... But not in this country! 2 liter H4 turbodiesel. 150 HP @ 3,600 RPM. 170 pounds of torque from 1,800 to 2,400 RPM. 37 MPG "combined.". That's US MPG, not imperial.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

It does... But not in this country! 2 liter H4 turbodiesel. 150 HP @ 3,600 RPM. 170 pounds of torque from 1,800 to 2,400 RPM. 37 MPG "combined.". That's US MPG, not imperial.

Wow thats 41.6 mpg Canadian Gal impressive mileage on the Outback
Corolla comes stock with 1.8 L @ 132 hp or 2.4 L @ 158 hp the extra hp costs in mileage.
The hitch on the Corolla was expensive and it lacks the Outbacks off road ability; in short very impressive mileage and great value on the outback!

[Night Sailor]

I have been eagerly waiting for a subbie diesel. My theory is since demand is there , the government is killing it. Small diesels make to much sense. I thought about buying a Subaru and shipping a diesel over and put it in myself. I was also thinking about a Jetta Sportwagon. I ultimately decided to refurbish a 5speed Volvo 240 wagon. If i keep the speed down, I get as much as 32.4mpg. I am hoping for better with LRR tires. I love Subaru's although I wish they were long enough to sleep in. My 240 wagon is a little tight for me and the dog. I have trouble climbing in the back. Once in, I sleep great in it. 77" is more than I need. Still 4x4 would be nice coupled with a diesels better fuel economy.