Drop bar ball mount for Triple e - Fiberglass RV
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Old 08-23-2012, 02:00 PM   #1
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Name: Ed
Trailer: 1979 Triple e / 6cyl 09 Escape
Northern Ontario
Posts: 56
Drop bar ball mount for Triple e

Hello everyone,

Well, my first trip of 3000 kilometres in the Triple e was a success and I really love this little camper. For the most part it pulled very well, but I think I may be able to improve on that as the Triple e rides high on the ball. Tends to bounce and lurch a little.

I'm driving a 2009 Ford Escape with the factory installed Class 2 receiver. The ball mount bar has a drop of 2 and one half inches. I think I need to increase the drop to somewhere between 4 and 5 inches. Measuring from ground to tongue gives 14 and 4/8 inches. Measuring from ground to top inside ID gives 19 1/8 inches. Subtracting the 2 measurements gives 4 and 5/8 inches drop.

My problem is trying to find a ball mount bar with a drop of 4 5/8 inches. I can find a 6 inch and a 3.25 inch class 2 configuration but can't seem to locate anything closer to 4 5/8 inches. Have any of you encountered this problem, and if so what would your advices be? Would really like to be pulling this trailer more on the level.

Will try and include a picture of my unit to give an idea of how it sits on the ball. The picture doesn't quite show the extent of the height, but does give the idea of what I mean.

Thanks Ed
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Old 08-23-2012, 03:12 PM   #2
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Name: Mike
Trailer: 1996 16' Casita SD
Louisiana
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Hey Ed, I just did a quick search. Something like this would work. I'm sure you could find something closer/better with a more in-depth search-
10" Adjustable Drop Ball Mount Tow Hitch Receiver on eBay!
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Old 08-23-2012, 06:18 PM   #3
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Name: Ed
Trailer: 1979 Triple e / 6cyl 09 Escape
Northern Ontario
Posts: 56
Hello Mike,

That type of arrangement would certainly work. The problem I have is most of the the drops or adjustable drops are for the 2 inch tube receivers. I could adapt my 1.25 to a 2 inch and then use a drop that would fit the 2 inch adapter, but that makes for a whole lot more loose fitting metal pieces to clunk about when ever the road gets rough.

Thanks for your thoughts, will definitely do more research on this before I give up :-)

Ed
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Old 08-23-2012, 08:52 PM   #4
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Name: Mike
Trailer: 1996 16' Casita SD
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How's about this-
1 1/4 Receiver Hitch 4" Drop + 2" Ball + 1 7/8 Ball + Pin and Clip | eBay
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Old 08-24-2012, 09:59 AM   #5
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Name: Ed
Trailer: 1979 Triple e / 6cyl 09 Escape
Northern Ontario
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itlives View Post
Mike, exactly what I'm looking for. Hopefully I can find one that's available.

Ed
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Old 08-24-2012, 10:07 AM   #6
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Yeah, there was only 4 hrs. left when I found it.
There were lots on Ebay.
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Old 08-24-2012, 10:08 AM   #7
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http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Ball_Mounts-pt-Standard_Ball_Mount-hs-Fits_1~1|4_Inch_Hitch-pc-Drop_~_4~3|4_Inch.aspx
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Old 08-24-2012, 10:52 AM   #8
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Name: Ed
Trailer: 1979 Triple e / 6cyl 09 Escape
Northern Ontario
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Thanks alot guys. The big thing is that they are out there. I was worried they weren't. It's amazing how different people searching for the same thing can come up with so many different results. Looks like a good site and one that I haven't seen Tom. Going to give ebay a look also Mike.

Thanks again,

Ed
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Old 08-24-2012, 11:02 AM   #9
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I believe there are Curt 2" balls with a higher than normal length to the "pedestal below the ball. I can't find the link and I don't know if there are "graduations" of this dimension offered. To the best of my recall, the specification was that the ball hgt. would be 1" higher than standard. So if you wanted a "fine tuning" adjustment of only 1" up from a given rise or drop on the stinger, this ball would deliver that. I'll try to find a link.,

jack

I may be mistaken about Curt offerings but a few minutes later I did find this from Husky:

www.sahararv.com/pdfs/745-760_Husky_Accessories.pdf

The length of the "pedestal" (including wrench flats) below the actual ball is referred to as the "lift" dimension. Husky offers balls with 1" and 2" lift. This dimension would give you the "fine tuning" for leveling with a stinger with a "not quite right" drop.
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Old 08-24-2012, 02:23 PM   #10
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Here ya go-

Trailer Hitch Ball Mount 1-1/4" receiver tubes 4" drop | eBay
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Old 08-26-2012, 08:04 PM   #11
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Name: Ed
Trailer: 1979 Triple e / 6cyl 09 Escape
Northern Ontario
Posts: 56
Hello again everyone,

Well, yesterday I backed the Triple e onto a flat cement pad and took the time to level it off proper. Came up with a figure of 12 inches. Then I placed the trailer on the hitch with full tongue weight which dropped the hitch an inch. Measuring to the top of the receiver ID I got 18 inches, telling me I need a drop of 6 inches.

Apologies to all those who were looking for 4 1/2 inch drop hitches for me. I ordered a 6 inch drop hitch tonight from e trailer so looks like I'm off to the races now with a level pull. Also, on the e trailer website , I saw more than two comments from people who also owned newer Escapes with the class 2 factory receiver saying the 6 inch drop was just what they needed. Lots of good feed back for this company also.

Again, thanks for your advices and help searching. It eventually led me to the right solution. Will let you all know how it works out later on in the year. Now on to the next mod...need to find some mattress foam that wont break the bank buying it :-)

Happy camping,

Ed
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Old 09-08-2012, 07:31 PM   #12
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Name: Ed
Trailer: 1979 Triple e / 6cyl 09 Escape
Northern Ontario
Posts: 56
More Hitch Dilemmas

Quote:
Originally Posted by SurfsideEd View Post
Hello again everyone,

Well, yesterday I backed the Triple e onto a flat cement pad and took the time to level it off proper. Came up with a figure of 12 inches. Then I placed the trailer on the hitch with full tongue weight which dropped the hitch an inch. Measuring to the top of the receiver ID I got 18 inches, telling me I need a drop of 6 inches.

Apologies to all those who were looking for 4 1/2 inch drop hitches for me. I ordered a 6 inch drop hitch tonight from e trailer so looks like I'm off to the races now with a level pull. Also, on the e trailer website , I saw more than two comments from people who also owned newer Escapes with the class 2 factory receiver saying the 6 inch drop was just what they needed. Lots of good feed back for this company also.

Again, thanks for your advices and help searching. It eventually led me to the right solution.

Happy camping,

Ed
Hello all,

Well, received my class 2 - 6 inch drop hitch from e trailer, quick delivery and very reasonable shipping charges. Great Service from these people.

Placed my 1 7/8 ball on the hitch and proceeded to hook up the Triple e and was met with resounding disappointment. The lip on the tongue of the Triple e
will not allow it to fit over the ball on the mount. (Not enough distance from the ball to the drop support on the ball mount). I hadn't taken this into consideration, as I had thought they would all be a standard distance. This ball mount is 1.5 inches to the centre of the ball hole. I need 2.5 inches for the tongue to fit over so it's back to the web in search of another ball mount, *sigh*

Added this as a heads up for anyone looking for hitches as I am.

ED
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Old 04-06-2014, 04:13 PM   #13
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Name: Lora
Trailer: 89 Bigfoot 17G & 73 Compact II
Northern Neck, VA
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Drop bar ball mount

Quoted from Filbert on Show Us Your Rig:
"We were surprised by how high the back of the Sierra was being that it's just a standard work truck and not one of those wannabe monster trucks! It would be nice to level the trailer with the truck. Do I need one of those "drop" doohickies? Thanks Donna, and anyone else that would like to help a fellow out. Filbert"
Thought this might help you out Filbert: This thread shows various drop mounts.
We also have a Sierra. Luckily, the set-up in this picture came from the fellow that sold us the trailer. It's probably way more than we need, but hey it was free!
The nice thing about it is that you can adjust the ball mount up or down as needed.
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Old 04-06-2014, 05:21 PM   #14
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Dang, that sure looks heavy duty for my baby trailer! I guess better safe than sorry.
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Old 04-06-2014, 05:44 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Filbert V. View Post
Dang, that sure looks heavy duty for my baby trailer! I guess better safe than sorry.

The adjustable hitches such as the one in the photo (which was REALLY nice of the seller to give away btw) do tend to look a lot heavier duty than needed. A handy item to have though if you tow more than one trailer. You don't actually need to buy one such as that Filbert. See SurfsideEd's post above on determining how much of a drop you need and just pick up a simple drop all mount from E-trailer to match.
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