kook

Just put a hitch on my F150 4x4. Trying to figure out what drop ball mount to get. I have a 6" drop mount from my other truck, but that puts the top of the ball only 14" off the ground (with me sitting on the bumper). I thought I recall something like 18" was an "average" height, meaning I would need only a 2" drop. Any help? The ball is about 3" tall, FWIW.

thanks,
Mark

wilerty

The ball height depends on the trailer you'll be towing. Adjust your trailer so it is level and measure the height the ball needs to be off the ground. The buy the receiver that will put you at the correct height. Remember that the trailer(tongue weight) will lower the back of your truck so put some weight (stand) on the back of your truck when you figure out the measurement. If you have several different trailers, you could need a different receiver for each one.

Good luck ...

Bill

Madcow

Ideally you want your trailer to be level. Mesure the bottom of the frame at the axels. Then raise, or lower the jack untill the frame is at the same height at the front. Now messure how high the coupler is off the ground. Thats how you want it to ride. Now messure how much the truck drops when you put the trailer on, and you can calculate your ball height.

kook

Guess I was looking for a "standard" height. My boat is out of town, so can not measure it's trailer height.

I may tow other's boats on occasion as well, along with utility trailer - wanna try and keep it down to a single ball mount - going to buy one of those cushioned ones.

Playn

Kook, I pull a variety of different size trailers with different tounge heights and ball sizes. The best solution I've been able to find is a "Balls of Steel" hitch from Roto-Eze 1-800-995-9825. you can adjust up and down, and rotate it to different ball sizes (2 5/16, 2, 1 7/8)

Playn

Kook, not the best pic but you can see it can be adjusted to about whatever you need.

obnoxus

I always thought 18" was a good goal for a start,, but like they said,,, level while on the back of the truck is best for surge brakes to work correctly

Mother

Having just gone through something similar...

The local hitch/trailer shop (highend, not uhaul) told me that standard ball height on boat trailers is "19-20 inches"...

In my case it meant that my Excursions receiver would take a standard 2" drop mount to hook up to my boat- and it did.

YMMV...
--Adam