Cheap,lite Duty Trailer Hitchs
 

I'VE GOT A NEW 2003 CHEVY 4X4 DUALLY WITH A TRAILER TOWING PACKAGE AND THE TRUCK IS RATED AT 12,500LBS
FUNNY THING IS THOUGH THE REESE HITCH THAT CAME FROM THE FACTORY IS RATED AT GET THIS 5K,LBS ONLY !!!
THEY DON'T TELLYOU THIS ,SO FOR SAFTEY SAKE AND LEGAL YOUVE GOT TO ORDER A NEW HITCH TO REPLACE YOUR NEW HITCH ???????
COOL UH??
IS FORD LIKE THAT ??

BE WARNED OR SURPRIZE:D :D

HOPE THIS HELPS

Bobby,

Welcome to the world of Heavy Duty trucks. To answer you question......Yes, this is common with Dodge and Ford also. This has been an ongoing topic here on the forum for awhile now. A lot of people are seeing the "V" on the back of their hitch and thinking that they have a Class 5 hitch. Not the case. The Class III hitches that I sell to the public actually have the "V" on the back of them also. So it's not something the auto manufacturers are doing. If you're going to exceed the tow rating of your hitch purchase a Class 5 hitch.

Some people here have had luck with the dealer stepping up and taking care of them in this situation. You might try this.

PS. Please upgrade to Class 5 ball mount and ball too. A Class 5 hitch will do no good without these! ;)

Buck
#183

Yep, even with my Expy (class III with 5k weight carrying) I replaced it with a Putnam class IV (8000# weight carrying) just to be properly "rated". Plus the putnam looks soooo much better than the faded rusty looking OEM.

I agree 100% with the ball mount and ball afterall, it's only about $50 on the high side for heavy duty stuff. I've got a 10k rated mount and 8k rated ball. How many people have caused wrecks and/or killed someone because their ball sheared or ball mount came apart and lost their trailer (and of course doing that, they more than likely didn't use the chains right either....)

Of course in my case my boat only weighs about 7500#.

I can never find a heavier duty hitch over 5000-6000lbs in any of the stores---so what's the deal? Where do you get these heavier duty hitches/balls anyway?

KAAMA,

Don't bother with stores like Auto Zone or Oreilly's. Go to a Truck Accessory/Specialty Store that actually does this kind of work on a daily basis. Most people that work in the chain stores do nothing more then look stuff up in books for you anyway. Not to mention most wouldn't know what the difference between the two hitches are anyway.(hope I didn't offend anyone)

I can order Class 5 hitches from at least 4 different manufacturers through my store. They're not hard to get if you know how to find them.

You will find that you can get them through the dealer but you will pay more. Funny thing, my local Chevy dealer gets a lot of his stuff from the same place that I do. But people can buy MUCH cheaper through me. Difference in mark up.

Buck
#183

I've never found any in any stores either. I called several places that could order them and their prices were way high. Ended up searching the net and found all kinds of places with low prices. Don't remember the the sites. Just do a search for trailer hitches.

I was not impressed at all with the "little" hitch on my HD... I looked at the sales guy and asked him what the reasoning was of selling a truck that can tow 12000 lbs but with a hitch that is not even close to that! He could not answer that...

a lot of people seem to be confusing gvw with what actual load can be towed. have an 02' 4x4 duramax here at work, its gvw is 11k. or 11.5k. trucks gotta weigh at least almost 6k.(or more) so it should only tow a load of around 5000 lbs. so is the 5k receiver that far off?

I went with the Reese Hitch Titan Class 5 45 series

The Reese extra heavy-duty Titan receiver has one of the highest towing capacities (WD-14,000 lbs., TW-1,700 lbs.; WC-12,000 lbs., TW-1,200 lbs.) of any custom built production receiver and weight distributing hitch on the market.

Boasting a mighty 2½ inch square receiver opening, it's ideal for the heaviest towing requirements. Includes pull pin & clip, hitch box plug, all mounting hardware and electrical plug mounting bracket. Designed to fit with no bumper or standard factory bumpers including step bumpers.

If you go with this hitch make sure you get the proper ball mount because the receiver opening is 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 and your standard one will not fit. They do sell a 2 1/2 to 2 reducer sleeve.

Also the hole for the ball accepts a 1 1/4 shank so make sure your ball isn't some wimpy one and is under rated or your just defeating the purpose.
Cost for the hitch is around $260-$280
http://www.reeseprod.com/index.htm

Cordell

tunnelvision,
Looking at a few books I have before me the (GCWR) Gross Combined Weight Rating for an 03 Chevy with a Duramax Diesel with Auto Trans and 3.73 gears can have a combined weight of
22,000. This is a loaded truck,trailer,passengers, cargo, and equipment.

Max trailer weight alone is 12,000 lbs.

Cordell

Cgarrett, had to go out and check,
sticker in the door: 11.4k GVWR, pulled up ford - 12.5k GVWR,
dodge- 11k GVWR. this is all 4wd. crew cabs 2003. our 2500HD said 9200lb GVWR. the max is achieved with 4.10 gears not the 3.73

SORRY I DID NOT SEE THE OTHER POST !!! MY DEALER SAID NOWAY THIS MORNING SAID HE DID NOT EVEN KNOW ???


BUCK I WISH I KNEW YOU SOLD THEM BUT I ORDERED A TITIAN FROM CALF. YESTERDAY
HOPE PEOPLE UP GRADE IT WOULD BE SAD TO KILL A FAMILY DUE TO CRAPPY HITCHS !!!!! THANKS FOR INPUT !!!!!!!!!

tunnelvision,
I think what we are doing is talking about 2 different things.
The GVWR would be the truck weight,passangers,cargo,and equipment.

The GCWR is the total loaded weight of both the Truck and the Trailer including Passangers, Cargo,and equipment.

The Maximum trailer rating is detemined by subtracting the tow vehicles curb weight from the GCWR incuding passangers,equipment and cargo.

The information that I have only shows the D-max with a gear ratio of 3.73 available.

Cordell

1

auto trans

GM Hitch
 

I worked at a Chevy dealer about..7 years ago.
Remember the ole style K blaxer and Subs from around 89???
we saw several farmers tear the hitch out of the frame, or bend the frame down so far as to put the hitch at a 40 degree angle!
A lot of the problem is in the frame. The new GMs have a new, heavier frame.
I have a '00 GMC 1 ton with the factory hitch. This hitch is rated for 5000 weight carrying, 10000 distributing.
I have pulled a car trailer with a 1200 dead weight tounge before, without any noticable damage...

The new style truck uses a round tube, and a brace that attaches to the bumper. It looks pretty bad.

Go get one of those Reese Titans.
I'd trust the stock hitch up to about 6000. I have seen them bent! I guess GM got one smokin' deal on those hitches..

So then if you have the D-Max 2500 series your Max trailer weight is 12,000 lbs but you are to subtract any optional equipment, extra passangers other than the driver,and cargo.

Now do we really do that? No

I'm glad people ask these questions about things because I get an education finding the things out that I normally wouldn't care about.

Cordell

the HITCH IS STILL 5K OR 10K WEIGHT DIST. ACCORDING TO REESE TODAY ,AND THE G.M. BRANCH TECH. TODAY !!!!!

No problem Bobby. If you need anything else for your rig just let me know. That's what I do for a living. As always, anyone from OSO will be VERY well taken care of. Just ask.

You are correct about the weight carrying and load distributing. All hitches will go up in capacity with load distributing.

Buck
#183