Towing Hitch Drop Needed?

[ducktapeonmydesk]

I am going to be picking up a car in California next month and towing it back. For those that have towed with their Raptor, what are you towing and what drop did you need? The trip is ~1,300 miles so I need the trailer to be level.

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[Bmadda]

The receiver is mounted pretty high. I used a 5" drop to tow my jetski, and it looked correct by eyeball. Unless you are towing a very light car, the Raptor isn't a very good choice to tow it

 

[ducktapeonmydesk]

The receiver is mounted pretty high. I used a 5" drop to tow my jetski, and it looked correct by eyeball. Unless you are towing a very light car, the Raptor isn't a very good choice to tow it

Old VW bug, so pretty light.
Plus, it's our only option.

 

[sikedsyko]

I bought a 6" adjustable hitch. I mostly use the 6" drop for my ~2000lb trailer, but 2-4" would probably better for pulling a car.

 

[ducktapeonmydesk]

I bought a 6" adjustable hitch. I mostly use the 6" drop for my ~2000lb trailer, but 2-4" would probably better for pulling a car.

Sounds like I should bite the bullet and pick up and adjustable hitch.

 

[John E Davies]

U Haul trailers are typically about 18” with a 2” surge brake coupler, what trailer are you going to be using? 19 to 20” (unloaded) off the pavement would be a good ballpark distance for your new ball mount. Depending on how much other stuff you plan to carry in the bed…. I like this 5000 pound rated one for lighter trailers.

For a tall truck, flip it over, I installed bolts in place of the pins, for security and noise reduction. The pins will drive you nuts on bumpy roads. I also used a long 1” shank 2” ball from eTrailer.com. By adding 1” ID HARDENED fender washers, shifting their location from the nut to under the ball, you can easily fine tune the trailer ride height so it is close to level. That is safer for a long trip, and it makes you look like a pro….

As shown in the last pic, the ball height is around 21”, with an empty bed, it might need to be dropped a hole for a U Haul trailer. FYI one of their car haulers is just over 2200 pounds empty. They tow very nicely, but I have not tried my RR yet. I used a 2013 Land Cruiser 200.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[ducktapeonmydesk]

U Haul trailers are typically about 18” with a 2” surge brake coupler, what trailer are you going to be using? 19 to 20” (unloaded) off the pavement would be a good ballpark distance for your new ball mount. Depending on how much other stuff you plan to carry in the bed…. I like this 5000 pound rated one for lighter trailers.

For a tall truck, flip it over, I installed bolts in place of the pins, for security and noise reduction. The pins will drive you nuts on bumpy roads. I also used a long 1” shank 2” ball from eTrailer.com. By adding 1” ID HARDENED fender washers, shifting their location from the nut to under the ball, you can easily fine tune the trailer ride height so it is close to level.

As shown in the last pic, the ball height is around 21”, with an empty bed, it might need to be dropped a hole for a U Haul trailer.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Thank you, John.

We will be using the U-Haul auto transport hauler.

 

[Dingus83]

The receiver is mounted pretty high. I used a 5" drop to tow my jetski, and it looked correct by eyeball. Unless you are towing a very light car, the Raptor isn't a very good choice to tow it

also jet ski here, 4” drop. Taking it for winterizing tomorrow will see if it’s still not level.

 

[Baja1k]

I’ve been using a 10” drop hitch when pulling our track day enclosed trailer (loaded with two bikes). The trailer is a 6x16 V-nose if I remember its length correctly. I’m presuming it’s somewhere around 3700-4000 pounds loaded with all our gear. The Ranger Raptor pulls it with no problems The 10 inch drop has the tongue perfectly level.

 

[Rda2w]

6in drop works for my trailer. It needs 18" hitch height to be level with ~150lb tongue weight. Heavier tongue weight, or a load in the bed also, would force me to a 4in drop. Ultimately you want the towed trailer to be close to level when loaded.

 

[Gary]

I am going to be picking up a car in California next month and towing it back. For those that have towed with their Raptor, what are you towing and what drop did you need? The trip is ~1,300 miles so I need the trailer to be level.

On level ground, measure the distance from the ground to the top of the inside of your hitch receiver and subtract it from the distance from the ground to the bottom of the trailer coupler. That gives you the drop. I put a level on the trailer to get the correct height. On my XLT, the receiver is at 19" and the trailer coupler is 15" so I use a 4" drop.

 

[John E Davies]

On level ground, measure the distance from the ground to the top of the inside of your hitch receiver and subtract it from the distance from the ground to the bottom of the trailer coupler. That gives you the drop. I put a level on the trailer to get the correct height. On my XLT, the receiver is at 19" and the trailer coupler is 15" so I use a 4" drop.

That gets you sort of maybe close, if the trailer is very light, but you must take into account the squat of the truck suspension with the trailer fully loaded tongue weight. If you have a 500 pound tongue weight, like a loaded car hauler with a Bug on it, you could duplicate that hitch squat by loading the back of the truck bed with sandbags or three adults sitting on the tailgate. There are so many variables that there is no golden rule, which is why an adjustable hitch makes so much sense if you are renting trailers. If you are setting up for your own trailer, you can use a fixed hitch and fine tune the ball height and also get rid of excess weight. Adjustable ones are lots heavier than a simple $20 fixed ball mount, and that affects your total load capacity and also your max tongue weight. And less TW makes the rig tow better.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[Gary]

That gets you sort of maybe close, if the trailer is very light, but you must take into account the squat of the truck suspension with the trailer fully loaded tongue weight. If you have a 500 pound tongue weight, like a loaded car hauler with a Bug on it, you could duplicate that hitch squat by loading the back of the truck bed with sandbags or three adults sitting on the tailgate. There are so many variables that there is no golden rule, which is why an adjustable hitch makes so much sense if you are renting trailers. If you are setting up for your own trailer, you can use a fixed hitch and fine tune the ball height and also get rid of excess weight. Adjustable ones are lots heavier than a simple $20 fixed ball mount, and that affects your total load capacity and also your max tongue weight. And less TW makes the rig tow better.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

I think this is being way over thought. While an adjustible hitch is ideal for many situations, I trailered at different times, my T-bucket roadster and a Toyota Camry with a 4" drop for hundreds of miles without issue.

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