16K hitch

[Garin1]

I pulled my last 5vr with a Draw-Tite 16K slider hitch. My new 5vr it twice the wieght at 14100# loaded with a pin near 3000#. Will the Draw-Tite handle this or should I upgrade to a 18-20K hitch. Will be pulling it with a new F350 PSD.

[Garin1]

I pulled my last 5vr with a Draw-Tite 16K slider hitch. My new 5vr it twice the wieght at 14100# loaded with a pin near 3000#. Will the Draw-Tite handle this or should I upgrade to a 18-20K hitch. Will be pulling it with a new F350 PSD.

[charliez]

Well. If your weight is 14,100 and your hitch is rated for 16,000, I'd say your fine. Just make sure it's had some recent maintenance. A little cleaning and lube. My inlaws forgot about this part and thier let go of their 5'er going down the road. Cost about $10,000 to put the truch and trailer back to what it was like 5 seconds before the incedent.

[Stylin']

The tag on my 16K Reese says: 16K, 4K pin. I'm thinking that most hitches have their pin weight at 25% of the rated weight. So it sounds like you are within limits at the weights you list. One caution though, trailers usually end up being heavier then you think. Paying the small fee to get it weighed when loaded for a trip is worth it for the piece of mind. I also think that hitches are conservatively rated, and it's just my opinion that the hitch isn't going to be unsafe when ratings are exceeded by some modest amount. Hitches might be engineered to handle say 50% more, although I would also say it's not a good idea to exceed the ratings of either tow vehicle or hitch unless one is willing to accept full responsibility for doing so.

[rhoevinbt]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by charliez:
Well. If your weight is 14,100 and your hitch is rated for 16,000, I'd say your fine. Just make sure it's had some recent maintenance. A little cleaning and lube. My inlaws forgot about this part and thier let go of their 5'er going down the road. Cost about $10,000 to put the truch and trailer back to what it was like 5 seconds before the incedent. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can you give more specifics on cleaning and lube? I'm still new to towing my 5er (with the same hitch)? Thanks a heap!!!

[Stylin']

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by charliez:
Well. If your weight is 14,100 and your hitch is rated for 16,000, I'd say your fine. Just make sure it's had some recent maintenance. A little cleaning and lube. My inlaws forgot about this part and thier let go of their 5'er going down the road. Cost about $10,000 to put the truch and trailer back to what it was like 5 seconds before the incedent. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I guess I'm confused as to how this incident happened. It seems like lubing the moving parts occasionally would help with ease in hitching, but lubed or not, if the the trailer was properly hitched and came apart, there had to be a failure of either the pin, pinbox, or the hitch itself. When I was driving big trucks, I always crawled behind the tractor to physically look at the back of the 5th wheel to make sure that the jaws were around the pin; this was after the "tug test" when it was first hooked. Hooking with the trailer dropped too high results in the pin not being fully seated in the hitch. I've seen instances where trailers were pulled considerable distances before they separated when not properly hooked. Another precaution was to make sure you were still hooked properly after stops at rest areas, etc., just to make sure nobody unhooked you while the rig was unattended. I keep a lock on the release handle on the hitch at all times when it's hooked, just as a precaution. As info, the pins on 5th wheel travel trailers are the same size as on the big trucks. Losing your trailer can ruin your whole day as stated above.

[charliez]

They we're in the process of building a house, and sat in thier 5'er for nearly a year. He had placed the hicth quickly in the bushes, when the need came to go get some stuff in the truck. Out of site it sat, under some bushes, in the rain, and getting gunked up by tree sap.

They had actully put thier trailer up for sale, found a buyer, and the next day he was going to come get it. They decided to hook up to it and take it to get it washed and my FIL does everything at the speed of light. He hooked up quickly, didn't make sure the pin was in there and everything closed. he usually puts a padlock in the handle keeper, but didn't this time. Of course, it probably wouldn't have mattered, because he would have beat it in or bent the handle so it grabbed. (He's kinda wild).

I guess that wild caught up with him. It smashed the bed like a beer can and ripped all the fiberglass off the bottom side of the hitch area.

This isn't the whole story. After getting the trailer and truck back, they decided to keep it. The planned a trip soon after. While leaving, he cut too soon and punched the gate hinges into the side of it. Did he stop? No, not him. He ripped two gashes about 3/4 the length on the passenger side. Another expensive repair.

I guess when you have money to blow, you don't care what you tear up. Maybe someday I'll have money to waste and find out.

[Stylin']

Sounds like he'd have a hard time borrowing just about anything!

[FiverBob]

Charlie,

I know your father in law - - I showed him this post. He wants to talk to you.

Bob
ps: just teasin'

[powerboatr]

thats
but very funny
I have my hitch lock teeth painted bright white and always double check for closure folloed by a locking pin through the handle, I cant imagine the crunching from a disconnect.

[SuperGewl]

It's that time of year again. Out come all of the stories of our mis-fortunes, (actually being stupid)
Check and double check is what I do. I will admit that do to the type o f hitch I have the only way to not hitch properly is to HIGH hitch. The jaws on my hitch go alomost completley aroung the hitch pin, it doesn't have one of those stupid bars that slide accross.
I do lie th eWhite paint idea though.

[proflow]

Whats wrong with the stupid sliding bar ?

[K-Star]

Garin1

To get back to your original question.

Is 14,100 # the GVWR of your trailer? If so, assuming you keep under that weight, a 16K hitch will be fine. If that is the UVW (unloaded vehicle weight) then the GVWR will probably be over 16K thus necessitating an 18-20K hitch.

[Ray,IN]

charliez, I think I saw that FIL in Thermopolis,WY several years ago. This guy tried to drive under a RR underpass en-route to the SP, that was too low. When the A/C contacted the bridge, he backed up and hit it about 30MPH. The force pushed the A/C unit back along the roof about 4'. Then he inquired about a RV repair shop????

Anyway, back to the hitch rating. I think your present hitch, with reasonable care and maintenance, will perform satisfactorily. All moving joints, hinges, and pivots should be cleaned and re-lubricated quarterly if exposed to the elements. We all know, or should, to stay within mfgrs. ratings. Yes they build-in safety factors, they should not be utilized however. Otherwise there is no safety factor, just working and failure.