Drop Hitch problem

[Dunner]

It could be done, but if someone hit something hard enough to do that, a roller isn't going to help.

[Dutch Star Don]

"Scarab"......You really don't want to put one under the ball mount because it will really cut your hitch clearance down. The ones I listed above from Camping World would be better. They are held on by the hitch pin. One of them looks like you could reverse it and make it ride further back toward the front of the coach. This way it will work about an inch or so before the hitch drags.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by Diplomat Don

"Scarab"......You really don't want to put one under the ball mount because it will really cut your hitch clearance down. The ones I listed above from Camping World would be better. They are held on by the hitch pin. One of them looks like you could reverse it and make it ride further back toward the front of the coach. This way it will work about an inch or so before the hitch drags.

Unfortunatly, I am using an 8" drop like this to get the tongue of the dolly as near the required level as possible



The shank on the ball is the lowest thing in the set-up. A roller on the low point would work best

[Dwight]

My setup required a 8" drop hitch and I got in trouble trying to get into the wrong gas station and my tow bar scraped so hard it cut both safety cables in half without hurting the tow bar.

I found two 6 degree axle shims 4" wide & 6 1/2" long and installed them between my Ford F53 motorhome chassis and the original Bounder hitch receiver and I have a perfect straight line from my hitch receiver to my connection on my 3000# Subaru Forester with a NSA Ready/Brake Elite tow bar with the surge brake system. Works perfect.

I now have a 8" drop hitch to use as a boat anchor.
Dwight

[Dutch Star Don]

Scarab.....Maybe you can have a welder, weld one of the roller wheels onto the curve of the drop hitch, right behind your ball (in your photo) so that the wheel is just an inch or less lower than the nut/ball stud.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by Diplomat Don

Scarab.....Maybe you can have a welder, weld one of the roller wheels onto the curve of the drop hitch, right behind your ball (in your photo) so that the wheel is just an inch or less lower than the nut/ball stud.

Thanks, Don - I'm gonna do something about it.
I'm sure even a deflected blow would be better than just dragging the stud though asphalt

It's only happened one time, when I had to turn out of a gas station wrong due to traffic, but the whole coach seemed to vibrate as the hitch was dragged against the street. There was no damage, but the pictures in this thread of sheared receivers is just scary.

[Dutch Star Don]

Yeah....I always get a little nervous when I see one of those service station driveways with about a hundred skid marks in the asphalt and I can only exit straight out.

[tpm64]

i know what I am about to propose goes against most everyone here, but here goes:

Can anyone explain (using real engineering) how adrop set up has different forces (x, y, and torsional) than and angled (non level) tow bar?

I contend that horizontal, vertical, and rotational forces are identical in both cases. That is, drop receivers do nothing to change physics. As an experiment, bend a wire to look like a drop hitch. Lay it on a flat surface. Push the end just like the car is pushing into the back of a motorhome. Does it rotate or slide straight or do some combination? Now take a straight wire whose ends match the ends of the drop hitch and do the same thing. Does it rotate or slide or do some combination? Does it do exactly the same as the prior experiment?

[Solask]

Originally Posted by tpm64

i know what I am about to propose goes against most everyone here, but here goes:

Can anyone explain (using real engineering) how this hitch set up:

----|
|
-----------------------
has different forces (x, y, and torsional) than this:

\
\
\
The first represents a drop receiver and the second is just an unlevel tow bar.

I contend that horizontal, vertical, and rotational forces are identical in both cases. That is, drop receivers do nothing to change physics. As an experiment, bend a wire to look like a drop hitch. Lay it on a flat surface. Push the end just like the car is pushing into the back of a motorhome. ( the rightmost point on my example above) Does it rotate or slide straight or do some combination? Now take a straight wire whose ends match the ends of the drop hitch and do the same thing. Does it rotate or slide or do some combination? Does it do exactly the same as the prior experiment?

Huh? Are those graphics?

[tpm64]

The formatting messed up. I took out the diagrams.

[Solask]

I think the engineers at Roadmaster and Blue Ox agree with you. I spoke with their support staffs and they claim that their drop receivers do not degrade ratings on "healthy" hitches. I cant find any credible information on the www that contradicts this.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by tpm64

The formatting messed up. I took out the diagrams.

Hey, I would have liked to see the diagrams

I don't like using a drop hitch, but with a receiver that is at 26" off the ground and a tow dolly that is supposed to be on a ball 12"-16" off the ground, I'm stuck.

And, the EZE-Tow has a complex surge brake set-up on the tongue, so modification of that is not on my TODO list.

Having said all that - I haven't had any problems. It's only the testimonies in this thread that have me worried...so I'm gonna try to get some kind of roller or skid on the bottom of the hitch

[Dutch Star Don]

tpm64......I had to reread your post several times to understand what you're asking. I think you're saying that the force of a car pushing on a tow bar, even at an angle, (your straight wire example) is the same as a car pushing on the bend of a drop hitch. I would agree, but all of the issues come from the force of the hitch striking the ground and attempting to lift the rear of the motor home into the air......different force than the car pushing on the tow bar or hitch.

[Dunner]

Here's an example y'all can play with. Feel free to right click and copy
the image location.

If the force is the same at "A" and "D", and the length from "A" to "B" is
ten time the length from "D" to "E", the amount of force at "C" is ~ten time
the force at "F". It's just the opposite at "C" if you are trying to rip out curbs.

Rkh, is that what you are talking about? The hitch itself may not be degraded
because of the diagonal brace, but the receiver is because there is no change.
Are we talking apples and apples?



I'm right at the limits with my 500/5000 hitch towing my 20' enclosed and had to use a 11" drop hitch to get the trailer level. I didn't like it and ran two 1/2" chromoly bars, diagonally from "A", up to my MH frame. I've towed twice like this and there is no indication of frame or hitch flexing. I'm sure it didn't double the hitch rating, but I feel much better with the added support for the drop hitch.