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Post by danrhodes on Nov 14, 2016 7:31:09 GMT -8
Does it seem possible that I need a 6" drop from my Tacoma to the trailer? The top of the receiver is 18" and the bottom of the trailer frame is 12" off the ground.
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Dad Rambles
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Post by Dad Rambles on Nov 14, 2016 7:33:47 GMT -8
Does it seem possible that I need a 6" drop from my Tacoma to the trailer? The top of the receiver is 18" and the bottom of the trailer frame is 12" off the ground. We use one for the teardrop. We have a pilot and it's hitch is very high. I thought the same things, but it works out almost perfectly level when everything is loaded and ready to roll. We towed the Shasta home with it as well and if I remember correctly it was about right height wise... weight is another story.
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Post by danrhodes on Nov 14, 2016 7:46:18 GMT -8
I am a little concerned about the height after the truck is loaded but lower is better than higher, right?
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Post by bigbill on Nov 14, 2016 13:17:57 GMT -8
As long as it doesn't drag and catch on something.
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Nov 14, 2016 14:47:10 GMT -8
Put about as much weight as You would be hauling in the pickup and camper, pull the camper to level ground, unhitch from it, move pickup forwards, level camper then measure what the heighth difference is. I have air bags on both of My pickups, that really helps to level things up. The K3500 Chevy really wont need it for pulling the camper but when I hook to the 20 foot utility trailer and haul some heavy loads it sure makes a huge difference.
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nccamper
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Post by nccamper on Nov 14, 2016 16:44:35 GMT -8
I use a 6" drop with the Forester. The Compact was a 6" drop but I think the Airflyte was fine with a 4". One thing to consider, you might want a 1' extended hitch with a drop. When I turn (tight) with the Tundra without the extended hitch it's way too close for comfort. And the extension lets me drop the tailgate with the camper hooked up.
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Post by bigbill on Nov 14, 2016 18:17:11 GMT -8
I use a 6" drop with the Forester. The Compact was a 6" drop but I think the Airflyte was fine with a 4". One thing to consider, you might want a 1' extended hitch with a drop. When I turn (tight) with the Tundra without the extended hitch it's way too close for comfort. And the extension lets me drop the tailgate with the camper hooked up. Remember the one foot extension reduces the weight capacity of you hitch, so keep that in mind. It also changes the balance of your tow vehicle.
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nccamper
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Post by nccamper on Nov 14, 2016 19:49:17 GMT -8
I use a 6" drop with the Forester. The Compact was a 6" drop but I think the Airflyte was fine with a 4". One thing to consider, you might want a 1' extended hitch with a drop. When I turn (tight) with the Tundra without the extended hitch it's way too close for comfort. And the extension lets me drop the tailgate with the camper hooked up. Remember the one foot extension reduces the weight capacity of you hitch, so keep that in mind. It also changes the balance of your tow vehicle. I guess it depends on the max tow weight of the tow vehicle? When I had a Ranger it barely handled an 1100 pound Shasta safely... without the extension. With the bigger truck I realized the first time out that I came within 1" of the camper when turning sharply. Maybe most tow vehicles 50 years ago had hitches that stuck out further or the cars were narrower?
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msgoehring
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Post by msgoehring on Nov 14, 2016 21:11:41 GMT -8
50 years ago cars had real bumpers and the hitch had to stick out past them. My father-in-law loved bringing home cars and fixing them up to sell for extra money. The last one he worked on was a Plymouth from 1956 that had a hitch on it. I remember it well because our car broke down and we had to borrow that one while he fixed ours. Every freaking time I went around it I forgot about the hitch and would end up smacking my shin and tripping over it. Dad thought it was hilarious, but we'd always had a contentious issue between us when it came to his vehicles. I had gone out to the middle of nowhere to pick Sam up very late in the night when we were just friends and used a car dad had rebuilt. There are five sets of tracks you have to go over out there and as soon as I hit the third set the entire car went black. Found out that a piece of metal in the steering column had dropped and cut every single wire in there. If brought up at any time he would swear I was going 60 - 70 miles per hour over the tracks, problem was, I was barely going 15 cause it was pitch dark, I didn't know where I was going and the car wasn't mine. But the 75 miles back to his house in a Ford ranger towing the Mazda I got nothing but an earful of complaints about stupid fast driving. I had already let my ex ruin a car I had bought from him, so we didn't talk about cars when I became part of the family.
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Post by danrhodes on Nov 14, 2016 21:33:27 GMT -8
50 years ago cars had real bumpers and the hitch had to stick out past them. My father-in-law loved bringing home cars and fixing them up to sell for extra money. The last one he worked on was a Plymouth from 1956 that had a hitch on it. I remember it well because our car broke down and we had to borrow that one while he fixed ours. Every freaking time I went around it I forgot about the hitch and would end up smacking my shin and tripping over it. Dad thought it was hilarious, but we'd always had a contentious issue between us when it came to his vehicles. I had gone out to the middle of nowhere to pick Sam up very late in the night when we were just friends and used a car dad had rebuilt. There are five sets of tracks you have to go over out there and as soon as I hit the third set the entire car went black. Found out that a piece of metal in the steering column had dropped and cut every single wire in there. If brought up at any time he would swear I was going 60 - 70 miles per hour over the tracks, problem was, I was barely going 15 cause it was pitch dark, I didn't know where I was going and the car wasn't mine. But the 75 miles back to his house in a Ford ranger towing the Mazda I got nothing but an earful of complaints about stupid fast driving. I had already let my ex ruin a car I had bought from him, so we didn't talk about cars when I became part of the family.
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Post by bigbill on Nov 15, 2016 18:33:09 GMT -8
I did not say not to use an extension on your hitch. Each person has to make that decision on their own. What I did say was be careful because an extension decreases the capacity of your hitch the longer the extension the more it effects things and the more likely a hitch failure becomes. Another thing to be aware of is what grade of bolts were used to fasten hitch to vehicle, I have seen grade 2 (std hardware bolts) fail causing hitch to fall off. I would use no less than grade five bolts of the diameter to match holes in hitch. A guy bought a pickup used with a class four hitch that had been bolted on with 5/16 bolts and flat washers, that was a formula for disaster. BE CAREFUL AND CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT ON A REGULAR BASIS.
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Post by bigbill on Nov 15, 2016 18:40:38 GMT -8
If you are unsure of a bolts diameter a rule of thumb is 1/4" = 7/16 wrench, 5/16" = 1/2 wrench, 3/8" = 9/16 wrench, 7/16" = 5/8 or 11/16 wrench, 1/2" = 3/4 wrench. (bolt diameter = wrench size)
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msgoehring
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Post by msgoehring on Nov 15, 2016 19:43:29 GMT -8
Why don't they just make the wrench sizes the same as the bolts a nuts. I can never figure out what I need cause they don't match and i don't remember what goes to what. Sam just gave up trying to teach me and just gets what I'll need when I start a project like the stove. Then like with the stove, there are multiple different sizes I get to go through them all till I get the right one. Whoever came up with the way of measuring tools had to be a guy cause it's hard as heck.😵
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Nov 15, 2016 20:31:04 GMT -8
Why don't they just make the wrench sizes the same as the bolts a nuts. I can never figure out what I need cause they don't match and i don't remember what goes to what. Sam just gave up trying to teach me and just gets what I'll need when I start a project like the stove. Then like with the stove, there are multiple different sizes I get to go through them all till I get the right one. Whoever came up with the way of measuring tools had to be a guy cause it's hard as heck.😵 I was a mechanic/machinist/welder for 31 years for the DOT here in Montana. I used to could look at a bolt and immediately know what size of wrench it was going to take. I also once suffered through mechanical burn out. After that and I finally got back to wrenching, I could not tell one size from another. Today now, it is not so bad. I can look at the commonly used bolts and say, this one is a 9/16ths or a half or whatever. I still can not tell on the larger wrenches, above a 7/8ths. I keep a couple of calipers real handy just for this purpose. If I need the bolts diameter to get the proper size, I measure it and know for certain, If I need to know the head size, I grab a hand full of wrenches annnnd, the caliper for the just in case one of the wrenches doesn't fit.
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Post by bigbill on Nov 16, 2016 13:48:44 GMT -8
Why don't they just make the wrench sizes the same as the bolts a nuts. I can never figure out what I need cause they don't match and i don't remember what goes to what. Sam just gave up trying to teach me and just gets what I'll need when I start a project like the stove. Then like with the stove, there are multiple different sizes I get to go through them all till I get the right one. Whoever came up with the way of measuring tools had to be a guy cause it's hard as heck.😵 If they were the same size the bolt head would fall through the hole, the bolt head has to be larger to apply a clamping force to what it is holding. Both the bolts and wrenches are measured in fractions of an inch.
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