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When to step up to a 2 5/16 ball

K

kirk86CJ

Registered User
Location
Riverton, Ut
We going to build a 18' trailer with 2-3500 lb axles. My dad is trying to convince me to get a 2 5/16 hitch rather than a 2". I thought it was overkill, and a pain since all the other trailers we have are 2".
We will probably max out the axles once in a while.
Does anyone know the #'s, or ratings?
Opinions?
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Hickey said:
5000k and over
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maybe tounge weight :rofl: , my 7K trailer has a 2"...as does just about every 7K trailer you can buy unless you special order the 2 5/16...my opinion though, if I were building a trailer I would surely use a 2 5/16...it takes 2min to change balls so I dont think its a good excuse to use a smaller because all your other trailers have it...the one down side is that if for whatever reason you have to buy a ball and its late or you aren't near a larger town it does get hard to find a 2 5/16...we had to find one in Tooele this past season and it was damn near impossible (no Walmart didn;t have them)...we ended up going into Salt Lake...
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
supergper said:
maybe tounge weight :rofl: , my 7K trailer has a 2"...as does just about every 7K trailer you can buy unless you special order the 2 5/16...my opinion though, if I were building a trailer I would surely use a 2 5/16...it takes 2min to change balls so I dont think its a good excuse to use a smaller because all your other trailers have it...the one down side is that if for whatever reason you have to buy a ball and its late or you aren't near a larger town it does get hard to find a 2 5/16...we had to find one in Tooele this past season and it was damn near impossible (no Walmart didn;t have them)...we ended up going into Salt Lake...
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Tell me how much your 2" ball and hitch are rated for...... It is stamped right on them. ;)
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Hickey said:
Tell me how much your 2" ball and hitch are rated for...... It is stamped right on them. ;)
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trailer isn;t out here (at my parents) but my ball is stamped 6000 lbs and I am not positive but I think my hitch was stamped over 7K....I remember checking it cause I was going to change it out to a 2 5/16 and I remember it was higher than I would need...and my trailer is not a HD trailer by any means...
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Hickey said:
So you have a 6K lbs trailer then.
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no, according to here ball rating is how much you have over your tounge and they say you should have 10% over the tounge (obviously:D)...if they way you put it was true then the most ANY bumper pull trailer could pull would be right around 10K....some 2 5/16 may be higher but most 2 5/16 are rated for 6K-10K...
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
supergper said:
no, according to here ball rating is how much you have over your tounge and they say you should have 10% over the tounge (obviously:D)...if they way you put it was true then the most ANY bumper pull trailer could pull would be right around 10K....some 2 5/16 may be higher but most 2 5/16 are rated for 6K-10K...
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Are you referrring to this?
A: Ball weight refers to the weight on the front end of the trailer not carried over the axles. As a rule you should aim to have 10 percent of the total trailer weight as ball weight. This can be measured at a weigh bridge by resting the jockey wheel only on the scale.
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You are confusing me here. A ball is rated for tongue weight AND gross trailer weight.
 
K

kirk86CJ

Registered User
Location
Riverton, Ut
Are you saying the 6K stamped on the ball in meant as tounge weight? If thats true, then towing capacity would be 60,000 if you assume 10% tounge weight. THis is why I brought this up. I read the 6K #. That would mean there are a lot of guy driving around with "undersized balls". I would assume that is with a 1" shank - I wonder what the # would be with a 3/4" shank. I saw that even a 2 5/16 ball with the same 1" shank wouldn't gain any capacity, it would have to have a 1 1/4" shank.
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
I reread it again and see that I read it wrong the first time...

I realize 6K for tongue weight is WAY off...but if it really is the Gross weight then bumper pulls would not be able to tow more than about 10K...as most balls (as Kirk said) dont go higher than 10K...you may be able to find a few but not many...you have to increase the size of the shank to gain anything and much more than 1 1/4 shank (10K rating) you start to have issues with getting a ball hitch that will work...


Like I said before, if it were me I would do a 2 5/16 cause you cant be too safe...with my trailer I would have not benefit at all by going to a larger hitch because my axles (and trailer frame for that matter) would not be able to handle more than that...
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
exactly. Once you hit 10K, you go to a pintle hook. Myself, If I were pulling that much, I would go to a goose neck or 5th wheel before I pulled with a pintle.
At work, we use 120K rated Pintle hooks, but they have an air ram to keep the pintle slop away.
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
supergper said:
Yep, I would go 5th wheel right now if I didn't have a camper too...
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28 foot goose neck. you want one. Admit it. You can get one for about 3 grand new.
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K

kirk86CJ

Registered User
Location
Riverton, Ut
I've got the camper dilemna too. Problem is, I don't think my wife would ride with me with the "camper on the trailer" look. She would start calling me "Jed"

But I think its cool.
 
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