Question About Receiver Height

[rockwood06]

I am getting ready to tow with my new 2008 Chevy pick-up truck heavy duty 1/2 ton for the first time. I have been towing with a 1997 GMC Suburban 3/4 ton for the past 8 years. I checked the height of both receivers and found that the receiver on the new 1/2 ton is 2" lower then the GMC Suburban, the question is will there be any problem with this? Now my hitch system is a Reese weight distribution with sway control (spring bars). I increased the tire pressure to the max on front and rear to 44 psi on the new truck, just thought I would put that in because of the hitch system. One other thing, my Rockwood came with ST205/75R15-C rated Carlisle tires which have been replaced with ST225/75R15-D rated Goodyear Marathons. The Goodyear tires are a little taller then the Carlisles, I think about 1 1/2 to 2". I had no problem towing with the Suburban with the Goodyear tires, but I am wondering about the new truck with the receiver being lower. I know it is not the end of the world because I am sure there some adjustments that can be made if necessary. Please give me some suggestion if anyone for see's any issues. Thanks in advance.....

[rthrbelsewhere]

Well, if it's lower then your trailer and your trailer tilts forward when its hitched up, then you can expect more weight on your front axle which = more heat to those tires = more of a possibility of a blown tire. I learned this the hard way. Now with that said, using your weight distribution hitch, I understand that these are used to level things out so that this doesn't happen. I have one on the roo I just bought, but i haven't used it yet (couldn't turn it down for only 75 bucks for all the hardware already mounted). So if this w.d.h. does work, then it shouldn't be a problem. But IMHO, I would rather install a 2" rise ball mount to level things out first...but then again...i've never used a w.d.h. before, so I don't know how exactly they work. I guess i'm just a little leary about putting that stress onto the ball and frame using the w.d.h. instead of just leveling the load with the hitch. But that's just me.

[Bama Rambler]

Good job on trading the tires out. You won't be sorry of that.

Your WDH should have a shank that's adjustable. Here's a link to them Weight Distribution Shanks. Yours should look like one of them. You should be able to raise the head up 2" to compensate for the height difference. You will of course have to readjust the WDH for the new TV but you should do that anyway. I like to tow with the RV as level as possible or slightly nose low but not too much.

[bricole1973]

I had originally thought I was going to use an Expedition to tow my 2701ss, but that soon went out the window and we went with an f-150 (now an f250). I too am using the Reese Dual Cam weight distribution hitch. The f-150's hitch was about 2" shorter than the Expediton's hitch and I had to make some adjustments not only to the ball height but the amount of tilt on the hitch head too.

This link is how to set-up the Dual Cam system:
http://www.reeseprod.com/fitguides/pdf/N26002.pdf

This link is how to setup the hitch head:
http://www.reeseprod.com/fitguides/pdf/N66006.pdf

Hope this helps. It really is not too bad to do. Just make sure you are on relatively level ground.

[acadianbob]

The top of the ball on the truck should be about 1" higher than the top of the trailer coupler when both the trailer and truck are sitting level and un-attached. This is to compensate for the truck dropping a bit once it is under load. Then the trailer should be level once hooked up. This 1" assumes you use a WD hitch and properly adjust the bars so the your truck has the same "attitude" after it is loaded. Just a bit lower in total. The Reese instructions lay this all out.

[rockwood06]

Thanks for everyones reply. After I posted we left for camping, so this is the first time I have been back on the Forum. We toke the new truck so that I could pull it out of storage and put it on a site to see how it would work. I made no changes to the hitch, I hooked everything up as if I was using the 1997 GMC Suburban. Although I was not towing on the open road I cruised around the camp grounds to see how the new truck would handle as far as hills and turnes, I am very impressed with the power it has at slow speeds. I pulled the camper up one of the steedest hills and stopped in the middle then proceeded to tow, it pulled like a champ. Now as far as hitching issue, I parked the truck and trailer on level ground or somthing real close to level got out of the truck and inspected the tires, springs and how the truck and trailer was setting, The truck looked to be level, the camper had a slight tilt in the front at the hitch, the tires had no flex in the side walls front or rear and the springs still had an up-ward bow but resting on the helper spring. It all looked good, but for everyones reply I do need to make some adjustment. Our last camping trip is next weekend and the camper is still in storage, so I am going to take the Surburban and bring the camper home and make the adjustments at my house. I just don't want to take a chance towing the camper home with the new truck with the way it is. Safety is very important to me, it is #1 on the list and I value everyones input and the helpful links, thanks again.....Wade.