Tow hitch bottom out

[Wa11y757]

I axle flipped the 195hb I had and got 6" inches out of it.

[Sarjent]

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

Others have asked, so I'm repeating.
When hooked up and on a level area of road...
Is the trailer level fore-and-aft? Or is the tongue low?

Does the rear bumper or undercarriage of the trailer drag as it leaves the driveway, or does it clear well?

Is the tow vehicle level when hitched? If the rear is sagging, can you adjust the hitch to move more load to the front axle on the TV?

If the trailer is not level, perhaps raising the "drop" one or two bolt holes will help.

I tow a high-wall PUP with a 4x4 pickup, and I only have a 3" drop. With airbags, the whole mess is pretty level. With 30 pounds in the bags, my tongue is just a bit higher than the rear bumper on the trailer. I don't need a weight distribution hitch with this light trailer.

If you are level and setup properly, then this is a matter of the driveway pitch angle compared to the road surface.
If that's the case, perhaps a set of Firestone Airbags would make it possible for you to jack up the rear of your TV as you enter and exit the driveway, then let the air out once you're clear of the driveway. If you carry an air compressor like this Viar - https://smile.amazon.com/Viair-93-VI...air+compressor - it will make short work of filling the bags without the expense of having a built-in inflator for the bags alone. Just a thought.

Thanks, sorry for the delayed response.
The trailer seems level, have not checked in a long while. I trusted the dealer to setup everything for me and expect that it would be leveled. They had my TV and Camper together to do it.

my TV, is a 2015 Yukon XL and has built in airbags. I've always assumed they are inflated as I can hear them when I hitch up.

[Sarjent]

Originally Posted by Camping-man

I have the same wdh, I really like it, we tow with a 08 suburban LTZ package, my truck has airbags that level it up under load. I back up the camper once with out the bars and it scrape with the camper power tonge jack. After I installed the bars, the camper level up and No more scraping. You may have a driveway that is too steep and will scrape, and you may actually need the shank they sold you. Check out my set up.... Hope it helps.


Attachment 146901Attachment 146902

I've always been told not to backup with the bars attached. Is that not the case?

[mopwr4me2003]

I think with husky you can back up with them attached. I have a blue ox and can back with them on but backing into my driveway I take them off to avoid scraping them.

[Sarjent]

Taking it on in Tuesday. Wanted to share more pictures.

[hybridlife]

Just looking at the pictures that looks like to much of a drop. I had a Suburban with a 6" lift and 35" tires and used a drop hitch with about that must drop down. Your TV is stock correct? Why did the dealer suggest such a drastic drop?

[Hersbird]

There is something about the look of that hitch at where the ball bolts in that looks like it might force that much drop on the bar. The ball isn't that low but the pockets for the bars are.
I would say ditch that setup, others aren't like that and would put the ball at the same height with a 2" shorter bar which would give you 2" more clearance.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Lawrosa

Those things are low to begin with..

I would flip the trailer axle first.. That should ligt it high enough to fix your issue and use a smaller shank..

Just a warning...You can only do that with an axle that doesn't have camber built into it.

[Cajun Style]

Do you have pictures with camper connected to the Yukon?

[Camping-man]

That is too low...

My suburban had the airbags like your vehicle does.

Also regarding the bars on while backing up, with the TS WDH, you can back up with the bars on with out any problems... I would put the bars on and backup if I were you.


The very first time I back up the camper into our drive way, the power tonge base scraped the driveway. The second time I back up with the bars on, no scraping at all... the bars actually help raise the rear of the vehicle and level the camper. With out them the TV rear squads alot.

[Camping-man]

Here is a picture of my set up

[Camping-man]

Also looking at your driveway, it does not look that steep (based on the picture you posted)

How heavy is your camper's hitch weight? Do you load the front of the camper with gear, supplies?

[Sarjent]

Originally Posted by Camping-man

Also looking at your driveway, it does not look that steep (based on the picture you posted)

How heavy is your camper's hitch weight? Do you load the front of the camper with gear, supplies?

I'll take some photos in a couple days when I get it hooked up to take to the dealer. We have very little in terms of things stored up front. Couple tools, a lightweight rug and fishing poles. The heavy items and chairs are in the rear.

[DougW]

You might want to do a YouTube search for "adjusting husky weight distributing hitch". All weight distributing hitches work basically the same so the set up video will give you the information you need to know if yours is set up properly. Just looking at the photos posted I suspect your hitch has too much drop on it.

If the hitch is set up properly and you are only having problems with the hitch dragging and have good clearance with the rear of the trailer you could increase the tension on the spring bars of the WD hitch to raise the rear of the Tow Vehicle when you are going in and out of the drive then reset them to the proper position for the road. That would be a pain in the neck to do but could be one way to save your driveway.

[Camping-man]

Or buy a receiver hitch not that low and pull the camper out of the drive way and and set up the WDH in the street.

[Sarjent]

Originally Posted by sarjent

i'll take some photos in a couple days when i get it hooked up to take to the dealer. We have very little in terms of things stored up front. Couple tools, a lightweight rug and fishing poles. The heavy items and chairs are in the rear.

[Lawrosa]

Put the level on the floor of the camper. Or the refidge to get more accurate.

Putting a level on the tongue does not work well as the tongue flexes up. If you put the camper on its 4 corner jacks and level, then take the weight off of the tongue jack you will see what I mean..

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Lawrosa

Those things are low to begin with..

I would flip the trailer axle first.. That should ligt it high enough to fix your issue and use a smaller shank..

Single axle too. That trailers light. Put the nose higher a bit if needed if the axle flip is not enough..

Originally Posted by Wa11y757

I axle flipped the 195hb I had and got 6" inches out of it.

Originally Posted by babock

Just a warning...You can only do that with an axle that doesn't have camber built into it.

While commonly referred to as 'flipping the axle' you don't really flip it. It is simply positioned/mounted under the leaf springs instead of on top of the leaf springs.
The camber of the axle remains the same.

[rsdata]

Sarjent...
even though you show level towing via your use of the level, I for one would adjust the tow ball up at least a notch and try towing that way. I don't believe your towing experience will be any different then it was an inch lower, but I am not sure how your WDH would care for that adjustment.

With your current drop shank moving the ball will not help the drive way experience, but it would validate that you could purchase either a shorter replacement shank or cut an inch off the bottom of your current shank. That might be enough to get you up the driveway... HOWEVER, a length of 2X8
or 2x10 across the driveway entrance would be a lot less effort... maybe take the front edge off the board before doing that for easier backing up...

EDIT... looking at your driveway picture again I think I would do nothing less than 2X12 or maybe even another 2X8 behind the 2X12... need to measure from the drop hitch back to the TV rear wheels to see the depth of board needed to get those tires up before the shank hits...

Oh and some people mention that they release the bars on their WDH when backing... I don't with mine (different brand), but thought I would mention that in case it made a difference.

[Hersbird]

Dont flip the axle, that just causes even worse fuel economy and makes getting in and out harder. I'm telling you, just about any other brand of WDH will give you another couple inches and let you use less of a drop bar.