What Hitch should I buy

[ENE]

I'm buying a 8000lbs trailer in a couple weeks, 10,400lbs gvw.
What does one recommend for a good safe hitch to pull my trailer?
Im spending 100k on trailer and truck I want whats the safest and not the cheapest hitch.

[jeff64]

I'm running a 14K Equalizer, other than a little noisy backing into the sites, no complaints. in case you are not familiar with these, load equalizing and sway control. I'm sure you will get a few differing opinions

[palidin40]

I have the Equalizer. It is less money then most, and has a lifetime warranty. I had the old chain style on old camper. Went with this one and it made a world of difference. I just upgraded my TT from a 19 foot to a 35 foot and had the dealer move the hitch to the new one. When I pull the new bigger and heaver tt, it actually pulls better then the 19 footer I had. Will never use any other.

[Rideandslide]

We just went thru that whole thing ourselfs. We have/had an Harbor Frt. WDH and it has done fine, but we wanted to upgrade with our new TT, something with built in sway control. Was looking at the Blue Ox sway Pro, Reese Straight Line and the Equalizer. Yes !!! Price is a factor, but more than that i wanted to get away from having chains, so that let out the first 2, and although the equalizer has many pos. reviews, most all commented about the noise.

So we stumped onto the Husky TS WHD $399 from Amazon. it's a newer hitch by them, looks like a copy of the Equalizer, says quieter, and an all newer/better design,lifetime warrentee , and i liked the tongue rating at 800 to 1200 pounds, since ours is around 900.Max tow 12,000. The few people i could find had all pos. comments on it, so we bought one.

Just arrived a few days ago from Amazon, was worried about the weight and shipping it ups, but arrived great, fantastic packaging, even had plywood on top and bottom of the box and everything in it's own styrofoam compartment.

Have not install yet, but looking at the quality, this thing is a hoss, everything solid steel, no stamped parts/plates, all powder coated ( which some say will flake off ).

Since we have not used it yet, no input there. Hope this may help you !!

Next trip is not until the end of Oct. so, won't know till then !

[Rideandslide]

Whats your tow vehicle ?

[ENE]

I haven't bought the tow vehicle yet but will in a couple weeks when I'm done refinancing my house. I'm looking at getting the new 2015 Dodge Ram 1500 ecodiesel if it can pull a 10,400lbs GVW trailer. If the 1500 Ram doesn't work I will step up to the 2500 ram with bigger diesel.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by earlbalentine

I'm buying a 8000lbs trailer in a couple weeks, 10,400lbs gvw.
What does one recommend for a good safe hitch to pull my trailer?
Im spending 100k on trailer and truck I want whats the safest and not the cheapest hitch.

ProPride or Hensley. Either will run you around the mid $2K range. I run the ProPride and love it.

[dustman_stx]

You're gonna definitely want the 2500- maybe even the SRW 3500. The 1500 will NOT handle that trailer. The soft coil spring suspension on the 1500 doesn't do well loaded heavy- and you'll almost for sure be over on payload by several hundred pounds with that trailer on the 1/2 ton.

[ENE]

Crap, I was afraid of that. So now if I up the truck to a 2500 series, that means I can consider the Chevy, GMC or Ram now. I just wonder which one I can get the best deal on a 2015 model with the diesel engine?

[Bama Rambler]

Just a thought, but this is a bumper pull and not a 5th wheel, right?

[DDC]

Hensley or Pro-pride are the best but not the cheapest, been using our Hensley for nearly twenty years now, no need to control sway, there is none, by far the safest hitches out there.

[Rideandslide]

Well, i'l bail out now, because money seems no proplem, as with us !

Good luck and enjoy !!!

Jim & Pat

[ENE]

yes it's a bumper pull not a 5th wheel.

[SuicideSaints]

What trailer are you looking at? A bumper pull with that much weight will eat into the payload quick. I think the 1500 Eco has a payload around 1800#. 10 to 15 percent of 10,000 is 1k to 1.5k right off the bat. The 2500 6.7 payload is around 2.5k to 4k# depending on equipment.

For a hitch, hensley, propride are huge names as well as the Equalizer brand. I have the equalizer and love it. I use the equalizer with the setup in my sig and it does fine. I pull all over UT and CO and through the Rockies with ZERO problems.

[stantyszka]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

You're gonna definitely want the 2500- maybe even the SRW 3500. The 1500 will NOT handle that trailer. The soft coil spring suspension on the 1500 doesn't do well loaded heavy- and you'll almost for sure be over on payload by several hundred pounds with that trailer on the 1/2 ton.

I agree with this. I am pulling a 30 foot 5500 pound Wildwood x lite with about 400 pounds of gear in it. I am pulling it with a 2014 RAM 1500 with a 5.7L Hemi. I would not go much higher than what I am pulling. The 1500 handles my 6000 pound load with 3 people and a dog in the cab but I feel like I am at the edge of what it should safely tow even though the 5.7 short box crew cab is rated to pull 8700. I even added AirLift in the rear suspension to level it out. They are a blessing because they have helped with the tongue weight. If I had it to do over, I'd have bought a 2500. Remember, it may be able to pull it.....but it MUST be able to stop it. Thats the other half of the battle in tow ratings.

Stan

[Campingnut]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

ProPride or Hensley. Either will run you around the mid $2K range. I run the ProPride and love it.

X2

[V-Lite Fun]

I have a Hensley. They aren't cheap but they totally eliminate sway and give you the most comfortable ride. I had a Reese Dual Cam WD hitch before. It was noisy and you still got sway in high wind or on the interstate. You didn't have the turning radius either. I can make very tight turns with the Hensley and it is very quiet. Some will tell you they are hard to hitch up. There is a short learning curve but nothing that difficult. I suggest you go to YouTube and search for Hensley Hitch videos. There is one there by Hensley that demonstrates what it will do for you. It is not an exaggeration. I feel safe in all conditions now where in the past I had times that made me nervous.

[D_B Travelers]

This is a popular question and the answer is...nope there is no one answer. If I had it to do again, I would go with a 3/4 ton (2500) series diesel for the TV just because of the torgue and extra weight capacity. I have a 8500# Windjammer with about 1,100# actual hitch weight loaded and am using the Equalizer 1400# hitch with no issue. BTW, I pull mine with a 2013 Sierra 1500, 5.3L and don't have but one issue...I will have to trade up to a heavier TV before I can get the 40' 5th wheel my wife wants next. There are as many WDH on the market as there are RV's I think. We were given a 1000# Trekker at delivery and found later that it was not heavy enough to level the TV. The dealer refunded the money as I had bought another one. Just make sure it has built-in sway control (easier to use than working with a separate sway controller) and is heavy enough for the hitch weight. Do NOT go by the factory specs for hitch weight as that is empty of all fluids, does not take into account if a extra accessory package with an additional AC unit has been added, or your camping stuff. My specs said hitch weight was 860# With an 8000# trailer, at least do a 1200# hitch. and Welcome!

[ENE]

Lots of good info, thx

[Crusadernoob]

My TT I had an Equalizer, good but noisey, a very good friend of mine just had the same debate and he went with the Blue Ox, no noise due to chain set up but still has sway control.