how big of drop hitch do i need to tow a car (5,500ish pound trailer)

[goblues38]

tongue weight will be 300-400 pounds i guess.

Not sure if I need a 4,6 or 8 inch drop. i assume the bumper will droop when the trailer weight is on the tongue.

 

[Jakenbake]

Is the question how much will the truck drop under your estimated tongue weight?

If so you could load the bed on the tailgate directly over the hitch to simulate the squat and go from there.

 

[goblues38]

sort of related. I just dont know if i need to buy an 8 inch adjustable drop hitch, or the 6 inch. I know it will squat some, but dont know how much.

 

[Traffic22]

Let me start by saying, I am no tow expert. In fact, I’ve only towed once, for a total of about 300 miles. There are people here that do more than that every weekend.

But, I have towed a car. The trailer weighs in at about 1500, add another 3500ish for the car.

I’m not certain of the tongue weight. (Which is probably a little irresponsible on my part.) But, I didn’t need a drop hitch. The weight of the trailer made the rear squat, a lot. But, truck did fine, and everything was stable, and it didn’t feel like it was hitting the bump stops.

I’m sure the people here who actually know what they’re doing can give you better advice, just letting you know what worked for me.






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[goblues38]

thanks @Traffic22 I think I am going with a 6inch adjustable drop. I need to go 325 miles all on interstate, so should not be very difficult.

 

[Oldfart]

A 4" drop is perfect for a lighter trailer, like my landscape trailer. Beyond that, it would be a matter of how much sag the trailer weight is making on the truck.

 

[tooloud10]

I doubt you'll want a drop hitch with a 400 lb tongue weight. Just hook it up and see how it looks.

 

[Oldfart]

I doubt you'll want a drop hitch with a 400 lb tongue weight. Just hook it up and see how it looks.

You absolutely need a drop hitch unless you have a heavy trailer that is going to droop the truck. Trailers aren't made to ride so tongue high, they will wander like hell.

 

[Traffic22]

thanks @Traffic22 I think I am going with a 6inch adjustable drop. I need to go 325 miles all on interstate, so should not be very difficult.

The Raptor handles it very easy. It’s actually amazing how good of a truck it is. It makes amateurs like me confident. Both “tow” mode and “sport” work really well for keeping the truck in the right gear, and helping with pedal response.

Take a few min and go through the tow set up, it’s worth the effort. The truck really does a good job of making armatures look like pros. (Of course my much more experienced buddy did have to help me back it down a tight driveway, but that is in no way the truck’s fault.)


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[jabroni619]

I'm assuming you won't be using a WD hitch. You'll want to consider something like Timbren bump stops for the haul to minimize squat and keep your springs from getting permanently bent out of shape. 300-400lbs of tongue weight for a 5500lbs trailer seems like an awfully low estimate. If you're going by the general rule of 10% tongue weight, that puts you at 550lbs.