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

[Fireman Dave]

Go to any home improvement store and buy a 4 inch and a 6 inch drop and take back the one you dont need. Or you could buy an adjustable height one.

 

[WEV]

I found this to be a really good primer for towing:

 

[Ruckus08]

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.

I’d recommend 6” or 8”, especially if you are planning on larger tires/new leafs/ etc in future. I have an 8” weigh right adjustable that I use for my dual axle trailer when I tow my 6300lb Kubota. 6” would be close if not at the bottom adjustment. But, I do have some suspension upgrades that may make slight difference and it’s a Gen1. Good luck, it’ll pull great.

 

[Reaper308]

I’ve towed for years had a land development company with dump trucks and 30,000# trailers it all depends on the ride height of the truck and trailer together like has been mentioned earlier you want the trailer basically level so tongue weight is crucial. If the trailer has room it’s not always best to load or pull vehicles to the very front of the trailer you want the trailer weight evenly distributed so if your tongue weight is heavy back the load up slightly to center and back some of the tongue weight off. Also it all depends on your truck of stock probably a 4” drop would be fine unless the tongue weight is on the higher side than you might not want that big of a drop of the tongue weight is very light you might need the 4” or possible a 6” if your truck has different springs or a lift and your ride height is higher than stock you will need more drop. Hope that helps and have fun!

 

[Traffic22]

I found this to be a really good primer for towing:

Thank you. For amateurs like me, super helpful.


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[Leprechaun]

I had the same question a few weeks back and went with the 4" Weigh Safe hitch based upon what I was able to find, including:

I just plan on towing a landscape trailer with no more than 7,000 pounds, often much less.

 

[StraightSixM2C]

Picture quality sucks but it’s the best I have. The trailer weights 2300lbs empty, it has a relatively low tongue with the coupler height set up for my brothers 2500 duramax. I have the weigh safe 4”. I’m running it upside down to raise the ball. 2” rise I believe. I think the Liberty weighs 4000lbs so I put the trailer weight at around 6500lbs with all my junk in the tool boxes.

The raptor has plenty of power and brakes to tow. Just not the suspension, you end up staring at the sky from the sag in the rear. I never bought it to tow, but it can if needed.

 

[goblues38]

Picture quality sucks but it’s the best I have. The trailer weights 2300lbs empty, it has a relatively low tongue with the coupler height set up for my brothers 2500 duramax. I have the weigh safe 4”. I’m running it upside down to raise the ball. 2” rise I believe. I think the Liberty weighs 4000lbs so I put the trailer weight at around 6500lbs with all my junk in the tool boxes.

The raptor has plenty of power and brakes to tow. Just not the suspension, you end up staring at the sky from the sag in the rear. I never bought it to tow, but it can if needed.

View attachment 163390

This helps. I will have a 3,000 pound car on a Uhaul aluminum trailer.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

i think a lot of it will be determined by the trailer tongue height as well. cant really determine what kind of drop you want until you know how hight the hitch is. you want your load as level as possible. usually theres about a 2-3 inch drop in the trucks hitch (from what i have seen) with 400lbs in the bed. maybe try to use that for reference to see how low of a drop you need to reach the height of the trailer tongue

 

[Traffic22]

Picture quality sucks but it’s the best I have. The trailer weights 2300lbs empty, it has a relatively low tongue with the coupler height set up for my brothers 2500 duramax. I have the weigh safe 4”. I’m running it upside down to raise the ball. 2” rise I believe. I think the Liberty weighs 4000lbs so I put the trailer weight at around 6500lbs with all my junk in the tool boxes.

The raptor has plenty of power and brakes to tow. Just not the suspension, you end up staring at the sky from the sag in the rear. I never bought it to tow, but it can if needed.

View attachment 163390

I’m really surprised about that amount of sag from one of those little U-Haul trailers. That appears to be slightly more than I get towing with a much heavier trailer, but probably slightly lighter car.

It must be the overall distribution of weight. (I guess an overall weight around 6.5k explains part of it too.j I’m probably closer to 5-5200.


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