looking for opinions on hitch balls... I'm trying to put together a carry-on set of stuff for my truck and included in that in my mind should be all the various hitch balls that I may need (1-7/8", 2", 2-5/8")
are any of the "switch ball" type things worth the money? Looking online it looks like I'd be better served by just buying three (well, actually, two, since I already have the 2" ball) and a wrench for the nut and a big crescent wrench (which I already have)
Also, it appears that the stainless balls, while shiny, tend to have a lower weight rating than chrome plated steel. Any exceptions? I do like stainless, but not at the expense of functionality.
fwiu, there's not much uses 1-7/8 any more, it's mostly 2". and 2" is usually rated to 5,000lbs, so you're going to need a big towing rig to justify 2-5/8"
i should add, if you're going to be wrenching and un-wrenching these things, re-loosening becomes much more of a risk. i'd use separate draw bars and dedicated balls personally. besides, do you know what drop you're going to need with these different balls? every trailer is different it seems. if you tow a two-axle trailer, you've got to get the ball height pretty well matched.
No idea. Was going to get an adjustable ball mount, because this is one of those things where I don't actually *own* a trailer, can't see myself towing more than once a year, but would like to have everything together so that I don't have to run all around town and pay full retail for everything when I actually do have to do it. (online prices for this stuff are about 25% store retail, it seems.) Also I will not have this truck forever (I hope) so I was trying to put together a "kit" so that if/when I get another truck all I'd have to get would be the receiver hitch itself and I'd already have everything else ready to go.
To the question you asked in another post, no I do not have a brake controller, but that is something that I will be adding once I have everything else together. My truck is far from ideal for towing though... it's only a F-150 and six cylinder to boot :/ but supposedly is rated to tow a considerable amount - I don't have the owner's manual handy but I think it is >4000 lbs. I don't think I'd like to do that in heavy traffic or for long distances though! Truck is in good mechanical shape and just had brake job done w/ top of line pads but I'm thinking that with two tons behind it it probably couldn't pull the skin off a custard.
WTF type of engineer did you say you intend to impersonate?
Buy a ball to fit your trailer. If you have to yank the trailer of another I suspect they will have a ball to fit. If not, you stop at a "store" and buy one.
I don't understand how or why you invent these conundrums from such simple premises.
Your nitwitted ass, yanking a trailer, w/o enough sense to solve this "problem", is a scary thought. -----
If you don't have any advice to offer (and you clearly don't) f*ck off. If you read the thread, you'd realize that I'm putting together a "just in case" kit, and don't have a specific trailer in mind. I don't want to stop at a "store" (SIC) as the prices in "stores" (SIC) are astronomical and selection is limited; I'd prefer to buy online when I'm bored and have free time (like now) so as not to spend "store" (SIC) prices on items that I don't often use.
From what I've seen so far, if, say, I needed to borrow a friend's trailer for a specific task and went to a "store" I would probably pay MORE for one ball and one ball mount than I would ordering an adjustable ball mount and three good balls online. I could use the money left over to buy additional stuff I'd need like locks, chains, a storage bag/case, etc...
In any case, it's not like I'd take advice from a long-time proven moron like yourself, anyway.
For the record, I've been able to not only drive a vehicle towing a trailer but back up a vehicle towing a boat trailer and launch/load said boat since the summer after I got my driver's license.
Do you even *have* a driver's license? Some of the theories you've put forward on driving are so dangerously stupid as to be frightening.
Finally, I fail to see the problem with doing research before purchasing, something that you're apparently completely unfamiliar with, as you appear to think that you know everything about everything, which only goes to show that in reality you likely know little about little. Part of doing "research" (look it up in the dictionary) might include such activities as looking online at different products, reading reviews, and asking the advice of those who have more experience and knowledge than oneself. (hint: I know you haven't figured it out yet, but that is NOT YOU. In fact, there's very few people on Usenet more ignorant than you.) People who do "research" often make better decisions than those who do not.
You must have an awful lot of free time, stalk stalk stalk stalker.
fair enough, but assess your requirement for one or multi-axle trailer. it's the latter that really sets you off down the need to match heights road. if you have an idea of the kind of trailer you're more likely to tow and gear up for that, it's probably the best use of the money.
it should easily pull rated, probably double that. i been to europe and there, the crazy natives pull huge trailers with tiny little hatchbacks. they slow way down and have to change gears on hills [which we seem to see as a sign of weakness] but they still get there. even an old f150 has considerably greater towing capacity than that, and you probably won't need to change gears so much!
the difference though comes with having brakes. over there, almost all trailers have brakes. here, for reasons i simply don't understand, it's not seen as either a legal requirement [??????????] or even necessary. utterly bizarre. i won't drive a trailer without them personally, but i'm a pedantic asshole freak.
With this truck, most likely small utility trailer, or else a tow dolly for pulling a car. I don't know that I would pull a full-sized car trailer with this truck, although I've done it with a 1/2 ton Chevy before w/ no problems. (had to sweet talk the U-Haul guy though, as I'd drove all the way from PA to MI to pick up a car and even though I'd reserved the trailer beforehand, and even given them both the tow vehicle I was planning on using and the car that was going on the trailer - a Porsche 914 - when I got there somehow the combination was suddenly unacceptable. Bastards.)
Fair point, but traffic around where I live is a bit heavy and not very polite or clueful, so having both good brakes and lots of power is definitely an asset. I'd certainly have rather had something 3/4 ton or bigger and with a Diesel, because I use the truck so seldom that the weight/economy penalty is irrelevant, but it would have added another order of magnitude to the price tag to find something in equivalent shape.
AFAIK it *is* a legal requirement to have trailer brakes on anything over 3000 lbs in most states. I agree that they're certainly desirable on anything heavier than the smallest utility trailers, and also, I hate surge brakes (that's what U-haul uses on their trailers, but they certainly don't feel comfortable when braking, and backing up with them is practically abusive.)
you mean hydraulic? the heavy duty stuff is supposed to be damped. if not, they're not working right or not adjusted properly. [it's a "shock absorber" type oil damper on the slider pinion.]
on the light duty, they really don't need it if the brakes are working right.
what about the lock-out??? that's what it's for.
for electric, there are "dumb" and inertial. dumb ramps up the braking force as a function of time depending on an adjuster you set. [somewhat retarded imo since no two /required/ braking rates are ever the same, but those dumb things apply it the same unless you try and jockey the thing in use.] inertial is supposed to sense the braking force and adjust output accordingly...
i think electric braking is a fundamental mistake personally, and completely inapplicable to boat applications, but who the heck am i to try and address the mighty inertia of an industry that thinks you need a huge-ass truck to tow anything and hasn't changed any of its practices in the last 60+ years?
Well, I guess they weren't :/ I've towed a couple rental car trailers and they all felt bad. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised that a rental place doesn't keep their stuff in top shape... last moving truck I rented had a door sprung so badly that it didn't shut right and had a deafening whistle at speed, and the (automatic) transmission was making terminal noises every time it shifted.
If there is one on a U-Haul car trailer, they don't tell you where it is, they just say "don't back up." Yeah, like it's possible to do that. Those are my only experience with surge brakes, so I wouldn't know where to look for a manual lock-out.
Hmm, most people I know that tow seem to prefer electric, at least with a good controller. Would be interested to hear more behind your reasoning. It doesn't seem that investing in a good controller would be a bad idea anyway, as it seems that it could be moved to another truck without having to repurchase the whole thing (I think the consensus last time I looked was that the Tekonsha "Prodigy" was the one to get...)
it's either a collar that flips onto the slider to keep it extended, or it's a pin that pushes down into a dog on the shaft in the housing. a "push and twist" kind of deal.
it's the crudest fudge-job i've ever seen. the brakes use an electromagnet dragging on the drum face that levers the self-camming action of drum brake shoes to apply the braking force. so, unless you're actually in the process of rolling forwards, you have no brakes. and of course, unless you have an inertial controller, you have ZERO modulation!!! and even if the controller is inertial, that doesn't guarantee the brakes and their non-linear camming action follows suit. utterly retarded.
i seriously question whether anyone that "prefers" electric has ever used hydraulic frankly. even old inertial cable-operated brakes are better.
which brings me to yet another point - wtf don't these things have mechanical parking brakes??? all the braked euro ones have them! it's the simplest thing in the world to have a cable operated drum brake that doubles up for parking if you want to keep the cost down! is it because the whole of the usa is all flat, just like that place those crazy braked trailer towing dutchies live?
What are the odds that if I *did* borrow a friend's trailer that the distance between the receiver and the ground on his tow vehicle would be within an inch or so of that on my truck?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I also know that it's never safe to ASSume. (and the balls themselves are quite inexpensive when ordered online and ahead of time.)
I dunno. I do know that the one friend I have (who sadly doesn't live near me, otherwise I'd just have him sit next to me while I'm online and have him point and grunt at what to buy) who tows a large, heavy trailer regularly uses electric, and has made disparaging comments about surge brakes.
Agreed there. Having to carry/keep track of wheel chocks can be a PITA, and just takes up more space in your gear box.
yeah, there's what, three different sizes? One of which is seldom used? (not counting 3" which is only used on trailers that my truck couldn't pull anyway.)
Yup. Hitch ball at store - $20 or more. Hitch ball online - $5-$10 and free shipping.
By that reasoning, I shouldn't spend money on anything but food and water. Or perhaps I could save even more money by drinking out of a creek.
sounds to me like you've never planned ahead. Or, you like spending LOTS of money and if you do find yourself needing to pull a trailer you just take your truck (assuming that you can afford one) into a shop, and pay someone to select and install everything. Yeah, that's economy right there, and also requires some amount of trust that the person behind the counter will choose the best products for your use.
Also, some of us just like to be able to "take care of it" whatever "it" may be. That's why we have roll cabinets full of tools, pickup trucks, and such like. When something breaks, we don't have to call someone, we just fix it. When someone calls up needing help with something, we don't have to stop at the store, we just grab a couple things out of the garage, throw them in the truck, and go. (I know that probably sounds alien to you, being such an asshole that you don't have any friends, but still.)
But then again, I do think that a counter droid at U-haul is likely smarter than you, so in your case, paying someone to take care of it for you is a good plan.
well, i'll say again that he hasn't driven any that are set up correctly. and having brakes that can't be submerged, for whatever reason, is fundamentally retarded.
However, it appears that the official instructions for their car trailers have been revised since the last time I rented one (it's been a few years... possibly as many as 10.) Now they do give you cursory instructions on backing up, reading in full as follows:
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however I couldn't see anything about a lock-out for the brakes.
I think I'd be a little frightened of someone pulling a car trailer who would actually find the above advice helpful or informative.
if my memory serves correctly, the last time I rented one the maximum speed for any of their trailers was also 45 MPH, it appears now that they have raised that to 55 MPH. Which is a Good Thing, because it seemed before like the 45 MPH max speed was an attempt to either kill their customers, and/or absolve U-Haul of any liability should an incident occur (because only an idiot would actually drive 45 MPH on an Interstate highway, and in fact, the *minimum* speed on many highways would be 45 MPH or higher.)
I don't know what the likelihood is that I'll be pulling one of those trailers with this truck, but if I do, I will make sure to ask and/or look.
i'll also say that unless you're prepared to pay huge bucks, it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to buy a braked trailer that /doesn't/ have electric. lack of choice does not a realistic comparison make.
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