On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 09:49:33 -0500, Ed Bailen wrote:
My Ford Aerostar has a Class II Reese receiver that sits quite low.
The top of the receiver box is only 10.5" off the ground. My new
Aliner trailer has the top of the ball socket 24" off the ground when
the trailer is level. OK, there's no way I'm going to get the trailer
level while towing, but I can get it quite a bit closer than it is
now.
For starters, check the suspension on your trailer - the last owner
may have had a 4X4 truck they towed it with (or if it's 'new new' and
not 'new to you', the factory built it high for that use) so they may
have put the axles on top of the springs, put on extension shackles or
lift blocks, or done other things to raise the trailer to match the
tow vehicle height.
If you drop the trailer back down to the normal ride height, your
hitching job just got a whole lot easier.
The problem is that the Reese hitch is an oddball, orphan unit. The
receiver box is 1-5/8" square, and the hitch pin is 9/16" in diameter.
One option would be to cut my existing ball mount and extend it up for
a 10" rise by welding on sections of heavy angle iron. This would
make for a pretty heavy ball mount.
Where do you live? A good hitch shop should be able to make a
proper receiver for the application for less money than it would take
you to track down all the materials and make it. They have all the
nifty Ironworker machines that can punch the hitch-pin and ball holes
and bend the ball tab in seconds.
A second option might be an Alumistinger solid aluminum ball mount.
http://www.e-ampi.com/details.php?ProductID=331. This unit is sized
for a 2" receiver, but I was thinking I could mill 3/16" off each face
to reduce it to 1-5/8" over a length sufficient to fit in the receiver
tube. A ball end mill would radius the transition from 1-5/8 to 2" to
prevent stress concentration. I would also turn an bar for a light
press fit in the 5/8" hitch pin hole and then dirll it out for the
9/16" hitch pin.
In it's unmofified shape, the Alumistinger ball mount is rated for
14,000 GVWR and 1,400 tongue weight. My trailer is rated at 1840 GVW.
Questions:
1. Is the modification of the Alumistinger likely to be safe in this
application?
I sincerely doubt it - your machining on it can create a nice stress
riser right at the neck-down spot. And if it breaks, all the
liability is going to fall on you - the maker is going to run like
hell if there is a problem.
2. I have a small selection of anonymous metals laying about to make
the sleeve for the hitch pin. What would be the best (generic) metal
to use (aluminum, steel, or brass)?
Steel for building a receiver. Not aluminum, because of it's
fatigue fracture problems - and there is a whole lot of stress on
hitches with the car and trailer hitting potholes and gutter dips at
speed. And the large offset adds to the stress through leverage. And
this situation calls for fresh material with a known history, not
'mystery metal' from the scrap pile
But wouldn't it be easier to just drill the pin hole in the hitch
out, rather than sleeve the receiver?
-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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