Best Drop Hitch for 21k Towing

Dockmaster said:
This confirms my concerns. I don't know which  Weigh Safe you had or it's rating. The one I have is rated for 21k and 2,200 tongue but I just don't trust it. Where did yours break?
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Mine wasn't rated as high as yours. Mine was 12,500 / 1,500 tongue weight.

Mine broke internally so it didn't fall apart it just failed by becoming too loose. The plug for the fluid came loose or was damaged which caused it to wiggle and oblong from towing when loose. Once I noticed it, I stopped, and I could lift the ball up and down almost 3/4 of an inch versus the 1/8" play it had originally for the scale to work. 

 
Dockmaster said:
The only practical way to put them in shear would be to bolt the hitch to the side of the frame instead of the bottom flange. The web (side) of the channel that makes up the frame is often thinner material than the flange and I think you would induce more tearing there. Even if not thinner or you reinforced the bolting areas you wouldn't get the full sectional strength of the entire frame channel. You would improve one weak point for the sake of inducing another. Easier solved with larger flange head bolts and nuts and washer plates/bars instead of just heavy flat washers. 
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Touche, and it's likely the fasteners can handle the entire rated load by themselves without failure. Biggest failure I see is the frame itself tearing, which plates and lots of contact area help solve.  I just like the idea of friction doing some work for you, assuming the fasteners stay tight that is. :biggrin:

OE box frames are always a crap shoot when it comes to wall thickness though.  Who knows what's inside, but there's always some whackiness in there (multiple C-channels overlapped and welded is common on Jeep frames).  

Fun discussion.

 
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L.R.S. said:
Knowing the tongue weight is important, especially if you tow a lot of different stuff like we do.  I bought a Weigh Safe and loved it.  The ball got wobbly after a year so I hit them up.  New scale and ball dealio were $65.  The aluminum ovals out but seemed like a steel liner would help.  Maybe 6 mohtns later the scale broke.  They warrantied it and sent me out a DIY kit which took 30 mins to replace.  a few months later the scale was broken again.  This is not from us overloading the tongue and the scale breaking.  It's a sh!it product and doesnt hold up to daily use.  WIsh it did work, because now I use my portable tongue scale which is more of a hassle.  

I upgraded my 2006 Silverado factory reviever with a Curt Class V 2.5".  Bolted right up.  Couple years later it tore the frame of my truck.  Fortunately I was towing my personal enclosed, empty, and had just pulled it out of my storage spot when I heard it dragging.

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WOW, that is wild.  Im glad that didnt happen out on the open road somewhere.  that could have been a huge mess. 

 
Bobalos said:
WOW, that is wild.  Im glad that didnt happen out on the open road somewhere.  that could have been a huge mess. 
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As the saying goes- it could have been worse. My son had a 2006 Silverado he was using for transport for about a year.  Put 100k on it doing jobs. I noticed his hitch was angled down a little. The factory tube reciever was cracked and had twisted. Caught it before it completely broke. Replaced it with a Curt Class V 2.5" reciever. 

 
I towed my dump trailer with a heavy load of big logs a few weeks ago using my Weigh Safe drop hitch. I was just under 17k total based on trailer weight and using a log weight calculator app. The Weigh Safe scale showed right at 2k on the tongue. Total distance towed was about 150 miles and was over Mt Hood pass here in Oregon. Everything handled the weight just fine. However, before I made this trip, I did some weld build up on the Weigh Safe then sanded it down to tighten up the fit in my receiver. It had way too much slop for my liking. This really improved the tow and I felt no movement or banging like I did previously even with lighter loads. 

 
The crappy part is every time you strengthen one part.......it transfers the energy to another part. 

In a rear end collision, the energy goes further forward instead of bending the rear of the frame.  

Trade offs I guess. 

The F150s and Expeditions put a longer hitch on...all it did was bend the beds and the inner structures... made for easy total losses. 

 
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