We've had this trailer for about 8 months now and I've done a few things to it that I'll document eventually, most of it nothing special.
Today I dug in a bit deeper though. We double tow our 19' MasterCraft ski boat behind the 5th wheel about 2-3 times a year. The HT comes with a hitch rated for 3000# and 300# tongue weight, which our boat just barely falls under. We also bring 4 bikes with us when we camp, and I have no interest in a front bumper or over the pin box bike rack, so a rear rack is a must. Initially I bought a Reese double receiver adapter and we used it once. It worked, but there was a lot of slop in all the joints which made the whole rig bounce, plus it cantilevered a lot of weight out back which I didn't want long term. The way the bike rack sat, it also just barely prevented the boat from being able to drop onto the ball- I had to pre-hitch it onto the insert and guide the insert straight into the receiver.... major PITA.
Here's what the initial set up looked like.
So since fabrication and welding is one of my favorite hobbies, I decided to perfect the rear hitch. First I cut apart the Reese adapter and used the old secondary receiver tube as a new beefier riser coming up. Then I completely seam welded the adapter into the receiver on the trailer so it's completely part of the hitch. Last, I welded a new 12" receiver tube onto the now taller adapter and for additional stability and rigidity I seam welded the back of that to the bumper. Now the whole assembly is rock solid, and with the bike rack about 5" higher, the boat can drop right onto the ball.
I was also unhappy with the overall support on the factory hitch. I know it's sufficient, but I like things overbuilt, especially when the item in question is carrying my own personal floating money pit.
First I added some 1/4" C-channel as 45 degree gussets back to the frame rails. These won't help much with rotational force on the hitch tube, they just add another overall mounting point.
Then I added some 1/4" flat stock gussets from the lower edge of the hitch tube at an angle back up to the frame rails. These will give the hitch some good resistance to the rotational force applied by the longer overall receiver length.
Now I feel like the hitch is where I want it permanently. I'll be hooking up the doubles setup again in about a week and a half so we'll see how it rides.
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