Hitch Receiver Rating

[Boze]

Ladies and Gents,


I have a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 2wd with the Cummins diesel and an automatic tranny.


I recently purchased a 24' enclosed car hauler trailer that weighs in at 3,750 lbs. I bought it to haul my 1950 Willys Jeep and matching trailer to shows. The Jeep weighs 2,750 lbs. and the trailer is 750 lbs. So total load is 3,500 lbs. and total combined trailer weight is 7,250 lbs. Add another 150 for gas, tie down hardware, tools, etc. and I'll call it 7,400 lbs.


Vehicle-wise, I know I have more than enough to haul this rig anywhere. BUT, I have questions now about the hitch. It came with a trailer tow package (I think, there's a 7 pin trailer connection, HD cooling and a hitch receiver) but there may be a problem with the receiver. It may have a 500/5,000 lb. load limit. Some trucks have that and some have a class IV receiver that is rated for 1,200/12,000 lbs. I see no tag on the receiver, I ran the VIN and the receiver is supposed to be rated for 500/5,000.


When I bought the trailer the dealer said I would need an HD draw bar so I bought a forged steel draw bar rated for 16,000 lbs. But I'm reading where I need a weight distributing hitch to achieve the higher rating. The ball size is 2-5/16".



My questions are: how does spreading the load up to the front of the truck increase the load rating of the receiver? It's the same piece of steel, same amount of welds, etc. I towed the trailer loaded for about 25 miles and it towed perfectly - no sway, no heaving and the rear of the truck settled down no more than 2 inches.


Can someone explain how the torsion bars increase the capacity of the receiver? Or is it a liability/wimpy tow vehicle/novice driver going 80 mph/top heavy/poorly loaded trailer thing? Or, is there a different receiver that is beefier and is actually capable of 12,000 lbs.? I'm not prone to trust the Dodge dealer or someone like Camping World.


I would appreciate your comments.

[ALJO]

500/5000 is for the ball on the bumper. Usual the 2500 has a class 5 Hitch.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

For that trailer/truck combo, just get a new class 4 hitch rated for 1200/12000. Install per manufacturers instructions and hook up to the trailer making sure it is level or slightly nose down. Then just go. If you feel the need for a WDH after that, then look into it.

If your existing hitch is rated as a class 3/4, then it will have a higher rating if you use a WDH.

[Colorado]

Here’s a ton of reading for you: https://www.etrailer.com/info.aspx?p...20Distribution

[Midnightmoon]

3rd gen Dodge Receiver ratings were 500/5000 and 1000/10000 from the factory. Simply replace it with a proper class V receiver of your choice.

[tjpolsin]

Originally Posted by ALJO

500/5000 is for the ball on the bumper. Usual the 2500 has a class 5 Hitch.

https://www.drawtite-hitches.com/lea...towing-classes

yes ball on bumper has 500# tongue weight / 5000# trailer weight.

Class III / class IV hitches have a 2" square receiver hole.
Class III has a 600/6000 # rating for ball load and 1000/10000# load for a WD hitch.
Your 2006 truck probably has this receiver. your 16,000# drop bar is overkill, you only needed one rated to 10,000# to match your receiver.

Class IV hitches have a 1000/10000# ball load rating and a 1400/14,000# WD hitchloading. (my 2010 Ram has this receiver)

Class V hitches have a 2-1/2" receiver and are rated at 1200/12000# ball load and 1700/17000# WD limit.
Ram raised the tow rating of it's truck in 2013 to above 12,000# and starting installing class V hitches from the factory.


(BTW I had to get into this research to pull a 2007 nissan van on a U-Haul transporter. I needed a minimum of 7500# ball load hitch. I had to buy a new drop bar and ball, as the one I had was only rated to 5000#) Now I have two 2" ball/drop bar combo rated at 5000 and 7500# respectively, as well as a 2-5/16" rated at 5000# and a 2-5/6" ball rated at 10,000# (installed on my reese WD hitch.).

too many spare parts.