fncampn
Gardnerville, NV
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Joined: 09/05/2002
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OK, here is a different kind of towing question. I have the rig combo in sig and use a front-mounted receiver to move my TT in and out from the side of my house. I do this because I only have about 6" of clearance on each side and using the front receiver is MUCH easier.
My issue is how much the front of the truck squats and how much the rear rises when dropping the tongue on to the ball mount. The truck already sits 3" lower in the front than the rear unloaded. Two issues arise:
1) The clearance of the front receiver is about 6" from the ground unloaded and 3" when loaded with the TT tongue (about 850 lbs.). This so far has not been a big issue but I have to be real careful when backing down the curb. I back down at an angle to give the receiver a little more clearance.
2) The rear of the truck rises about 1" when the front is loaded down. This creates a traction problem. Even in 4-LO, the rear tires will spin, especially when backing, and so much so that I buried the rear wheels in my gravel driveway and got my truck stuck. Had to have a buddy pull me out! With my previous truck, an '07 F350 CC LB PSD, the front of the truck barely squatted (it was much heavier too!) so traction was not an issue.
So here is what I have done to solve #2: I bought 8 sheets of plywood and put them on the gravel drive way. This improves traction dramatically but I still have to go very slowly to prevent the rear tires from spinning. I even put my 150 lb. generator on the back of the truck using a hitch-mount basket to try and improve traction but I can't tell if it helped or not.
#1 poses a problem. Here is what I'm thinking:
a) Add a leveling kit to the front of the truck to level the truck front-to-rear when not loaded with the TT tongue. Would this reduce the amount of rear lift when dropping the TT tongue on the front hitch? The fulcrum of the front axle would still see the same load and the front end would still be lowered 3" but would the rear end still be unweighted just the same? I assume yes but would it be as much?
b) I currently use a ball mount with an 8" rise. This puts the TT tongue at a big downward angle to the front. If I use a 10" tow hitch adapter and a ball mount with 12" rise, this should put the TT tongue level when dropped on to the front hitch (according to my measurements). If I reduce the angle of the TT's tongue, would this help to reduce the amount of tongue weight? I realize tongue weight is tongue weight but the weight transferred to the tongue at such a steep angle should be greater than when level. is this thinking correct?
c) Use my weight distributing hitch to try and level the truck enough to gain some traction on the rear wheels. I don't really want to do this since setting up the hitch is a pain already and doing it twice just to go camping is not very appealing. But it might be my only alternative.
d) Replace the front strut shocks with air shocks to level the truck. This might be just the ticket but the cost might be prohibitive.
Sooooo, I'm looking for some suggestions and feedback on what I'm thinking so far. This has become a real pain in the arse and while I've only had to lay out the plywood once so far and load the generator on the rear hitch, doing it every time I want to take the TT out is going to get old fast.
Thanks for the help!
Cold Weather Camping Mods
A Bunch of Ways to Mod Your RV
'08 Ford F150KR Screw 5.4L LB Auto 3.73LS 4x4
'07 Ford F350 XLT CC LB PSD Auto 3.73 4x4 - SOLD
'08 Thor Summit 27RBS TT - 9000 GVWR, 7500 loaded, 875 TW
'06 Kipor 3500Ti Generator
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Home Skillet
Pearland Texas
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Joined: 10/21/2004
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Buy one of these........
LINK
2005 Gulf Stream Conquest 31ft
BigFoot Levelers,SmarTire,Bilstein Shocks,Trans temp guage,Lowrace iWAY
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johntank
Oxford, Ms 38655 USA
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Joined: 06/17/2003
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Go with option c, as I feel that any of the others would not help keep sufficent weight on rear wheels on the 150. JMHO
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fncampn
Gardnerville, NV
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Now that would be cool but I'm sure quite expensive. I already get strange looks from my neighbors when they see me with the TT attached to the wrong end of the truck going down the street to turn around. And something big and yellow just wouldn't help things...
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fncampn
Gardnerville, NV
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johntank wrote:Go with option c, as I feel that any of the others would not help keep sufficent weight on rear wheels on the 150. JMHO
I'm leaning towards this solution but I'm not sure yet if the front receiver can handle the forces required to lift the front even a few inches. The receiver has a 9000 lb. horizontal load rating and a 500 lb. vertical load rating. It's pretty beefy but I ill have to experiment with differing loads with the spring bars to see if it can handle it.
Here are a few pics of the receiver:
Installed - underside:
Installed - front view
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Home Skillet
Pearland Texas
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Joined: 10/21/2004
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I hope that you are aware that the front frame "horns" of your vehicle are not designed to carry any extra loads.
They are actually crumple zones designed in to bend away in a collision.
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Jim&Peg
Central Ohio
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Joined: 07/14/2004
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From the picture of the hitch receiver it looks like the distance between the mounting bolts is considerably less the the typical rear mount receiver. A WD hitch exerts a huge twisting force on the receiver which translates to up force on 2 bolts and down force on the other 2. The closer together the bolts are, the greater the forces. I would be concerned about the truck front frame being able to withstand those forces. If you do go that route, only tighten the bars a minimum amount - not try to level all the way.
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txtowman
central texas
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Joined: 08/19/2005
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add weight to the back of the trailer, reduces tongue weight and balances truck, 500 lbs should help, rear tanks?
Wannabe-be-fulltime. Me & Madison(Chihuahua)
76' Sunflower 16'
96' Dodge 3500 DRW ext CTD 5 speed
1 Honda EU2000 gen
4 AGM batteries 468 amp hours
1000/2000 inverter/charger
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fncampn
Gardnerville, NV
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Home Skillet wrote:I hope that you are aware that the front frame "horns" of your vehicle are not designed to carry any extra loads.
They are actually crumple zones designed in to bend away in a collision.
An interesting point and yes, I am aware of the crumple zones. Although the front frame horns are not specifically designed for additional loading, infrequent and temporary loading should not have any undue effect on the structure of the frame, judging (with a somewhat trained eye) by the frames thickness, the fact that it is fully boxed, and the receiver's weight rating.
Now using a WD hitch might be cause for concern. 
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fncampn
Gardnerville, NV
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Joined: 09/05/2002
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Jim&Peg wrote:From the picture of the hitch receiver it looks like the distance between the mounting bolts is considerably less the the typical rear mount receiver. A WD hitch exerts a huge twisting force on the receiver which translates to up force on 2 bolts and down force on the other 2. The closer together the bolts are, the greater the forces. I would be concerned about the truck front frame being able to withstand those forces. If you do go that route, only tighten the bars a minimum amount - not try to level all the way.
Very good observation. I just went out and measured the distance between the mounting bolts on the front and rear receivers:
Front: 8" center to center
Rear: No bolts!
This is a new truck and I hadn't even looked at the rear receiver yet. Man, it's beefy! There is a large bracket on each side of the receiver square tube that bolts to another large bracket that is welded to the rear frame rail, and also to the bumper. No crumple zone there. But I digress.
I don't know the bolt hole distances would be on a typical rear WD receiver but it's probably not too much more than 8", maybe 12"? In any case, I'm going to experiment this coming weekend and see how things might work out.
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