Blue Ox Adjustable Ball Mount with Clamshell for 2-1/2" Hitch - 7" Drop/Rise - 12,000 lbs

Video Transcript for Blue Ox Adjustable Ball Mount with Clamshell Review

Hey everybody, how's it going Today, we're gonna be going over the Blue Ox adjustable ball mount with clamshell. So, this is an adjustable ball mount that has a 2 1/2 inch shank. So, it's gonna be compatible with trailer hitches that have a 2 1/2 inch opening. This means it's not really for half ton trucks. This is gonna be for your larger 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks. So, the unique thing about this ball mount here is that we have a quick change hitch ball system.

So, that's what Blue Ox labels the term, is clamshell. So, right now we have a 2 and 5/16 inch hitch ball installed, but if we needed to swap to the other common hitch ball size, a two inch, all we need to do is simply pull apart the two ends here on our cap and now we have a two inch hitch ball ready to use. So, this is really a game changer for you guys to have multiple trailers that you need to constantly swap between different sized hitch balls. So, our main hitch ball size is this two inch here. So, this is gonna be the one physically attached to the adjustable part here to the ball mount, but we need to hook back up to our 2 and 5/16s.

We just take our clamshell here. You can see it's very easy to use and there's actually a magnet here, so it is gonna pretty much just spring shut. All we need to do is open the two ends, drop it on the hitch ball, let it close on itself. And now it's locked into place. We're ready to tow those larger trailers.

So, this is an adjustable ball mount as well. So, not only can we easily change the hitch ball size, we can also easily change the rise/drop. So, it's gonna be very easy for those guys who have multiple trailers. We could just simply adjust one of the two things, hook up, and take off. So, this is actually offered in two different sizes here.

So, it's gonna be available in a four inch rise or drop, which is what we have pictured here. And it's also available in a seven inch rise or drop for those taller trucks or those trailers that sit a little bit lower. So, it's very easy to adjust the height there. We're gonna have two pins. Now, on one side of the pins we have our clips here. All we need to do is open that up. Simply pull them out. We need to do that thing to the other one as well. Then we're gonna remove one of these pins here. So, just slide that out. And now we need to be careful because when we move this other pin, our platform here could fall to the ground. So, I'm gonna use one hand to hold the platform. And the other one, I am gonna use to remove the pin. And now we can adjust the ball platform up and down for our specific rise and drop needs. Once we have it where we want it, just go ahead, reinsert your pins here. Doesn't matter which direction. And then we can reinstall our clips as well. So, currently the shank on our ball mount here is installed, so the hitch will give us a drop. But if you need the hitch to provide you with a rise, all you need to do is remove the ball platform, remove the shank here from the receiver tube and just simply invert it and then you can reinstall everything in the correct position. So, for those instances where the trailer did sit a little bit higher than the vehicle here, this is what it's gonna look like when we're using it in a rise position. Now, if you're not sure how to get the correct rise and drop for your particular truck and trailer, it's actually very easy. What you need to do is you need to park the truck and trailer on a level ground, go ahead and use the tongue jack to level the trailer as well. Then we're gonna take a tape measure. We're gonna measure from the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube on our trailer hitch on the vehicle. And then we're gonna measure from the ground to the bottom of the coupler on the trailer while that trailer is level. And the difference between those two measurements is going to be our rise and drop. Now with our trailer parked on a nice level surface here, and I do have the trailer leveled using the tongue jack, we just simply need to measure from the ground to the bottom edge of the coupler here. And the difference between this and the vehicle is going to be the rise and drop we need to look for in a ball mount. So, the reason it's important to calculate your rise and drop because we wanna make sure that trailer is as level as we can get it while we're towing. So, if you guys don't have the correct rise and drop and maybe your tongue is sitting a little bit high on the trailer, this can lead to a lot of issues when you're out towing on the road, such as instability. A lot of the time what we see, when that nose is sitting a little bit higher than it should be, it attributes to some sway issues. So, making sure you have the correct rise and drop for your towing set up is really gonna be critical. It's gonna play a huge part in your overall towing experience. So, we did mention that this ball mount is offered in two different rise and drops. We have the four inch version. We also have the seven inch version. And I know what you guys are thinking, if I just get the seven inch rise and drop version that's gonna cover me for pretty much any trailer or vehicle I have. But unfortunately the issue you're gonna run into with that is ground clearance. So, if you don't have a vehicle that sits super high and you go with the version that offers a seven inch drop, you're gonna have a limited space between the ground, there, and the bottom of this vertical adjustment portion. Now, this isn't gonna cause too many issues, but if you're driving on a steep driveway or something like that, you do run the risk of bottoming it out. So, it is important that you meet your needs for your trailer, but you don't go above that because, again, you can run into ground clearance issues. So, in regards to the weight capacity of a ball mount here, it's gonna be twelve thousand pounds, which is gonna be your trailer loaded with everything on there. So, you wanna make sure that you don't exceed that. And the twelve thousand pound rating is the same for both the 2 and 5/16 inch hitch ball as well as the 2 inch hitch ball. So, it doesn't matter which hitch ball size you have. It's gonna still maintain that twelve thousand pound rating. So, just make sure the weight of your trailer and everything on there does not exceed that and you guys are gonna be good to go. So, keep in mind these capacities are for the ball mount only, which is tested separately of the hitch and the vehicle. Therefore, you do need to verify the towing capacity of your vehicle in the hitch and make sure you abide by the lowest rated component in your towing setup. So, with our ball mount here, we're gonna get pretty much everything we need to tow. A lot of the ball mounts actually don't come with the pin and clip used to secure them inside the trailer hitch. But luckily here, Blue Ox is including one of those for you. So, you don't need to worry about buying anything separately. However, I will say, this is just a standard pin and clip and this is a very nice ball mount. I wouldn't want someone to come and steal this off my vehicle. Therefore, I do recommend switching this out to a locking hitch pin and clip, of which we have plenty of options here at Etrailer. So, our entire ball mount does have a nice and durable black powder coated finish. So, I know a lot of times, with ball mounts, the finish is actually a pretty crucial part of it because we're obviously gonna be banging these things into metal, your coupler, whether you line it up exactly or you're just hitting it on the hitch trying to install it. These ball mounts definitely take a lot of abuse, so it's really important to have a nice durable finish here. This one not only looks great, it's gonna hold up for time to come, protecting the metal underneath from rust and corrosion. So, speaking more to that durability, our hitch balls are stainless steel and our pins are all zinc coded. So, again, you're not gonna have to worry about any issues with rust and corrosion. This is something you can leave on your truck here at all times. You don't need to worry about taking it off so it doesn't get wet. And then last but not least, it is made here in the USA. So, you know you're getting a quality product. So, if we remove the ball mount a little bit to show you the actual shank, this is a part that gets installed inside the receiver on the vehicle. You're gonna see we have multiple hitch pin holes here. Now, that's not necessarily for preference. All trailer hitches here are gonna have different tolerances. Some of them are gonna require different hitch pin holes in order to clear the collar and the excess part past the hitch pin hole. So, again, it's not really preference. It's just gonna be which one works for you. I do recommend trying to use the one closest here to the hitch ball. That's gonna give you the best support inside the receiver tube. But you can use either one depending on what your setup requires. So, we're ready to couple our trailer here. We have a 2 and 5/16 inch coupler on this trailer, so we need to make sure that we have that clamshell installed here. But it's gonna be the same process if you have the two inch hitch ball. And once we get everything nice and coupled, make sure the couplers are secure, just go ahead and hook up the rest of your stuff, like your safety change and your electoral connector. So, now with everything hooked up, that's gonna do it today for our look and installation of the Blue Ox adjustable ball mount with clamshell..