Best Way to Approximate Ball Mount Drop Needed for a Trailer Before Hitch is Installed

Question:

Re: ball mount information the following was mentioned in the response to my original question. To compute about how much rise/ you would need from a ball mount you will basically need to measure from the bottom of your rear bumper down to the ground and subtract about an inch from this measurement. I need to know what this inch being subtracted relates to so I know if I can subtract an additional inch or so for say 200-300 lbs. potential tongue weight on back of truck when coupler is connected to hitch ball. It would seem that when the tongue weight is on the hitch ball the bumper and the trailer coupler would lower somewhat. I need to know if I can take this into account when computing the correct of ball mount. If this is relevant than I believe I may be able to be good with a 4inch ball mount. My current measurement to bottom of bumper is about 19.25. My height to coupler is about 13.25.inch so if I subtract 1inch per the above instructions for ? and 1inch for with tongue weight on ball mount I would need a 4inch ball mount.

asked by: Dave

Expert Reply:

When I said subtract an inch from the bottom of the bumper that was meant as a way to approximate where the top of the hitch opening will be once the hitch was installed. For nearly every vehicle the hitch ends up sitting right at the bottom of the bumper. Since it's hard to pick out a ball mount rise/drop without having the hitch installed first this was the best way to get a pretty good approximation.

Depending on the suspension of the system you may get a 1/2 inch of sag on the suspension or you may get more than that. Going with a 4 to 5 inch drop ball mount would be your option at this point with all things considered.

I would go with the part # 2753 and then # 63845 for a 2 inch ball or for a 2-5/16 inch ball part # C40007.

I attached a help article on how to determine the correct rise/drop when you have the hitch installed.

expert reply by: Jameson C