Determining if 7" Extender Can Be Used with Long Shank Ball Mount for 10,000 Pound Trailer

Question:

Do you think it’s ok to use this 7” adapter with my travel trailer I use a hitch that has a 16” shank on it so I can travel with my cart in truck with tail gate down another 7 “ would be great just don’t know if it will be to extended any options Trailer is 10000 pounds loaded and 35 feet long

asked by: Tom

Helpful Expert Reply:

There are a couple of important things to keep in mind when determining if you will be able to safely tow your trailer using the Brophy Hitch Reducer and Extender # HR26

The first is that when using the adapter the capacities on your trailer hitch will be reduced by one third. This is actually fairly generous as most other similar options reduce these capacities by a full 50 percent. This just means if your trailer hitch has a 12,000 pound towing weight capacity and a 1,200 pound tongue weight capacity these limits will be reduced to 8,000 pounds and 800 pounds respectively. You need to make sure that the reduced limits on your particular hitch do not fall below the loaded weight of your trailer.

Also please note that the Brophy adapter has a 10,000 pounds towing weight capacity only when using a weight distribution system. If you do not have a weight distribution system the adapter's towing weight capacity is just 5,000 pounds so it would not be sufficient for your trailer. This is the highest rated extender of this type we have available.

If both of the above parameters check out okay for your setup then this is a great option to provide the extra extension you're needing.

If you find that this will not work the only other option we have available is a TorkLift SuperTruss Extension like the 48 inch # TLE1548. This requires a specific dual-receiver trailer hitch from TorkLift which you would need to use to replace your existing hitch. If this is something you're interested in please let me know the year, make, and model of your truck and I will be happy to see if there is a TorkLift SuperHitch available.

expert reply by: Chris R