Long Ball Mount and Hitch Extension for 2000 Ford Excursion with Dual Rear-Mount Spare Tires

Question:

I am looking at using an extended ball mount with added sway control to clear a spare tire carrier bumper. I will be hauling a 22’ tandem axle RV with 455lbs of empty tongue weight 600+/- loaded and a dry weight of 4,300lbs GVWR 7,400. My tow vehicle is a V10 Ford Excursion with a rear GAWR of 7,000lbs. How will an extension affect my rear axle weight? Will it effectively double my tongue weight onto the rear axle? I have Firestone airbags back there as well, but don’t want to exceed capacities.

asked by: Richard

Expert Reply:

The extra-long 2-inch ball mount we offer, part # EA40 from Brophy, is 15-3/4-inches long and may give you the clearance you need at your dual rear-mounted spare tires to let you use a friction sway control unit like # 83660 on a bracket # RP26003. If you measure from the center of your hitch pin hole rearward 15-3/4-inches that point will be where the center of the hitch ball hole will be.

Do note however that this ball mount is rated for 6000-lbs gross trailer weight and 600-lbs tongue weight, not the full GVWR of your trailer. Also please note it offers either 3/4-inches of rise or 2-inches of drop. Since the trailer's dry weight is 455-lbs it is pretty likely that you would end up exceeding the TW capacity of the ball mount by the time you load the trailer.

The extra-long ball mount will put some additional stress on the hitch receiver tube but since the ball mount is rated for less than your rear axle GAWR that will not really matter for the axle. Air springs do not affect any vehicle's weight carrying capacity anyway, which remains as determined by the auto maker.

The safest solution for your setup is a TorkLift Class V SuperHitch Original # TLF1006 which is strong enough to allow using their SuperTruss Hitch Extension # TLE1528. This extension is supported by chains and it mounts to the high-capacity Super Hitch for a very heavy-duty setup that can handle up to 750-lbs TW. You can even use a true weight distribution hitch system in this extension.