Can Notch on Reese RP26003 Be Enlarged to Fit Wider Ball Mount

Question:

I have a Subaru Ascent with their very robust ball mount. I also have a 1inch shaft swappable ball for three ball sizes. The car has electronic anti-sway control. I pull a Casita Spirit Deluxe camper approx 2500 pounds dry and normally have no issue with sway. However, if I turn on the lane keeping safety feature the trailer tends to sway at highway speeds, so I cant use this safety feature. I would like to add one of the friction type sway control systems to my Ascent but the width of the ball mount is 3. So the RP26003 wont fit over it. I wonder if I can widen the notch on each side about 5/16inch so it could fit. I know I could use a different ball mount but the Subaru part tucks the ball closer to the car. Just that shorter than normal physical distance also helps avoid sway. My thought is maybe having just a little more sway control would allow the lane keeping software to work properly along with the sway control software. Thanks

asked by: Jim B

Expert Reply:

I couldn't recommend removing any material from the Reese # RP26003, as removing 5/8 of an inch of steel from it could weaken the sway control bracket to an unknown degree, causing it to fail.

This being said, I've got a couple of solutions for you. If a 3/4 inch rise/2 inch drop ball mount would work for you, you could use the Curt # D320 would be an easy solution. The ball mount measures 7-1/2 inches long, measured from the center of the hitch pin hole to the center of the hole where a 1 inch diameter shank ball would install.

If the # D320 ball wouldn't put you at the proper height, you could retain your existing ball mount that's already working well for you and have a sway control tab, part # 3442 welded to the side of the ball platform to provide a mount for the 1-1/4 inch diameter ball used by a friction sway unit like the Curt # 17200.