Hitch Question

[rnilsson]

We've had our LR3 for a few months and have finally found a reason to use the hitch. We are pulling a small popup camper, but when I put on the hitch it was immediately apparent that the ball was way to low. The quick solution was to remove the ball and flip the receiver over, bringing it up to a more normal height.

Having never dealt with hitches on any vehicle, I'm pretty green here. Is that what others have done? Am I missing something?

It seems strange that the hitch would have been so low to the ground in its default configuration.

Rob.

 

[techboydino]

your method is very common. i sold hundreds of hitches over the years and they are all different. there is adjustable height ball mounts available and many different styles in the solid mount. as long as you find one that keeps you close to level then you should be fine. you want the camper to be as level as possible. you can measure the camper neck height at level and match it up that way. the standard drop is 2" and does not effect safety at all when you flip it over, its very common to require a rise. happy camping.

 

[broiler]

I just went through this myself.

The standard hitch ball mount uses a 2" drop. However you can flip it over and get a 3/4" rise instead (as you did). In the LR3 manual they recommend to use a hitch ball mount with a rise of between 3/4" to 2 3/4", with a 1 1/2" rise as the standard suggested hitch rise. However, I was unable to find any hitch anywhere (internet included) that gave a rise of 1 1/2". I finally settled on using a hitch that has a 2" rise, but this made me nervous as the stated weight rating was only 5,000 max (and 500 lb tongue weight). You should always use a hitch that has a greater capacity than your vehicles stated max towing capacity (7,700 lbs for the LR3).

I went ahead and used this 5,000 lb hitch to tow a 6,000 lb boat eek as I was in a pinch and the sales guy said that the weight ratings are super conservative and have to take into account rough surfaces and potholes, etc. I finally found a hitch online that gave a 2 3/4" rise and is rated for 10,000 lbs and fits a 2" receiver. The 2 3/4" rise will actually work fine as my boat trailer was designed for using a high hitch, as this is usually the problem with trucks. In fact the 2" rise hitch was a little too low, so I'm hoping this new hitch will be just right.

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.prodInfo&productID=5639&categoryID=212

This may be too much of rise for most purposes though.

 

[AlpharettaRK]

Broiler -
Did you get the hitch you put up the link for and did it work? In my experience in trying to find a hitch with 3 or 4 inches of lift is that the shank is not long enough and will not clear the goofy Land Rover receiver hitch contraption. I'm currently using an old weight distributing hitch (without the distribution bars) I have but it's about 40 pounds of unnecessary shin-busting iron that looks just wrong. I was just at Northern Tools today and could not find a hitch bar to fit the bill, so I'm interested if this one does it. By my measurement it needs to be more than 4 inches from the pin hole to where the hitch turns up to clear.
TIA
Cheers
Randy

 

[broiler]

I haven't gotten it yet. I got a box from UPS, but there was nothing inside (and also a nice big hole in the box). So they are shipping me a new one that I should be getting today. I'm currently using a different ball mount until the new one arrives. Here's a picture from another thread:

The pictured ball mount has a 2" rise I believe, but you can see that it's still just a little too low, as the trailer slopes down slightly (you can see that the tongue on the trailer is unusually high compared to the rest of the trailer). I'm hoping that the 2 3/4" rise will be just right.

I know what you mean about the lack of clearance on the LR hitch reciever. You can see in the picture above, that I just barely had enough room. When the trailer is hooked up I only have about 1" from the trailer to the bumper, which is too tight (I'd be worried about taking tight corners). The hitch I ordered has a longer shaft, so I'm hoping this will work better. I'll post my findings.

 

[techboydino]

broiler, are you not going to use a weight distribution hitch with that monster?

 

[broiler]

broiler, are you not going to use a weight distribution hitch with that monster?

I thought LR said not to use those hitches?

 

[techboydino]

I thought LR said not to use those hitches?

didnt know that. maybe the air suspension has something to do with it. i cant imagine towing something that big without a weight distribution setup. i wonder how that would cause problems? basically all they do is distribute the weight over the entire axle instead of just the neck.

 

[broiler]

Right from the LR3 manual (page 214 in mine), it says:

"An equalising or other form of weight distribution hitch should NOT be used with your vehicle."

There is no explanation as to why this is the case, but it seems pretty clear.

I did recieve that hitch ball mount that I linked to above, and it fits and works great. I would recommend it for anyone that needs a 2 3/4" rise. It's a solid piece of metal (not hollow) and has no welds. The sticker says max. tow capacity 20,000 lbs, max. tongue weight 2,000 lbs !!! This should be more that sufficient!

 

[AlpharettaRK]

When I was pulling my race car on my old steel trailer it was not balanced very well. even with the car as far back as I could get it I still had almost 1,000 pounds of tongue weight. By the way, if you trailer much a $90 tongue weight scale is a great investment. Anyway I used a weight distributing hitch with my LR3 to no ill effects whatsoever. As indicated in another thread I upgraded to a Trailex aluminum trailer and now I have mere 200lbs on the hitch and don't use the weight distributing part of the hitch.
Sounds great about the hitch bar you found. I'm gong to get one!

Thanks!