front hitch for parking in tight places

[David Logue]

just installed front hitch to my Titan, i needed to be able to park in tight places. this is what i came up with

[barts]

I use mine frequently. The only thing to make sure is that it's rated for the tongue weight of your trailer... some of our trailers have some pretty hefty tongue loads, so this could cause problems.

- Bart

[deauxrite]

I use mine too. Tongue weight? I'm not towing it..I'm parking it!

[David Logue]

Originally Posted by David Logue

just installed front hitch to my Titan, i needed to be able to park in tight places. this is what i came up with

Thanks Barts, it's rated at 500 lbs, tongue.
Moving it from my alley, around a blind curve that I can now negociate with no problems and putting it in my back yard.
It was sooo nice getting it in there in 5 minutes, instead of 35.

[rogerdodger]

Where can I get one?

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by deauxrite

I use mine too. Tongue weight? I'm not towing it..I'm parking it!

I agree with you to a point anyway. The hitch rating is for a dynamic load so it shouldn't be a problem for the hitch at 5 mph.

The suspension could be a problem though I have heard of people just towing the trailer around the yard so "why bother with the WD?" then damaging the suspension. I believe just shocks mostly and air pump for air-ride system on 1 vehicle (don't know if the vehicles were stock height though).

[Airslide]

I have a couple tight angles in the yard too. I use my old Willys jeep for this task. I still need a spotter as I cant see around the airstream when backing with a front mounted hitch. Becareful.

Vinnie

[mefly2]

Even for parking ... check the hitch rating as well as your vehicle suspension limits. We had to beef ours up for the front receiver hitch - even for parking! My wife stops the traffic in our street when I am parking ... sometimes not even in her bikini.

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by rogerdodger

Where can I get one?

Etrailer and HitchShops both have pupose built front hitches. I am sure there are many other retail outlets for them. GOOGLE is a good place to start your search.
I just ordered one from HitchShops because they had the best price and free shipping.

[Protagonist]

Since it's for parking only, an offset front hitch— to the right of center— would give the driver better visibility. Might require some custom fabrication, though.

I've also seen this setup for launching boats, so that the rear tires of the vehicle are farther up the ramp where the pavement is drier and there's better traction. Many vehicles have better gear ratios in reverse than in 1st, as well, making it easier to pull the boat up the ramp with the front hitch.

[robwok]

I'm looking forward to putting a front hitch on my next TV. My back yard is where I park the AS. I have to go down a narrow driveway with 2 6" privacy fences on either side, and a hard left turn into the back yard. I built one of the fences, and designed a "V" into the yard to give more turning radius, as well as 2 8' gates, and still I can just barely squeeze my 26' overlander in. I built a trailer mover off plans on the internet, but after it was all built, it was still too unwieldy to move the AS. Very bummed about that. Would have been better off to have put on a front hitch, but I didn't know about them at the time. ugh. Anyone want to buy an electric off road trailer dolly?

[msmcv51]

I put a front hitch on our F150 back in 2004. Only use it to take our bikes with us. I learned to back when I got my CDL. Haven't had any problem since.

[barts]

Note that a front hitch WILL allow much tighter turns and transitions than a rear hitch. This can be critical for long wheelbase vehicles and tight turns, particularly if close together.

- Bart

[robert claus]

I've thought about it, but can't see the advantage of looking at the front of the Airstream from just a few feet away - you couldn't see around it to the back corners. However, the idea of an offset front hitch makes more sense.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by robert claus

I've thought about it, but can't see the advantage of looking at the front of the Airstream from just a few feet away - you couldn't see around it to the back corners. However, the idea of an offset front hitch makes more sense.

The advantage isn't visibility. The advantage is that the front wheels of the tow vehicle are closer to the hitch ball. Having the front wheels only two or three feet away from the hitch ball makes a big difference compared to having them ten or twelve feet from the hitch ball in terms of how tight you can turn. Simple geometry.

An offset front hitch adds improved visibility as well, though, but doesn't completely remove the need for a spotter.

[Gringo]

Its a tricky thing to learn, but really worth it. You can put any size trailer anywhere you want it.

We had a custom box steel front bumper made for our Land Rover Defender 90 and I used it to push a 25 ft. Contender (power boat) up a hill into a driveway. Amazing what you can do when you shorten up all the geometry.

[Gene]

I've noticed that all the front hitches on the internet for a 2nd generation Tundra have a 500 lb. weight limit. I don't know if that is a limit for the hitch or the Tundra front suspension. The rated tongue wt. on our trailer is 720 lbs. and is probably more in the real world.

For moving a trailer for a few minutes, I'm wondering if anyone has had trouble with using a hitch like this to move a trailer with 50% more tongue wt.?

Gene

[hissilver]

This is a wonderful idea...I am going to look further in having a receiver welded on...thanks

[switz]

Check out Curt hitches. I put one on the front of my TV, just in case. It weighed about 38 pounds.

I replaced the factory receiver with a Curt 15049 hitch rated at 2,550 pounds tongue weight. My current tongue weight is just over 1,200 pounds, which would have overloaded the factory receiver, which also has a history of weld issues at maximum load.

Both of these units were bolt on with no welding required.

[mefly2]

We put on a Curt front receiver itch that was reinforced and "never looked back" ... so much easier! We also upgraded the suspension to handle the 833 #TW.