Adding a hitch to the front of your truck - good idea or bad?

[Toasterlife]

Has anyone added a ball hitch to the front of their TV to make parking their Airstream any easier. We love the National Parks but often spaces are narrow and awkward with overhanging trees. Just looking to make the final 10 to 20 yards of our trip a little easier.

[njaspers]

I have thought of the same thing but don't think I could see around the trailer to know where I'm heading with it.

[CRH]

The only problem I see is the commotion it will cause when you unhitch your trailer, leave it in the middle of the road, and rehitch.

My next truck will have a front hitch, most likely for a bike carrier.

[Boog]

I added a front hitch for bike and cargo carriers. It'll help with your weight distribution also.
I haven't tried it as a trailer hitch point though.

[xrvr]

Use the search function at the top of the page. Much info from the forums.

[xrvr]

Much info from the forums. Use search function at top of page. Search front hitch.

[Iansk]

Yes, I’ve added front hitches to all my trucks. Invaluable tool.
Very handy for placing a trailer in a tight space. I recently got a SwiftHitch wireless camera/monitor combo that makes moving trailers solo much better as I can mount the camera anywhere I anticipate a blind spot via magnetic base or suction cups.

A front hitch is an essential part of my truck and very useful for a variety problems you didn’t know you had...

Ian

[m.hony]

I have a front receiver on my truck for carrying bicycles.

[openroad118]

I have one for carrying my motorcycle

[glenrms]

I have one for carrying bicycles and I've often thought about trying to use it for the reason you are asking about but the weight limit is 500 lbs but I have an 800+ lb tongue weight. Maybe some day I'll try it for a short move on level ground.

[Vich]

I wanted a front hitch on one of my older tow vehicles but it had a wench, so I put a receiver off center to the passenger side. worked perfect for putting it the AS into a known space. Not so great for unknown space.

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by glenrms

I have one for carrying bicycles and I've often thought about trying to use it for the reason you are asking about but the weight limit is 500 lbs but I have an 800+ lb tongue weight. Maybe some day I'll try it for a short move on level ground.

I've wondered about the weight limit too, but there's a big difference between having 500 lbs on a cargo carrier travelling at highway speeds and moving an 800 lb tongue weight at a walking pace. I don't think it should be a problem.

[1973Argosy]

I have one for a cargo carrier, winch mount, and bike carrier. Have different accessories for different trips. I have moved my Argosy a time or two with the front hitch but normally use it putting the boat or utility trailer into really tight places. With a camping trailer you will still need a spotter or be prepared to get out and look alot. With a camper on the front hitch your field of vision will be small, it is still easier seeing the spotter than trying to see the spotter out of your rear view mirrors.

As for the weight capacity of the hitch, it is built just as solid as my rear hitch. I have moved a 9k pound trailer with my front hitch over some really nasty terrain. Go slow and remember that you have no trailer brakes.

[rmkrum]

I'm looking into a front hitch, and as a part of that I plan to extend the wiring from the 7-way connector from the rear to another one in the front hitch area to have brakes and lights on the trailer.

I don't think this would be very hard to accomplish, and would add greatly to safety even moving at low speed...thoughts?

Extending that thought, since I have hard-wired backup and side cameras on the AS, I could duplicate that connector on the front hitch as well. That would reduce the blind spot problem with the front hitch and the AS filling the view wall-to-wall...that one could be a bit trickier, since the side cameras would need to be swapped in the cable to make sense in the monitor. Might take a lot of wire tracing in the camera system cable and junction box to do it...

[WhereStream]

I had a hitch place install one on my Suburban. I intend to use it to park the Airstream in a tight spot next to our house.

Haven't tried it yet.

If you are thinking of getting one, you might want to order it and install it yourself.

I watched (as best I could) the guys put the hitch on, and it required no drilling, just a bunch of bolts. Probably a two-person job, one to hold stuff up, one to work the wrenches.

[GM Airstream]

Wow... intersting that everyone has a different use for their front hitch mount...

I have one that is built into the buxstop bumper which also houses the 16000 lb winch... used it a couple of times.. and indeed the fact that its closer to the front wheels of the TV you can get the trailer in tighter spots... if you use a spotter also... as the back will swing or pivot right around the wheel trucks...

Their are a couple of down sides to putting the hitch on the front though... and it has nothing to do with the hitch...

First off... you need to unhook the trailer...from the TV... but, you also have to remember that once you come off the ball... the trailer is on its own... any slope to the road... and unstable blocking of the tires.. and your a test pilot.. so to speak...
Also the brakes are not working backwards on the trailer either.. so again your working strictly with the TV ability to stop the rig...

Does it happen... yep as the guy says.. seen it... when a person came into the park... and decided to shift from the rear hitch to the front due to tight turning on the access road... they blocked the wheels with chock blocks... and then went forward and lifted the hitch off the ball.. with in seconds.. the trailer started to move backwards down the road... running over the chock blocks... it went about 50 yards and smacked into a parked TV and their 5th wheel trailer... did some serious damage to both and the AS...
Which left the owner standing at the back of his TV saying... what the hell... as he saw his trailer departing without him... and dragging the hitch jack post on the asphalt... bending it over and grinding it down...

Needless to say.. the trailer has some weight.. and if you are not on a level spot... its going to try and do what gravity is commanding... once you lift off the ball... its a physics thing... and if the wheels are not locked on the trailer by some mechanical means... your in for mr magooes wild ride...

Thinking about this.. we use the wheel locks that go between the wheel trucks... and expand... Now this might be better. .but in cases we have also seen our slip a little but then again I use chocks as well.. and they stopped the movement... lucky...

Another thing that we have seen happen when they put the trailer on the front of the TV... is that they forget the back end of the TV is not tracking with them... and thus it too needs watching so as not to get into things off to the side or back of it...

Again been their seen that... where the guy was backing into the spot with the trailer on the front of the PU... and when he pulled backwards to get a better angle.. he smacked into another tree on the other side... nice dent...

so their are a lot of issues when you put the trailer on the front hitch... and one has to not only spot the back/sides of the trailer... but now also the back/sides of the TV also... which then leads to the old chineese fire drill to get the trailer into the tight spot...

otherwise its a easy peezie thing... just scares the begeezes out of me when I see 'em unhook in the road... and the RV is not restricted... yikes.. katie bar the door...

[CRH]

A quick thinker would've yanked then breakaway cord.

[batman]

We use ours all the time. They are multi-functional, I have installed one on all my Tow Vehicles. I highly recommend one.

[David Logue]

I added a hitch to the front of my TV some years ago due to a bad neck. It has worked out tremendously. Takes a little practice at doing it quickly.
For what ever reason you want it, it helps a lot.

[supercubep]

It was a bolt on easy install my new Ram. I have them on two vehicles now. Especially nice in maneuvering in tight places!