Trailer Hitch Question

[jamiecherry]

Finally sold our business, bought a 2018 F250 and will begin the search for a used Classic 33 towards the end of the year. Should we buy a trailer hitch now or wait until we actually purchase the trailer? What are your latest recommendations for hitches as well? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by jamiecherry

Finally sold our business, bought a 2018 F250 and will begin the search for a used Classic 33 towards the end of the year. Should we buy a trailer hitch now or wait until we actually purchase the trailer? What are your latest recommendations for hitches as well? Thanks in advance for your help.

A used trailer may well come with a hitch. I'd wait to see what I was getting and then decide. Even if it has a hitch you may want a different one, but maybe not.

[jamiecherry]

Originally Posted by jamiecherry

Finally sold our business, bought a 2018 F250 and will begin the search for a used Classic 33 towards the end of the year. Should we buy a trailer hitch now or wait until we actually purchase the trailer? What are your latest recommendations for hitches as well? Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks very much!

[JJTX]

Originally Posted by jamiecherry

Finally sold our business, bought a 2018 F250 and will begin the search for a used Classic 33 towards the end of the year. Should we buy a trailer hitch now or wait until we actually purchase the trailer? What are your latest recommendations for hitches as well? Thanks in advance for your help.

Don't use anything pre-owned unless it looks fairly new. Most people neglect hitches and their components.

If you know what the camper you want already, buy the hitch now yes absolutely. If you already know you are going to have a certain weight, then buy a hitch for it. Deciding on what, is probably going to be the biggest question.

Fastway E2 is what I use, and the equalizer brand are the ones I've used and had good results with.

[jamiecherry]

Thanks very much, it's really helpful to get multiple perspectives.

[pjshier]

I'll go out on a limb and assume you are somewhat new to towing. If not, apologies in advance. Welcome to the forum, by the way.

I started with an F150 and an Anderson hitch desiring simplicity and escaping the need for anti-sway friction bars. When the 27'/F150 lash-up proved too sporty for my liking, I paid for a ProPride hitch and loved the solid towing experience. Ultimately we upgraded to an F250 and simply kept the ProPride but downgraded the weight distribution bars from 1400# as recommended for the F150 to 600# bars.

Had we purchased the F250 first, I might not have a ProPride, but am very happy with it and we are used to it. Very solid lash-up, no friction anti-sway bars, and the 600# bars are compliant. I really don't need to transfer a bunch of weight off the tongue to the drive axle with this diesel engine up there.

I second the idea that you may well find a gently used 33" with hitch included. Bonus may be help from the seller in setting up a hitch with which they are familiar instead of winging it on your own.

[1StreamDream]

Originally Posted by jamiecherry

Finally sold our business, bought a 2018 F250 and will begin the search for a used Classic 33 towards the end of the year. Should we buy a trailer hitch now or wait until we actually purchase the trailer? What are your latest recommendations for hitches as well? Thanks in advance for your help.

This is a tough one to advise, but here are a couple things to consider. Many of the used trailers are listed as including whatever hitch the prior owner had used, but there are some that come without. I think I would wait and see but there is some risk if you do that. When I got my (used 25') trailer, it did *not* come with a hitch, and the way the whole deal came together (fairly quickly) I had to scramble to find one somewhere. They were hard to come by on short notice, and supply chain issues are still with us, so if you have a favorite hitch that you know you want to use, you might just go ahead and obtain one. It might take you some time (weeks or more) to locate one. My current hitch is a ProPride, I like it very much, but its also a very expensive path, and using that as an example, there was about an 8 week lead time to order one. Since you mention you already secured an F-250, that is a stout tow vehicle, and in a worst case scenario you might be able to just tow on the ball to get it home, then get your hitch, but that's up to you.

[jamiecherry]

Originally Posted by pjshier

I'll go out on a limb and assume you are somewhat new to towing. If not, apologies in advance. Welcome to the forum, by the way.

I started with an F150 and an Anderson hitch desiring simplicity and escaping the need for anti-sway friction bars. When the 27'/F150 lash-up proved too sporty for my liking, I paid for a ProPride hitch and loved the solid towing experience. Ultimately we upgraded to an F250 and simply kept the ProPride but downgraded the weight distribution bars from 1400# as recommended for the F150 to 600# bars.

Had we purchased the F250 first, I might not have a ProPride, but am very happy with it and we are used to it. Very solid lash-up, no friction anti-sway bars, and the 600# bars are compliant. I really don't need to transfer a bunch of weight off the tongue to the drive axle with this diesel engine up there.

I second the idea that you may well find a gently used 33" with hitch included. Bonus may be help from the seller in setting up a hitch with which they are familiar instead of winging it on your own.

You guessed right, we are new to towing and years of researching (especially here in the forums) we've seen a lot of praise for the Pro-Pride hitch. Interesting how you got there as well. Thanks very much.

[jamiecherry]

Originally Posted by 1StreamDream

This is a tough one to advise, but here are a couple things to consider. Many of the used trailers are listed as including whatever hitch the prior owner had used, but there are some that come without. I think I would wait and see but there is some risk if you do that. When I got my (used 25') trailer, it did *not* come with a hitch, and the way the whole deal came together (fairly quickly) I had to scramble to find one somewhere. They were hard to come by on short notice, and supply chain issues are still with us, so if you have a favorite hitch that you know you want to use, you might just go ahead and obtain one. It might take you some time (weeks or more) to locate one. My current hitch is a ProPride, I like it very much, but its also a very expensive path, and using that as an example, there was about an 8 week lead time to order one. Since you mention you already secured an F-250, that is a stout tow vehicle, and in a worst case scenario you might be able to just tow on the ball to get it home, then get your hitch, but that's up to you.

We've already run into the supply issue with the truck cap, so I get the likely delay in waiting to buy a hitch. I'll go back and take a look at what the current used 33s have for hitches. Thanks for the tip!

[InvertdEagle]

We have a ProPride 3P with 1400 lb. bars for our 33 Classic. Our tow vehicle is a GMC 2500 HD diesel. It is a well matched combination. We are very happy with the solution. You'll find a rabid bunch of ProPride enthusiasts on the forums - and for some pretty good reasons. It is an expensive option...probably the most expensive one out there. However, there are used ones that pop up from time to time - you'll still pay a premium over other hitches, but could swing a bit of a discount over new. The company stands behind their product so support has always been outstanding. Even if you find an older one in need of some parts (bearings most likely), they are easily available.

Also, Airstream inked a deal to market BlueOx hitches. This represents more of a marketing gimmick more than an endorsement of the BlueOx hitches. It's a friction-based sway control solution. Arguably less good than the ProPride, but a lot less expensive if money is the primary determining factor.

One last thing...with hitches like the ProPride/Hensley, they add additional length to the tongue which does something very, very important...It allows you to put the tailgate down on your truck while still hitched to the trailer. I can't tell you how awesome that is. Many hitches don't let you do that. Something to think about...

[jamiecherry]

Originally Posted by InvertdEagle

We have a ProPride 3P with 1400 lb. bars for our 33 Classic. Our tow vehicle is a GMC 2500 HD diesel. It is a well matched combination. We are very happy with the solution. You'll find a rabid bunch of ProPride enthusiasts on the forums - and for some pretty good reasons. It is an expensive option...probably the most expensive one out there. However, there are used ones that pop up from time to time - you'll still pay a premium over other hitches, but could swing a bit of a discount over new. The company stands behind their product so support has always been outstanding. Even if you find an older one in need of some parts (bearings most likely), they are easily available.

Also, Airstream inked a deal to market BlueOx hitches. This represents more of a marketing gimmick more than an endorsement of the BlueOx hitches. It's a friction-based sway control solution. Arguably less good than the ProPride, but a lot less expensive if money is the primary determining factor.

One last thing...with hitches like the ProPride/Hensley, they add additional length to the tongue which does something very, very important...It allows you to put the tailgate down on your truck while still hitched to the trailer. I can't tell you how awesome that is. Many hitches don't let you do that. Something to think about...

I don't think I'd heard that before (about putting down the tailgate), that could be important. Thanks a lot for the feedback, it's much appreciated.