How to Raise Receiver 4 inches?

[gokayaking]

Need some advice.

We just had an awful incident. Driving to our first trip this year, we were on RT5 heading to Chickahominy River Park near Williamsburg VA and multiple deer ran from the trees. It was 2:30 and sunny day. The road is very skinny with no shoulders so the forest comes almost to the road. One of the deer hit the front passenger side of the F150 truck. Lights smashed, wheel well smashed, passenger front door smashed and will not open.

Parts were hitting tire but with help of local Camp Host, John, who just happened to be riding by on the Virginia Capital Trail, we pulled the fender from the wheel and able to limp to the park only 2 miles away, and unhitched the trailer.

Called USAA and F150 truck is at Caliber Collision. But now we need to get the trailer home.

Has anyone used an adapter to “raise” the receiver 3 to 4 inches??

Before getting the truck, we would tow 2023 Caravel 22FB with Acura MDX, keep it on level roads and keep tanks empty. But when we got the Ford F150 it was 4 inches higher so RV techs raised the Equalizer hitch about 4 inches.

If I tow trailer home with the Acura MDX, i need to adjust for this, either put Equalizer hitch back down where it was, or put something in the Acura receiver to raise it.

I see parts like this …

https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapt.../RM-058-4.html

Has anybody used these and can provide recommendations?

And any other suggestions are welcome. No one was hurt and my wife did a great job of just slowing down and not swerving or jack knifing but we are not sure what to do.

Appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

[CRH]

Drop shanks can be flipped over to raise the ball height.

[CharlesinGA]

Its only two bolts, move the hitch head down. Flip it over if necessary. Remount head, tighten bolts (@260 lb/ft)

Charles

[Wazbro]

Well the one you linked has a 400lb tongue weight limit, not sure if that is enough for your trailer. This one has a 1000lb tongue weight limit which would be better, problem is they both extend the ball much farther back which will hurt handling quite a bit.
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapt...x/BLU34TR.html
They may not be rated for use with a weight distributing hitch.

Adjusting the hitch would be safer and cheaper.
Or you may be able to rent a truck to tow it home.

With a single axle trailer you may be able to tow it home with the tongue low without any problems. The single axle trailers don't need to be level like dual axle trailers as long as nothing drags, the biggest concern would probably be changing the amount of weight distribution. Maybe not ideal and wouldn't want to do it for thousands of miles.

[gokayaking]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

Well the one you linked has a 400lb tongue weight limit, not sure if that is enough for your trailer. This one has a 1000lb tongue weight limit which would be better, problem is they both extend the ball much farther back which will hurt handling quite a bit.
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapt...x/BLU34TR.html
They may not be rated for use with a weight distributing hitch.

Adjusting the hitch would be safer and cheaper.
Or you may be able to rent a truck to tow it home.

With a single axle trailer you may be able to tow it home with the tongue low without any problems. The single axle trailers don't need to be level like dual axle trailers as long as nothing drags, the biggest concern would probably be changing the amount of weight distribution. Maybe not ideal and wouldn't want to do it for thousands of miles.

Towing trailer home would be only time using old tow vehicle, and we would go back to using truck after it is fixed. It is 150 miles but 120 is on interstate. Thanks for your advice.

[gokayaking]

Wife’s F150

[10Smiles]

How about a picture of your hitch that needs adjusting?

[gokayaking]

Equalizer hitch

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by gokayaking

Equalizer hitch

I must be failing to understand the problem. The hole spacing on a shank is 1 1/4". So if you unbolt the head and move it up 4 holes, you gain 5". (allowing for the new tow vehicle to have more sag) 3 holes = 3 3/4".

What about brakes, 7 pin, etc?

Depending on distance I'd rent a truck to pull it home. Probably cheaper than tow service, and you'll know how it was treated.

[Lafitte]

Borrow a truck

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by gokayaking

Equalizer hitch

Hi

If you need to, unbolt the hitch from the shank, rotate the shank 180 degrees (so the vertical part faces up rather than down). Then bolt the hitch back on the shank.

You will need a brake controller on the "other tow vehicle". Renting a truck that is set up for towing (yes, those do exist) probably is the easier approach.

Bob

[field & stream]

Terribly sorry for your misadventure. I suggest, under the circumstances, that you consider using secondary roads instead of a high speed, high traffic interstate. Won’t add much time for such a short drive.

[pmclemore]

VA Route 5 is about as secondary as you can get. Beautiful road for cruising.

Push come to shove, I can help tow you home.

Pat

[StuartsDad]

Since you used to tow with the MDX, I'll assume it still has the 7-pin and brake controller. Unbolt hitch head, flip shank over, reattach head at required height. Should be no problems.
Sorry for the damage to the truck and the trip. I know that area very well. First 45 years of my life were in Williamsburg. Skied the Chickahomany regularly.

[PC Conner]

Or, rent a truck

[bweybright]

Maybe I am stupid...but aren't there torque specs when connecting a hitch to a shank...something like 300 ft. pounds? Seems that is what I had to do when I changed mine out for a new hitch? At my age I can't come close to that with a wrench alone.
Basically saying just taking bolts off and connecting with hand tools may not be the best/safest solution?
Overly cautious me....as my son tells me regularly.
Bob

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by bweybright

Maybe I am stupid...but aren't there torque specs when connecting a hitch to a shank...something like 300 ft. pounds? Seems that is what I had to do when I changed mine out for a new hitch? At my age I can't come close to that with a wrench alone.
Basically saying just taking bolts off and connecting with hand tools may not be the best/safest solution?
Overly cautious me....as my son tells me regularly.
Bob

Hi

There really is no other answer here. If the bolts are an issue, head over to a local repair shop. They can do the swap around pretty quick and it should be cheap.

Bob

[Bill M.]

I use an air wrench when I change the hitch adjustment. It certainly will get it tight enough for a short trip. The really tight nut is the ball and it does not seem like you need to remove the ball. I already had a compressor so buying a a cheap air wrench at Ace Hardware and a couple of sockets for the hitch head was not a big expense. You could take the hitch head to a shop and have it re set. Of course you will have to re set it when the truck is ready. Is paying the campground fee for a month and just leaving the trailer there a good option for you?

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by bweybright

Maybe I am stupid...but aren't there torque specs when connecting a hitch to a shank...something like 300 ft. pounds? Seems that is what I had to do when I changed mine out for a new hitch?

I use the scientific method. 300 ft/pounds means a force of 300 pounds is applied to a lever at a distance of 1 ft. Can you generate 300 ft. lbs with a breaker bar?
Remember, it's a ratio, so it's also 100 lbs at 3 ft. More doable.
Rotate the shank in the receiver so the breaker bar is rotating DOWN. (in case it slips) Then doesn't everyone carry a 3' section of pipe? I do. Slip it over the breaker bar and step on the end with a force of 100 lbs. Get the wife to stand on it.
Is it a perfect system? It's as accurate as an impact wrench. Probably better.

[gokayaking]

Thank you all for some much good advice. We got help from caliber collision and they were able to pull quarter panel and parts away from wheel so we can get trailer home with truck and get it repaired at home at a different caliber collision

Learned a lot. I do have torque wrench that goes up to 250 lbs so if I need to tow with mdx again I will try to undo bolts and flip shank. Was nervous doing that first time while away from help

But thank you again to everyone that commented. Going back home Thursday. And chickahominy river park is great