Still Having Trouble With Hitch

[seamusthegray]

I am still at it. I have a 2004 Dodge Quad Cab 2500 which came with a factory installed Class IV receiver. I recently bought a 2004 Airstream Classic 31. It came with a Reese High Performance Trunnion Weight Distributing kit.

After trying two different Reese hitch bars I am unable to get the ball height down to the recommended Airstream ball height of 18 3/4". I can get it to 19 1/4" or 18 1/4". It is 1/2" off either way. Airstream factory says that is not acceptable.

It looks like I am in a quandry. I talked with a Reese tech person a while ago. The Reese reciever recommended for my vehicle is PN 37089. However, it will not fit a vehicle with factory installed receiver.

Any thoughts or counsel would be tremendously appreciated. Has anyone else had a similair problem? Will being off 1/2" have a negative effect on my towing the Classic? I will be on the road a lot with the set up and want to get it right.

[59toaster]

Originally Posted by seamusthegray

I am still at it. I have a 2004 Dodge Quad Cab 2500 which came with a factory installed Class IV receiver. I recently bought a 2004 Airstream Classic 31. It came with a Reese High Performance Trunnion Weight Distributing kit.

After trying two different Reese hitch bars I am unable to get the ball height down to the recommended Airstream ball height of 18 3/4". I can get it to 19 1/4" or 18 1/4". It is 1/2" off either way. Airstream factory says that is not acceptable.

It looks like I am in a quandry. I talked with a Reese tech person a while ago. The Reese reciever recommended for my vehicle is PN 37089. However, it will not fit a vehicle with factory installed receiver.

Any thoughts or counsel would be tremendously appreciated. Has anyone else had a similair problem? Will being off 1/2" have a negative effect on my towing the Classic? I will be on the road a lot with the set up and want to get it right.

Truck is not broke in yet and the springs will settle a little. Go with the little high setting. In a year it will probably be dead on.

[RivetED]

Originally Posted by seamusthegray

...I recently bought a 2004 Airstream Classic 31....
Any thoughts or counsel would be tremendously appreciated. Has anyone else had a similair problem? Will being off 1/2" have a negative effect on my towing the Classic? I will be on the road a lot with the set up and want to get it right.

Yes, I had a similar problem with my '03 F-250 & '04 Safari 25'. After much consternation & similar queries I set my hitch to the higher of the 2. General concensus is that is the way to err, some gas stations & other driveways will still be 'very tight' (ground clearance) at the hitch-ball. The goal is to get the trailer level while towing. When the truck & trailer are loaded (& we seem to keep adding to the load with each trip!) it is as level as humanly possible. My eye cannot detect any bias when hitched & loaded, haven't measured as there is no way to adjust it perfectly.

I've towed over 7K miles this year with this set-up.

[seamusthegray]

Thanks for the input regarding my difficulty getting the hitch ball height set right. I found out that when I hooked the Airstream to my truck that the weight of the trailer lowered the rear of truck to where the trailer now sets level. The problem kinda took care of itself.

[jimmickle]

Before you get too worried about the ball height, using Airstream's data, measure the actual coupler height of your trailer. I will bet that the Airstream data is wrong! Probably by almost two inches. It certainly was on my 2002 Safari. After you get the correct dimensions, then set your hitch, following Reese's recommendations. If you don't have their installation instructions, they can be downloaded from the factory site, www.reeseprod.com.
It appears that Airstream never measured their current products after they changed tires and possibly axels. I know that the new units sit higher that the units of the 90s, yet Airstream still has the same dimension for ball height. I have brought it to their attention, but they don't seem to have taken the time to measure their current production and change the specs. Measure your unit and use the actual dimension.