How far from the end of the receiver should the center of the ball be in order to maintain max TWR or Vertical Load Rating.
My current ball is centered 6.5" from the receiver opening. Does this location have the full TWR or should it be reduced due to the distance from the receiver?
I don't know that anybody but the designers of the particular system would know that. It's a good point though. I drilled a hole in my draw bar closer to the ball to improve the leverage moment. You'd be surprised how much difference a couple of inches makes.
Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab (Yeah, it's got a Cummins)
2006 Forest River Grand Surveyor GS-280
Prodigy Brake Controller
1000/10000lb Equal-i-zer with 4-way sway control
Something tells me a class IV rated 1.2K bar and a 10K rated receiver is adequate as sold...they DO have to meet DOT (and at least NY) specs to be rated.
J
PS---Drilling and/or welding bar or receiver is hard for someone else to detect, but voids warranty and rating certifications.
* This post was
edited 11/11/09 06:18am by nny12972 *
So, what difference does a couple inches make, exactly? Does the truck sit higher? Is it just something you can feel in the seat of your pants as you go down the road?
If you did some research into how receivers are designed, you would probably learn that they are designed for the "worst case" scenario. That is, they are designed for maximum tongue weight using the longest typical drawbar that they reasonably expect someone to use.
Now before someone reads between lines that aren't there, NO, I am not saying that they designed their receivers to handle full tongue weight with a 48" drawbar. I said TYPICAL, as in the ones you can buy off the shelf at Wal-Mart... Those are pretty much within a couple inches of each other in length, which in the grand scheme isn't going to affect things that much.
Mkirsch hit it on the head! The draw bars are designed for the max rated load....AS THEY ARE OFF THE SHELF! You cannot buy "rated" 3' or longer drawbars! (but some build 'em anyway!)
J
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