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Hitch prob on Liberty
After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is
directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. I've been considering two remedies: 1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through dips or starting a steep rise. 2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached the vehicle/receiver weight limit. |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
Extended hitches are pretty common. They do up the load on the tongue
so just be aware of it. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Barry Bean wrote: > > After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is > directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, > especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and > try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on > the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > > I've been considering two remedies: > > 1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch > up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through > dips or starting a steep rise. > > 2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be > ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, > most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ > grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). > Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached > the vehicle/receiver weight limit. |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
Extended hitches are pretty common. They do up the load on the tongue
so just be aware of it. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Barry Bean wrote: > > After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is > directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, > especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and > try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on > the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > > I've been considering two remedies: > > 1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch > up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through > dips or starting a steep rise. > > 2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be > ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, > most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ > grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). > Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached > the vehicle/receiver weight limit. |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
Extended hitches are pretty common. They do up the load on the tongue
so just be aware of it. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Barry Bean wrote: > > After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is > directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, > especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and > try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on > the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > > I've been considering two remedies: > > 1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch > up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through > dips or starting a steep rise. > > 2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be > ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, > most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ > grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). > Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached > the vehicle/receiver weight limit. |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
Extended hitches are pretty common. They do up the load on the tongue
so just be aware of it. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Barry Bean wrote: > > After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is > directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, > especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and > try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on > the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > > I've been considering two remedies: > > 1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch > up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through > dips or starting a steep rise. > > 2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be > ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, > most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ > grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). > Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached > the vehicle/receiver weight limit. |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
On 2 Jun 2004 14:23:04 GMT, Barry Bean <bbbean@beancotton.com> wrote:
>After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is >directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, >especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and >try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on >the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > >I've been considering two remedies: > >1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch >up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through >dips or starting a steep rise. > >2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be >ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, >most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ >grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). >Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached >the vehicle/receiver weight limit. Get a longer mount - it's cheap and a very common fix for this sort of problem. I don't know what your Libby receiver looks like, but if the receiver square hole is open at the front and there is clearance between the receiver and gas tank, you can drill an extra hole in the drawbar and slide the bar forward for storage. You may also be able to invert the bar for extra clearance when not towing. If you are concerned about excessive tongue weight of a different trailer, get a second ball also and keep the original set for heavy use. John Davies http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/ '96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
On 2 Jun 2004 14:23:04 GMT, Barry Bean <bbbean@beancotton.com> wrote:
>After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is >directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, >especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and >try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on >the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > >I've been considering two remedies: > >1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch >up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through >dips or starting a steep rise. > >2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be >ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, >most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ >grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). >Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached >the vehicle/receiver weight limit. Get a longer mount - it's cheap and a very common fix for this sort of problem. I don't know what your Libby receiver looks like, but if the receiver square hole is open at the front and there is clearance between the receiver and gas tank, you can drill an extra hole in the drawbar and slide the bar forward for storage. You may also be able to invert the bar for extra clearance when not towing. If you are concerned about excessive tongue weight of a different trailer, get a second ball also and keep the original set for heavy use. John Davies http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/ '96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
On 2 Jun 2004 14:23:04 GMT, Barry Bean <bbbean@beancotton.com> wrote:
>After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is >directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, >especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and >try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on >the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > >I've been considering two remedies: > >1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch >up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through >dips or starting a steep rise. > >2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be >ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, >most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ >grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). >Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached >the vehicle/receiver weight limit. Get a longer mount - it's cheap and a very common fix for this sort of problem. I don't know what your Libby receiver looks like, but if the receiver square hole is open at the front and there is clearance between the receiver and gas tank, you can drill an extra hole in the drawbar and slide the bar forward for storage. You may also be able to invert the bar for extra clearance when not towing. If you are concerned about excessive tongue weight of a different trailer, get a second ball also and keep the original set for heavy use. John Davies http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/ '96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
On 2 Jun 2004 14:23:04 GMT, Barry Bean <bbbean@beancotton.com> wrote:
>After installing a receiver hitch on my liberty, I find that the ball is >directly under the spare tire, which makes it difficult to hitch/unhitch, >especially at an angle. I end up having to partialy open the back door and >try to keep the door from hitting the trailer while I mount the trailer on >the ball. Its doable, but a hassle. > >I've been considering two remedies: > >1) Get a ball mount with a lower drop. This would make it easier to hitch >up, but would lower my clearance, possibly causing problems going through >dips or starting a steep rise. > >2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be >ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, >most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ >grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). >Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached >the vehicle/receiver weight limit. Get a longer mount - it's cheap and a very common fix for this sort of problem. I don't know what your Libby receiver looks like, but if the receiver square hole is open at the front and there is clearance between the receiver and gas tank, you can drill an extra hole in the drawbar and slide the bar forward for storage. You may also be able to invert the bar for extra clearance when not towing. If you are concerned about excessive tongue weight of a different trailer, get a second ball also and keep the original set for heavy use. John Davies http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/ '96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA |
Re: Hitch prob on Liberty
"Barry Bean" <bbbean@beancotton.com> : : 2) Extend the ball mount a few inches past the receiver. This would be : ideal, but would obviously increase the leverage on the receiver. FWIW, : most of the trailers I pull have fairly light tongue weights (usually a BBQ : grill with a 50-60 lb tongue weight and 200-300 lbs total weight). : Obviously I couldn't use this on a heavier trailer, or one that approached : the vehicle/receiver weight limit. This is probably the way to go but also be aware that by extending the distance from the rear axle to the ball will effect the handling. While going down the highway, steering corrections will be magnified through the tail swing of the Liberty. You're probably going to be absolutely fine and I don't want to sound like I'm blowing this out of proportion... but... To correct for this, if you extend the tongue 2" you should move your axle on the trailer back 2"... which further increases tongue weight. The optimal setup for towing is to have the ball as close to the rear axle as possible and the axle of the trailer as far back as possible while not exceeding your tongue weight. This is why tractor trailers use a fifth wheel, to keep the pivot at or ahead of the axle. Anyone that pulls a fifth wheel camper trailer on a pick up truck will tell you they would never go back to a hitch and ball set up because it handles so well. When I bought a boat without a motor several years ago I towed it home behind my Suburban and the trailer tracked great... I made a point of 'testing it'... 70-80 mph without so much as a wiggle. When I rebuilt the boat and hung a 6 cyl Merc outboard off the back, it handled terrible. I slid the axle back two holes, levelled the trailer and balanced the tongue with a piece of wood on a bathroom scale. Close, but not enough. Moved back two more holes, balanced it again and just shy of 300 lbs at the tongue. I should have gone a bit more because when I filled the boat with gas, it lightened up a bit but it was light years better than it was. Okay, now I'm just rambling... hope this helps. -Brian |
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