Aluminum ball mount

dennis103 · Dec 6, 2018

I'm looking at the adjustable aluminum ball mounts. I have 4 trailers 2" and 2 5/16" balls. They are all have different hitch heights. they range from 5000 pounds to 14000 pounds. The aluminum mounts look nice and are easily adjustable. Anyone have any experience with them. I'm wondering if they are rugged enough for heavy hauling. Does the aluminum wear in the receiver? Please share any information or previous experience.

Raspy · Dec 6, 2018

If you do a search you'll find pictures of snapped off ones. But that doesn't mean they are prone to failure. We do know though, that steel has different characteristics than aluminum. You could probably fold a steel one up under the truck without it breaking off, or a forged steel one would probably rip the hitch off before failing. I'm not sold on the aluminum ones.

I have four different trailers too. I have 2 5/16" couplers on all of them. I only need to switch a couple of stingers to accommodate them all, and a couple of them don't get used very often, so I've put a 5/8" grade 5 bolt through the receiver, with a nylock nut, as the pin. That makes it pretty hard for anyone to "borrow" the stinger and the "pin" will not fall out.

Deere Dude · Dec 7, 2018

My son bought a 37' motor home and pt one on. He was going into a grocery store parking lot and when the rear wheels went into a entrance low spot the rear of the motor home was supported by the hitch although not totally and the hitch was gouging into the blacktop. He brought the motor home and hitch to my hose and wanted it cut off so it wouldn't be so low and I had a heck of a time cutting it off with a 4-1/2" angle grinder with cutting disc because it was some very tough dense material. It sure wasn't as easy as I was expecting.

bigtiller · Dec 8, 2018

I have the Weigh Safe hitch. No complaints. It's actually a lot lighter than it looks.

Weigh Safe Trailer Drop Hitch | Award-Winning Tongue Weight Scale

terryknight · Dec 8, 2018

i have an andersen model rapid hitch it works great, only issue is it it rated at 1500lbs tongue, 10K trailer. i use it upto 11K or so when towing short distances. when i have to tow 10K+ longer distances i have forged ones

RyeThomas · Dec 9, 2018

When I got my 2013 Ram 3500 I had to upgrade to the larger 2-1/2 receiver, did not want to run the spacer they provide. I went with this big chunk of aluminum, it hangs on the truck all the time and has dragged some pretty heavy loads.
Fastway E series HD 18k capacity.

dennis103 · Dec 9, 2018

The fastway 18000 lb and the weigh safe 180 @ 14500lbs are the 2 I am looking at. The way safe locks on and has stainless steel balls, both options I like. My largest trailer is a 14000 lb trailer. When loaded with my tractor the calculated weight is apron 13200 lbs. Would the 14500 lb weigh safe be acceptable or is it too close to hitch capacity. I wish I didn't have to over analyze everything I purchase.

RyeThomas · Dec 9, 2018

Why bother, get the 18k for piece of mind. Fastway has an optional ball lock you can purchase if you wish.
I can tell you hauling what I think is xxxxxLBS can often be a good deal more than what I estimated, why risk it.

Fallon · Dec 9, 2018

RyeThomas said:
Why bother, get the 18k for piece of mind. Fastway has an optional ball lock you can purchase if you wish.
I can tell you hauling what I think is xxxxxLBS can often be a good deal more than what I estimated, why risk it.

Are you going to regret spending a couple extra bucks or the unlikely chance of something being overloaded & less likely chance of something bad happening because of it. Even if there is nothing bad to happen I like extra safety margin in my stuff.

Hanshans · Dec 9, 2018

Check out Bullet Proof Hitches. I have one and I'm very happy with it. It is steel powder coated and very heavy duty. Also has a lot of adjustment on it. Just me but I didn't feel comfortable pulling a heavy trailer with an aluminum hitch.