Video Transcript for All About the Curt Heavy Duty Forged Ball Mount for 3" Hitches

Hi everyone, Aidan here with etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at this forged ball mount from CURT. This is gonna be for three inch hitches and come in two different sizes. Functionally as far as weight capacity is concerned, they're the same, but they just give you different drop heights to accommodate for different needs with your truck and trailer combination. Let's check it out. Now, right out of the gate, I do wanna mention that the ball does not come included.

This, what I'm holding right here is all you get. So you will need to pick up a ball separately and you'll need to pick up a hitch pin clip separately. We'll talk about that a little bit later. But with this, the one I'm holding in my hand here is gonna give you a six inch drop or a four inch rise if you were to flip it upside down. And the one that we've got in the hitch right now will give you an eight inch drop or a six inch rise.

So you can pick whichever one fits best with your truck and trailer combination so you get the correct ride height. But as far as weight capacity and everything goes, it's gonna be the same. So these can handle 21,000 pounds of gross trailer weight. That's how much weight it can pull, and has a max tongue weight of 2,800 pounds. That's the maximum downward pressure on it.

Now, that's what the platform is rated for. Because the ball is not included, it's extra important to just take that weight capacity into consideration when picking one up because with this particular one we've got right now, it's only rated for 12,000 pounds of gross trailer weight. So that's gonna be our limiting factor by far. And you wouldn't want to overload this just because the platform can handle more. If you don't plan on pushing the weight capacity, then cool, you'll be all good.

But if you do plan on pushing that capacity, make sure you get something that's going to not be a limiting factor. The other thing that's really important to know is that because this isn't included, you will have to install it and torque it down yourself. Ours is not, we've just got it hand tight on there so we can move it around and manipulate it to show you some things, but you just wanna take extra care to properly install it. As far as the choices with this, the hole here where it mounts through is an inch and a quarter in diameter. So you'll want to pick up a ball that has a shank with the same diameter so that it fits through there appropriately and doesn't have any looseness to it. Now the other thing to consider because the ball is not included and you have to torque it on there in your desired position, is if you did have to flip this from the drop to that rise position, that would also mean you've gotta undo and retorque the ball. Now, while that might sound like a big inconvenience, it's probably not that big of a deal because if you're looking at a ball mount like this, chances are you've only got one trailer and you're probably getting this because you know what the ride height of that trailer is. You know what the ride height of your truck is, and you know that you need a certain rise or drop to make it tow level, and then that's it. That's all you're towing. If you are gonna be switching between different trucks and trailers and you do need to be adjusting the height or the orientation of the ball mount, maybe even changing between different ball sizes for different couplers, then this isn't for you. There's plenty of adjustable ball mounts that offer those different ball sizes and very easy height adjustment that you can check out here at etrailer. And again, plenty of those options that'll work with a three inch hitch like this one does. But if you don't need all that, you're just looking for a simple setup for your one trailer, then this can certainly get the job done. And as far as construction goes, it's gonna be a black powder coated steel. There's a very similar version of this from Buyers where they've got it in similar drop sizes, similar weight capacity, and you might be comparing the two and for all the similarities they share, the really main difference is that powder coat. The powder coat on this CURT one here just feels to be better quality and straight out of the box has a lot fewer blemishes. So I'd expect that this is gonna hold up a little bit better over time. I mean, really the coupler on the ball that you pick up, that's gonna be seeing the most wear and tear. So if you pick up a good quality ball, that's probably gonna do you a lot better. But you want the platform to be nice and durable too, and I think the CURT is gonna be the better option for that. The only other thing to consider is the length. So from the center of the hitch pin hole to the center of where the ball will hook up, that's gonna be 10 inches and that'll let you know approximately where your trailer's gonna sit or where the coupler's gonna sit relative to your truck and what kind of clearance you have. I'd say 10 inches is gonna be pretty good. Some ball mounts will offer two hitch pin holes, so you can pick and choose, but realistically, those don't give you much adjustment. Maybe only about an inch, inch and a quarter. So are they really doing that much Not really. This will be just fine, but it really just comes down to your needs. If you've just got the one trailer, you're looking for a simple ball mount to get you the exact drop that you need, and that's all you're gonna use it for, then something like this is gonna be a pretty solid solution. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but if you don't need the bells and whistles, then there's no point in paying for 'em. The only thing I'd recommend is make sure you pick up a locking pin and clip since that pin and clip isn't included. This is still an investment, and especially if you're leaving it in the hitch full time, it's a good idea to protect it with a locking pin. But that was just our look at these two ball mounts from CURT for your three inch hitches. Thanks for watching.