Video Transcript for Tow Ready 2 Inch Trailer Hitch Extender Feature Review

Hello neighbor, this is Curt with eTrailer. Today, we're taking a look at the Tow Ready eight-inch hitch extension for two-inch hitches. Now, a hitch extension is gonna provide you with that extra room and that extra clearance if there's something in the back of your car, truck, van, whatever it might be, that's gonna interfere with it. In our case today, we've got a rear spare tire mount, and without our hitch extension, we wouldn't be able to use our bike rack properly. We wouldn't be able to get it up into the stowed position. So a hitch extension is gonna be a great way to solve that issue and make sure that you can use all of your hitch accessories appropriately.

Now, a few things that you're probably gonna want to pick up with your hitch extension. One thing is a pin and clip. This uses a 5/8 inch standard pin and clip. We have plenty of them available right here at etrailer.com, but this is something that's not going to come with your hitch extension. The other thing that we're gonna want is some kind of anti-rattle device.

And for me, I find that the best anti-rattle device is our etrailer anti-rattle hitch collar. It does an excellent job of keeping all the rattle out of this. Because we have extra, like, contact points here, it's gonna take a lot more vibration than usual. Now, the bike rack we have on here today has its own anti-rattle device. So, as you can see, there's no movement in here.

And with our anti-rattle hitch collar, there's no movement in here either. But as you get further away and you have more connection points, it's gonna cause a lot more vibration, so I'm gonna loosen up our anti-rattle hitch collar and show you what I'm talking about. (hitch rattles) That's gonna get pretty noisy as you're going down the road, and depending on what you're carrying in your hitch, you don't want any of that extra vibration and shaking around to, you know, lose cargo or damage anything back there. But with something like this, you're gonna get a really solid connection all the way from your hitch, through your extender, into your hitch accessory. Now, this hitch extension is made for your 2x2-inch hitch.

It's a powder-coated steel, so it's gonna have that protection from the rust and the elements and everything. We're gonna have two pinholes. We've got 5/8 inch pinhole here and another 5/8 inch pinhole here. This is the shank that's gonna end up going into our hitch receiver. So we're just gonna put that in right there. We're gonna get our hole lined up and then we'll insert our pin and clip. And once this is in, this is gonna give us eight inches from the end of our receiver here to go ahead and clear this obstacle, in this case being the tire mount in the back here. And it's gonna give us a 2x2-inch hitch receiver opening out here at that eight inches further away. Now, let's talk a little bit about the weight capacity that we're gonna get with this extension. This extension is made for a maximum 300 pound tongue weight, that being the vertical weight applied to the hitch, or 3,500 pound towing capacity, which is gonna be the pull on the hitch when you have a trailer behind you. Now, most people are gonna be using this for a hitch accessory, so generally speaking, the tongue weight is gonna be what you want to pay the most attention to. If you're towing a trailer, there are ball mounts that extend as far as this or have longer shanks to clear if you need to. But generally speaking, you're gonna have enough room to get a coupler on there. But since we're talking a lot about the hitch accessories, the other thing that we want to keep in mind, whenever you use an extension, it cuts your tongue weight capacity in half when it's in regards to the hitch. So you're gonna have to use whatever is the lower number. So, for instance, if your hitch has a tongue weight capacity of 700 pounds and we put on the extension, that's gonna knock it down 50% to 350 pounds max. However, the extension has a 300 pound tongue weight, so therefore that will end up being the maximum tongue weight on this particular hitch situation. So, that about wraps it up for the Tow Ready eight-inch hitch extension. Now, if after watching this video you decide that this is the extension that you need for your vehicle and your accessory and you get it and you have an opportunity to use it, please tell us what you think about it in the comments below. We'd love to share your experience with other neighbors so they can make the best decision for themselves. Once again, this is Curt with eTrailer. Thanks for stopping by.