Options for Mounting Winch to Trailer for Pulling Vehicle on to Trailer

Updated 02/02/2015 | Published 01/31/2015

Products Featured in This Question

Roadmaster Dual Hitch Receiver Adapter, 2" or 4" Drop/Rise

(897)

$209.46

Curt Dual Hitch Extender for 2" Trailer Hitches - 8" Extension

(120)

$98.09

Curt Multipurpose Ball Mount with 2" Receiver for Bike Racks and Cargo Carriers - 7,500 lbs

(232)

$70.93

Question:

I am wondering why the Roadmaster Dual Hitch Receiver Adapter, 4inch Drop/Riseinch is rated at 10,000 GTW with 400 pounds tongue weight but is not able to pull a trailer, while the Curt Dual 2inch Receiver Tube Adapter, 8inch Extensioninch while only rated at 3,500 GRW with a mere 350 pounds of tongue weight is considered capable of towing a trailer? Seems to me that the hitch with the most tongue weight and GTW would be able to do more than one that is rated far less in all aspects. I am wanting a dual hitch because I need to pull a flatbed trailer to haul cars, pick-up trucks, and passenger vans on, while at the same time being able to hook my winch up to the upper hitch so I can pull incapacitated vehicles up onto the trailer. Now I know that yall say that the lower rated dual hitch can pull a trailer but with only half of the original capacity, and this makes it impossible to use the low rated extension to pull a full size vehicle on a trailer. I have a 2inch receiver on the back of my truck and need to be able to tow a flat bed trailer with a full size vehicle about 4500 pounds and at the same time have my winch attached in there some how, do yall have any idea just how it is that I can do this?

asked by: The T

Expert Reply:

The Roadmaster Dual Hitch Adapter part # RM-077-4 just wasn't designed for towing a trailer so it's ratings aren't relevant to trailer towing. Although it has what looks like standard trailer capacities since they weren't rated with a trailer I can't recommend you use it for that purpose.

The Curt Dual Hitch Adapter part # D-192 was designed for trailer use, which is probably why it has lower capacities since trailers put more strain on a ball mount than flat towing.

A similar option would be the part # D210. This has a ball mount for on the bottom of it and a hitch opening on the top. Since it's not an adapter it doesn't cut the capacity of the hitch in half either. It has capacities of

Towing capacity: 7,500 lbs
Ball Mount Tongue weight capacity: 750 lbs
Receiver capacity: 350 lbs

However, even that would probably not have the necessary line capacity for pulling a vehicle up on the trailer. If you could mount the winch to your trailer, that would be your best option.