Why Is Trailer Wall Thickness limited When Installing Fulton Fold-Away Coupler Hinge Kit FHDPB230101

Published 12/09/2016

Question:

My trailer tongue has a wall thickness of 0.25. The specs on this part say that the maximum tongue wall thickness is 0.120. Why does the tongue thickness matter, and will this part work for my application? Thanks in advance.

asked by: Allen

Expert Reply:

The reason the wall thickness is listed for the Fulton Fold-Away Coupler Hinge Kit, part # FHDPB230101, is because the Torx bolts included in the kit are a certain length and the nuts may not catch the threads when installing the hitch due to the 1/4 inch thickness of your trailer walls. I called my contact at Fulton and you can replace the fasteners with a greade 5 fastener if you choose. But you may want to wait and see if that is needed before buying replacement hardware. I do have another option as well.

You may want to check out part # FHDPW230300. This fits the same size trailer tongue but it is a weld-on installation so the fasteners are not an issue.

Both of these couplers are rated for up to 5,000-lbs, depending on the placement of the pivot point. Check out the attached installation instructions to see the chart that describes the weight capacity.

expert reply by: Jeffrey L