How to Determine Necessary Rise of a Ball Mount to Tow a Trailer Level

Updated 03/26/2018 | Published 03/24/2018

Question:

I recently purchased a wiring kit and a hitch receiver from etrailer.com, Curt part # 13707. I currently have this fitted correctly as shown in the etrailer video, and have installed a CURT 6inch rise 8inch draw bar onto the receiver with a 2inch ball mount. This setup is too high! Can you guys over at etrailer tell me what is the general rise a person needs for my CVPI P71 Police suspension to load level a trailer? I dont want to keep buying drawbar after drawbar until I get it right. I have added air-lift air helper springs and I am considering switching to a 4inch rise drawbar. Thoughts?

asked by: Jordan

Helpful Expert Reply:

There's no reason to guess at the rise you need to keep your trailer level. Instead you can take a couple of measurements.

Park both the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria and the trailer on level ground, uncoupled. Then measure from the top of the inside of the trailer hitch's receiver tube to the ground. When we installed the Curt hitch you purchased, part # 13707 on a 2007 Police Interceptor it measured 13-1/4 inches. But you should measure yours in case it's different.

Next measure from the ground to the bottom of the trailer's coupler. Then take this number and subtract the vehicle's measurement. The difference is the rise you need.

I've linked our selection of ball mounts that fit your 2 inch receiver, as well as an article that details the process to find the rise for you.

expert reply by: Charles S