Longer Weight Distribution Shank to Help with Truck Tailgate Clearance with Equal-i-zer System

Published 11/19/2019

Products Featured in This Question

Brophy Ball Mount for 2" Hitches - 3/4" Rise, 2" Drop - 13-1/4" Long - 10K

(282)

$81.50

Curt Weight Distribution Shank - 14" Long - 7" or 7-1/2" Drop - 1,500 lbs TW

(55)

$170.18

Question:

I just bought a 2020 Forest River RPod 195 with GVWR of 4742 lbs and am towing it with a 2019 Ram 1500 Tradesman new body which has a max trailer weight of 8,370 lbs. The trailer has an electric jack and the tow bar used is an equal-i-zer with 6,000 lb limit. Wouldnt you know it, when trying to the tailgate, it would hit the electric jack. Seems I need about 7 or so more inches of space in order to the tailgate while the trailer is still hitched up. I thereby want to extend the tow hitch and have reviewed your site and had a couple of chats with staff on this matter. I believe I have been given conflicting info on the use of extensions and their affect on tow and hitch capacity see below and just want a good solution that can work within these limits. I also see that it appears most of the hollow core extensions have a tow weight limit of 3,500 lbs. Such as https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapters/Tow-Ready/80307.html Note that this link includes the notation Please Note: Using a hitch extender will reduce your hitchs overall capacity by 50 percent Given my unit is 1,000 lbs more than the 3,500 lb limit of the hollow extension - I wanted to get a solid extensioninch or something that I could adapt for that purpose and would guess the tow capacity would increase above 3,500 given something like the D30 being a solid core but I was told via one of my chats with you all that it wouldnt matter. In addition, this site https://www.etrailer.com/question-148566.html lead me to believe it was counter to other guidance above and via chat in that it appears with my interpretation that towing weight is not reduced but rather just tongue weight as it says The use of a hitch extender reduces the tongue weight capacity of the trailer hitch by 50 percent. So if the trailer hitch is rated for 1,000 pounds tongue weight it would be reduced to just 500 pounds tongue weight capacity when using an extension. It doesnt reduce the gross trailer weight capacity, only the tongue weight. Is the latter statement true or not? Can you please provide some clarity and suggestions for how to safely gain 7 inches or so to this setup? I appreciate your time and expertise here. Thanks.

asked by: Mark J

Expert Reply:

So your best solution is actually going to be a longer weight distribution shank like the Curt # C17122 which is 18 inches long overall and 14 inches from the center of the hitch pin hole to the center of the holes on the vertical portion of the shank.

Hitch extensions in general aren't a great idea as they cut capacity like you mentioned, but more importantly they are designed for use with weight distribution systems so you should not go that route.

The Curt shank is perfectly compatible with Equal-i-zer brand weight distribution systems and would be right at 7 inches longer than your current shank so it would give you the tailgate clearance needed as well.

expert reply by: Jameson C