My tow rig (new to me) has a aftermarket Class III hitch bolted to the frame which rated for 3,500 lbs Gross based on what the sticker says on it. Well my tandem axle car hauler trailer is rated for 7K. And under normal conditions it will probably gross 6,000 to 6,500 lbs with my trail rig on it. So obviosuly I need to beef up the hitch on the tow rig.

But I'm cheap, so I don't want to just buy a new one.... So my plan is to just beef up the existing mount and crossbar with some more steel.

I'm curious about the legalities about doing something like this. Will I ever get pulled over and have all my towing equipment checked for ratings? I don't believe I ever have to stop at weigh stations with this light of a load, so that shouldn't be a factor. I'm assuming that if I just beef up my existing mount - That I should just remove the rating sticker on the hitch all together since its no longer valid becasue it will be modified.

Just curious if I need to be worried about it since I'm new to towing.

BTW - I'm in Oregon and plan on traveling throughout the western states. WA, OR, CA, ID, NV, UT

 

Don't be cheap. You can buy a brand new, certified class V for your truck, and be done with it for around $ 150. You could propbably get 1/2 that back if you sell yours.

class V is rated 1000 lbs tongue, 10,000 lbs pull
with stabilzers 1500 tongue, 15000 pull

 

Or I could add $10 of steel to it and be done with it....

PS - I have a Mechanical Engineering degree and I build all my own 4x4 stuff.

 

I agree with TRCM... Buy a new one and ebay the old one...
OG

 

Isn't the class III a smaller receptacle too? Don't forget to beef up the drop if that's the case.

 

No,you've got nothing to worry about as long as your "Modified" hitch does not fail,if your trailer goes flying into oncoming traffic you going to have some "Splainin'" to do.
I've though about building my own hitch too,as I need a safe way to extend it and the crazy high price of a superhitch is out of the question.

 

This Class II is a 2" hitch....

 

I build all my own 4x4 stuff too, but when it comes to on road parts, I buy what is certified.

not worth the risk of a failure killing someone and me being to blame for it's construction

you can say you have all the degrees in the world, but in court, if it wasn't certified, it's just junk to them, and it wil be your fault...even your insurance probably won't pay up

 

Fine, do your finite element analysis, make your drawings, put your PE stamp on them, sign them and then, if it fails, you'll still be liable.

Just my 2 cents worth as another ME.

Rusty

 

As for the liability - I can handle that. Its not like all of us on here modify vehicles that could be in a fatal accident. Think about it - if you custom built anything - your liable for it. Heck if you service your own brakes wrong, your going to be liable. If you put your tire on wrong and it falls off at high speed and kills someone (or even worse causes a multiple fataliity on a freeway or something) who is liable? We all deal with liablity. I feel totally comfortable doing my own work. if I feel its not safe - then I will beef it up or not use it. And if I work on other peoples junk - I make sure to error on the beefy side.

I'm not asking "how to beef it up". I'm just curious as to the legalities of modifing or custom building a hitch. I would HATE to get pulled over far away from home and be forced to disconnect the trailer and leave it somewhere until I have get another "approved" hitch installed.

Whatever I choose - It WILL be safe.

 

To make that statement, you are either very stupid, or richer than Bill Gates.

If you kill someone, the legal costs alone, not to mention the award to the dead persons family , could be in the millions........and your insurance won't cover it, so YOU will be bankrolling it.


G F L !!!!!

I don't know why you even asked in the 1st place. we told you the problems with it, and you seem to be gonna do what you ant to anyways.

If you are an engineer (which you probably are judging by your grammar and word use - your is not the same as you're), you can surely afford to buy the correct parts, instead of making something yourself.

If it's something that isn't made I can understand, but when you can get the correct stuff for so cheap, why risk it ?

 

"TRCM" - Obviously you DON'T understand what I'm asking!



So I will ask again 'nicely'....

"Will I ever get pulled over and have all my towing equipment checked for ratings?"

If this is a common practice - How do those people "judge" homemade or modified towing equipment. I'm not doing anything outlandish like hauling 20-30K with a hitch bumper.... I'm just hauling a 7K tandem axle with trailer brakes. And like I said - WHATEVER I do, it will be safe and very capabily of handling the forces from the trailer.

 

you will be fine.you will probably only be checked in the event of a ticket for something else or an accident(any accident). then just explain it to them as you have here and i am sure they will say "O okay" and go away. "those people" don't judge or evaluate, they are not engineers, they go by lable rating. if you do not have one they assume you are wrong and you get to explain to the court you are correct.
Clark

 

FOR THE LOVE OF PETE
build it up and hit the road you will be fine we build that kind of stuff on the ranch all the time
trailers, hitches never had a problem bild the s out of it and check it once in a while
some people just dont get it

 

The reason the rating is so low is because it's for a standard ball/coupler setup. If you hang a 7000# trailer behind your truck, you should have minimum 10% on the ball. That would mean 700 pounds minimum behind the bumper, which would also mean you should look into a weight distribution hitch to avoid handling issues. Surely your trailer has electric brakes, right?

It would help if you added your truck in your sig (2500 or 3500, SRW or DRW)