What problems arise from towing a trailer with the tongue slightly avobe horizontal p

virgilsc · Nov 18, 2010

I will be towing a boat and I installed a towing ball directly on the step bumper of my truck, once I latched my truck and trailer I noticed that the trailer tongue is about 3" above horizontal position. Can this provoke a potentially dangerous situation when I tow the trailer, what are the cons of doing this?

bcost882 · Nov 18, 2010

first off i wouldnt trust anything to being towed with a ball on the bumper of a ranger......you should get a receiver. otherwise im not sure the problems. you need enough weight to push on the ball but not pull up the back of the truck when you hit a bump.

Captain Ledd · Nov 18, 2010

First off, towing with a bumper ball is fine, depending on the weight. I hauled a number of things before it became apparent that it was going to keep happening and the loads were probably going to increase. That's when I got my Reese receiver.

My bumper nearly totaled an F150 (had to be flat-bedded off the scene) and the only damage it had was scratches and bent inwards a little. I finally bent the ball when I had to help a friends blazer out of a ditch and was stuck using my ball as my only tow point. Everything pointed to me having to upgrade.

How big is said boat?

If it's only 3" taller I can't imagine that'd have any adverse effects.

If I had to speculate, if it's too much higher up the trailer may run into some tracking issues and want to wonder a bit. Too far down... well, there's only so much room for that. You'd probably be well into the pavement before that became an issue.

Weight. Boat trailers are pretty good at having the rear wheels fairly far back from the pivot point. But if you're having a problem pack some gear at the bow, having about 150-300lbs on the tongue helps alot (for a bumper), and the proper amount will vary with the trailers overall weight, but about 75-100lbs minimum. I usually quote 200-400lbs for a receiver.

satan · Nov 18, 2010

virgilsc said:
I will be towing a boat and I installed a towing ball directly on the step bumper of my truck, once I latched my truck and trailer I noticed that the trailer tongue is about 3" above horizontal position. Can this provoke a potentially dangerous situation when I tow the trailer, what are the cons of doing this?

With the tongue high - depending on the trailer's suspension design, you will be adding caster to the towed trailer - this should actually force the trailer to track a little better -- some suspensions (i.e. torsion) may operate slightly differently as the angle at the torsion arm would be different than design (though 3" on a long-tongued light-boat trailer would prolly not show any notable difference).

The largest issue with tongue high will be braking -- the braking force (ball to coupler) will move to favor the latching mechanism. The latch is primarily designed to trap the ball in the coupler so that forces can be applied to the centerline (or near to centerline) of the ball. so that the ball and coupler see loading at a right-angle to the mounting surface - Tongue high in braking will load the ball lower with a "lifting" vector that would be in turn loaded into the coupler's clamp -- Generally speaking -- the tongue of a boat trailer is quite long so that the angle at the ball is minimized.

In short, while a 2" drop would probably be "near perfect" for this situation - a light-weight trailer that does not approach the bumper-tow load limits of your ride oughta do fine. Tongue high should be more stable than a tongue low configuration. If you ensure that the clamp on the trailer's coupler is tight you shouldn't experience anything untoward. Heavy braking (depending on velocity of travel and the relative mass of both vehicles) may cause your rear-en to feel a bit lighter than usual (lifting from the trailer), though I would expect this to be minimal unless this is a SHORT trailer for a HEAVY boat; rear-lightening during braking could cause your rear brakes to become less effective (loss of tire-to-pavement traction). This same lightening would also exist while decelerating in a turn -- If the boat is sufficiently massive lifting and pushing the rear sideways may cause a fish-tail or full jack-knife, though again, I would assume that this is a smaller boat with a long tongue (low tongue angle) trailer...

Be careful, and enjoy!

Captain Ledd · Nov 18, 2010

I thought the only "caster" at trailer axle, was in it's suspension movement. Being it doesn't have ball joints nor a steering axis. So it doesn't really matter the relation of the axle to the ground.

I guess the leaf movement could still be technically set up to move upwards slightly toward the back. I don't know if that still simulates caster or not.

I also thought that it was backwards since it was being dragged. Though now thinking of the principle of how caster works, this seems wrong.

strvger · Nov 18, 2010

when i see trailers on hitch balls that are at serious angles, i'm always afraid the latch is going to let loose and the trailer will be left to ride on the safety chains. receiver hitch, adjustable height ball mount in it, and i keep my trailer level with my truck.
but that's just me.

feellnfroggy · Nov 18, 2010

a picture of our setup would be really ideal. However 3 inches should not be a problem, you didnt say what kind of boat, is it a bass boat all decked out with a 200hp yamaha? Or just a little johnboat? details will help thoroughly answer this question.

Sasquatch_Ryda · Nov 18, 2010

Also if it is a single axle or tandem axle trailer would be good to know.

adsm08 · Nov 23, 2010

If someone greases the trailer-side of the boat it may slide off.

greenpus · Nov 29, 2010

virgilsc said:
I will be towing a boat and I installed a towing ball directly on the step bumper of my truck, once I latched my truck and trailer I noticed that the trailer tongue is about 3" above horizontal position. Can this provoke a potentially dangerous situation when I tow the trailer, what are the cons of doing this?

sorry but if you tow like this you're asking for trouble. If you can't set up a trailer hitch at the right height , then don't tow. I wrecked a brand new Yukan because of my stupidity and I think you're heading that way as well...
Hope you enjoy the ditch

mhughes165 · Nov 29, 2010

Captain Ledd said:
My bumper nearly totaled an F150 (had to be flat-bedded off the scene) and the only damage it had was scratches and bent inwards a little. I finally bent the ball when I had to help a friends blazer out of a ditch and was stuck using my ball as my only tow point. Everything pointed to me having to upgrade.

.

lol i been there, the stock bumpers are just as beefy as a fullsize truck, i was rearended 7 times in my old ranger(gotta love jersey) and eveerything always lost the fight and the bumper just smiled, including a club cab dakota which was totaled, frame bent and all lol

feellnfroggy · Dec 3, 2010

adsm08 said:
If someone greases the trailer-side of the boat it may slide off.

Old thread I know, but ..... who the FAWK greases the side of a boat? And if they they were that stupid, it explains why the boat wasnt strapped down. Im done. :icon_rofl:

doorgunner · Dec 3, 2010

TheTopher · Dec 3, 2010

doorgunner said:

When DG does this one of two things are possible.

He just got back from refilling his meds, or you really are that funny!

I'm going to vote for funny, since there's none of his usual meds-induced bouncing blue people in this post.

adsm08 · Dec 11, 2010

feellnfroggy said:
Old thread I know, but ..... who the FAWK greases the side of a boat? And if they they were that stupid, it explains why the boat wasnt strapped down. Im done.

You've never been to South Central PA, have you?

Our water has a different coefficient of friction. We have to grease our canoe or it doesn't move through the water very well.

What problems arise from towing a trailer with the tongue slightly avobe horizontal p

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