What should i do?

[Chrisx88]

Truck is a 97 ranger, flipped rear shackles, will be 4/5 sooner or later. Will have 250cc dirtbike in bed, pulling a 4x8 trailer with 250ex quad on in.

Question is, should i throw the 1 7/8" ball on the bumper or should i get a hitch for frame?

Should i put all gear/gas on trailer or in bed of truck?

 

[wildbill23c]

I would put as much of the weight in the trailer as you can, the more weight you put in the bed of the truck the less tongue weight you can have without overloading the truck. Granted the weight ratings for most trucks are pretty conservative, but still, don't overload a vehicle, its more related to a safety standpoint. Your truck may be capable of moving that 10,000 pound object but can it stop it safely, most likely not.

With what you are towing you should be ok, however I would not trust a truck bumper for any sort of towing application. Do it right spend a couple hundred bucks and install a trailer hitch. You load that trailer down and maybe it weighs 900lbs. The tongue weight is maybe a couple hundred pounds. But when you throw in a rough road where that trailer starts bouncing you need to quadruple your tongue weight at that point at least. The bumper is rated at about 500lbs tongue weight max, so you already maxed that out on the first bounce. I'd definitely spend the money and do the job right and get the trailer hitch installed.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I think you have to do some measuring. I agree with everything said above, however with your drop it may not be feasible to run an under bumper frame mount receiver. As long as you are capable of checking the bolts and bumper integrity and replacing any rusted ones, a bumper mount would be OK....but not ideal.

Richard

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Get a Hidden Hitch. They come out behind a flip up license plate in the bumper.

Or build one if your capable of heavy welding and fabrication.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

[Frank The Tank]

I wouldn't be scared to bumper pull such a minuscule load.

Under bumper hitches look bad on lowered trucks.

 

[Captain Ledd]

For a 4x8 trailer with a single 250 quad in it, the 1 7/8 ball will do just fine on the bumper.

 

[jobar]

^ Agreed

Pulling with the bumper with a small load like that will be okay.

I pull my 4x8 trailer with a yamaha grizzly 350 on it, and my younger brothers 250 dirtbike in the bed. Two 5 gallon fuel cans and gear in the bed. Should be just fine. Granted your bumper is in good shape.

 

[johnkennedi]

get hitch for frame. That is better.

 

[ridgerunner]

Get the frame mounted 2" receiver period! Ditch the trailer and load up the quad or bike (they make smaller/narrower ones for bikes) on one of these.
Made by Tilt-A-Rack. Supports 500lbs.

 

[Captain Ledd]

Guys... it's a 4x8 trailer. A sheet of plywood. A 250 quad isn't very heavy either. We're looking at 750 lbs-ish total trailer weight. Unless your bumper is really rusted out the bumper will do just fine.

Reciver hitches are nice, but for light loads it's not necessary. This guy has a lowered 2wd truck, it's not going to see the stresses or be put in the positions a lot of our trucks will dragging crap around.

To the OP, however if you do intend on towing regularly, it would be wise to invest in one.

But this sounds like he tows maybe 2/3 times a year, and it's just not cost justified for that kind of load.

 

[ridgerunner]

Lowered 2WD...?...fer towin' Yeah a 2" receiver would look bad and might even drag the hwy. with a load lol. Still wouldn't do a bumper tow, no friggin' way.