Question out there for anyone who pulls a car trailer. What size ***** do you use? also, what about trailer brakes? Does anyone know the rulls for them, I heard they are required, but is it required to just have the breakaway brakes, or do they have to be functional with the brake booster? the reason I ask all of this, is I bought hundreds of dollars of towing package stuff for my tow vehicle. 2 5/16 ball, which I thought was standard, as well as the 7 pin round elec connector. When my usual trailer wasnt available, I had to rent from U-haul, I then had to buy a 2" ball, as well as a 4 pin adaptor. No brakes, killed my friends truck brakes out to Hizzy fest, not to mention the brake lights and turn signals didnt even work. Anyway, wanted an opinion, to see if other people know aof a "standard" to know if I have any grounds to stand on when I write a letter to those jackasses. Thanks

 

Welcome to U-Haul. The 2" ball seems to be a standard requirement as well as the funky pin connector. I don't know about the rest of the moving companies.

 

most car haulers are 2 & 5/16 and have trailer brakes along with the 7 pin connector. some have a 6 pin but these are usually found on goose-neck trailers (that's a whole different breed there). when looking for a trailer to but I would suggest having brakes on both axles along with a 2 & 5/16 ball. Some cheaper trailers will have no brakes and just a 2 inch ball. stay away from those.
Edit: while you can go ahead and complain to them it was your Idea to go ahead and haul the trailer, you could have said no. Just a thought

 

the 4 pin connector seems to be standard for u-haul. I have adapters for 7 to 4 and 7 to 6 so I can connect to pretty much anything

as far as the ball goes, I'm pretty sure u-haul uses 2". I have 2" and 2 5/16" ***** mounted on whatever you call the 2" square things so I can quick-change for either of those too.

what can I say? I used to be a boy scout

edit: my trailer is a dual axle open deck steel unit. electric brakes on one axle. 2 5/16" hitch and 7 pin electrical connector. If I was to do it over again I'd get brakes on both axles.

joel


Modified by JoelG at 6:02 PM 7/17/2003

 

Yeah, I guess I dont need to know the standard for U-Haul, I need to know what you all have on your own personal rigs. I know I could have said no, but it was july 4, and I was leaving for the track in 2 hours. Oh well. live and learn

 

front of trailer. 2 &5/16 ball , trailer brakes on both axles, and break away. Diamond plate box holds tie downs for the car.

Back of truck. I suggest getting an adjustable reciever hitch. It helps alot to get the handling right on.

 

Most open trailers will be set up with a 2" ball. Most enclosed trailers will have the 2 5/16". It (most) often depends on the GVWR of the trailer. eg why would a enclosed trailer with a GVWR of 10k be set up to use a coupler & ball only rated for 6k lbs? It wouldn't. For that GVWR, you will need a 2 5/16" coupler & ball. That size coupler & ball will have a 10k rating at a minimum. Keep in mind that, when using a 2 5/16 ball, you will also need a ballmount capable of using a 1 1/4" shank.

Why does Uhaul use the 4 pin plug & 2" ball? Most other trailers like boats & utility trailers use 2" *****. The four pin plug is also the most common. That is why Uhaul uses those. They are also the easiest to wire up.

 

Uhaul car haulers & tow dollys use 2" *****

I'm ashamed to say so but I rent from Uhaul 2-3 times a month

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SicNA94TegGsR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Question out there for anyone who pulls a car trailer. What size ***** do you use? also, what about trailer brakes? Does anyone know the rulls for them, I heard they are required, but is it required to just have the breakaway brakes, or do they have to be functional with the brake booster? the reason I ask all of this, is I bought hundreds of dollars of towing package stuff for my tow vehicle. 2 5/16 ball, which I thought was standard, as well as the 7 pin round elec connector. When my usual trailer wasnt available, I had to rent from U-haul, I then had to buy a 2" ball, as well as a 4 pin adaptor. No brakes, killed my friends truck brakes out to Hizzy fest, not to mention the brake lights and turn signals didnt even work. Anyway, wanted an opinion, to see if other people know aof a "standard" to know if I have any grounds to stand on when I write a letter to those jackasses. Thanks </TD></TR></TABLE>

I have always used a 2" ball with the 4-wire flat connector, which seems most standard. All 3 of my trailers are this way, as have been my tow vehicles, for the last 25 years. It was also helpful when borrowing or renting a trailer.

Disclaimer, I have only used trailers with surge brakes or no brakes, and I have NOT towed large, enclosed trailers.

(The bad times were when I borrowed a single-axle trailer that needed its bulbs changed, when towed with a 12-volt system. That friends truck was a 6-volt system...)

On the subject of legal requirements, they vary a lot from state to state. Check http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/towbars/laws.html for details from Drawtite. I typically keep my towed vehicle below 3000 lbs., so that brakes (and yearly inspection) is not required, in Virginia.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JoelG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my trailer is a dual axle open deck steel unit. electric brakes on one axle. 2 5/16" hitch and 7 pin electrical connector. </TD></TR></TABLE>
ditto.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by XR4racer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
ditto.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ditto.

 

Brakes are a good thing. I have a dual axle open trailer and tow a Civic with my Suburban.

When I bought the Suburban, It towed and stopped great without the brakes hitched up. I mean no problems during normal stopping. So of course I procrastinated installing the brake controller unit in the truck.

The other day, I'm towing to a race, I'm cruising along the highway at 70mph and as I crest a hill....... traffic is at a dead stop............

I get on the brakes and immediately go to my left, as I do the truck is stopping but the trailer is in a death wag. To make a long story short. I stopped the truck and trailer four cars up on the left side, but it was quite a handful. I was WAY lucky not to lose the entire rig in the median. If I had trailer brakes, I believe I would have stopped in time to keep it straight.

The controller is now installed.

 

Does anyone use a weight-distributing hitch and if so, how do they work? I currently have a 2-5/16 hitch/receiver with a dual axle open trailer. The problem is that the trailer is very solid (and thus heavy), weighing in at ~ 1,900 lbs. Couple that with a trailer whose axles are towards the rear of the unit makes for a fairly hefty tongue weight.

Since my class IV hitch has a tongue weight restriction of 500 lbs, would the weight distributing hitch either increase it's TW capacity or reduce the actual force aplied to the tongue?

 

As for the ball size, there is no standards. You must match the ball size to the trailer. If the trailer portion is 2" use 2" ball etc....
the four pins are designed for trailers without brakes or accessory power supplies.
i have seen different forms of the five pins as well. it is just a matter of the male and female portions matching up.
As far as trailer brakes i would really recommend them, especially if you are going to be driving behind me. i've towed without trailer brakes and with them. most big trucks handle fine until the "what if " factor happens. trailer brakes are not necessary for the time you can see everyone braking a couple hundred yards up but when the idiot in front of you drops his BigMac. Plus you will save wear on your tow vehicle brakes. i just like to drive and relax not worry about if the truck can handle the panic stop.
my $.02

 

In answer to your question-Our Dodge Dakota has a 7 pin plug on it from the factory. Chrysler includes the 4-pin adaptor for the U-Haul crowd. Why 7-pins, because of the trailer brakes and a few other things. In our case the trailer is rated for 7000 pounds and has dual axles with electric brakes on both.
Now to the Q about the ball-you can use a 2" ball up to 5000 pounds, so I'm told. Our R&R Trailer comes stock with a 2-5/16" ball. Again this is due to the load rating of the trailer. I also have a Draw-Tite brake controller. This nifty device is required so that you save your truck brakes.
U-Haul and other rental firms use the simplied "surge" brake system. It has no electrical parts as such and thus only needs the 4-pin connector to provide for the lighting circuits. They have dictated the size of the ball due to their presence and size in the marketplace. Did you get asked what you would be towing with and the gross weight when full loaded? If not you may have a chance with your claim.

Good luck.

 

One thing that no one has mentioned so far is the legal aspect. Most states have a max. weight that you can tow without brakes. Most owner's manuals have a max. recommended weight that you can tow without brakes. Exceeding those limits can put you in a bad position with your insurance company not to mention the liability issues.

I have been using a WC hitch since I got my new trailer. Although I have only had it a short time, I did a ton of research. In fact, I actually purchased the hitch long ago to deal with the 700lb tongue weight of my old open trailer. It wouldn't work on that rig without some serious mods. I ended up relocating the axles instead. WD hitches, by using the ball/coupler connection as a pivot/fulcrum point force weight off the ball forward onto the front axle & backward onto the trailer axles. The result is a much more stable & controled ride. Note that the WD hitch is not a substitute for proper loading of the trailer. The tongue weight should be 10-15% of the trailer weight for a tag. Another thing to be aware of is that helper springs & airbags do not transfer the weight like a wd set up. They level the truck but the load is in the same place.

When I picked up my enclosed trailer, I did a little experiment. Note that the tongue weight was just under 500lbs according to the spec sheet. 500lbs being the max. 'weight carrying' tongue weight as opposed to the 'wd' weight. I towed it about half way home. It towed OK. I then hooked up the spring bars for the rest of the trip home. The difference was nite & day.