[danketchpel]

I'm looking to buy a ball mount for my receiver and finding it's a rather odd drop dimension requirement. I did the measurements today and tried a couple my friend had that were pretty close.

To achieve the some what standard 18" from ground to top of ball height it looks like a 1.5" drop is near ideal, actually closer to 1" drop might be perfect. But..... that's a pretty hard drop size to find, most are 2" or greater.

My friend did have a 1.5" drop and it measured out to 17.5" from ground to top of ball with a 7" pin to ball center length.

It seems the other option is to use a 2" drop with a 1" taller ball.

My van is setup for 7,500 lbs tow capacity so I'd like something on the beefier side. I'm also looking for something more corrosion resistant as I launch watercraft in salt water some of the time and my last ball mounts from my SUV (5" drop) are looking pretty corroded after being dunked in salt water more than a few times.

Suggestions welcome.

I'm also considering the billet aluminum (think Alumistinger) style but Stainless Steel would be my first choice.

 

[joefromga]

Etrailer has stainless fully adjustable hitches with 5" up or down.

 

[wgc]

You may want to do a little more research on the subject. The drop or rise is going to be based on the height of the trailer not a so called standard from the ground to the top of the ball. This will help keep the trailer level and provide the right amount of tongue weight. I received some help from watching some of the video's on You Tube from some of the towing companies. I had a problem finding a 1" rise but found one from Curt.

 

[Harpo]

yea, I think I agree with WGC. We have an airstream trailer and my plan is to hitch up to the van using my old hitch (without the weight distribution bars)and see how level it is. Then order the new ball mount accordingly. I am looking at Weigh-Safe hitches because they tell you how much weight is on the hitch. My existing hitch is a Equalizer weight distribution hitch which has been a hassle to keep adjusted but has seemed to work well. As you may or may not know my owners manual recommends that you do not use weight distribution hitches for our van thus the need to get a new hitch. I have mixed feelings about this.

 

[danketchpel]

I'm basing my measurements on the ball height I was using on my SUV to tow my existing PWC and Motorcycle trailers.

The ground to ball height on the SUV measured 17.5" (basically 18") and was just about right, even for some other trailers I towed with it providing a level trailer tow angle.