Can a hitch be inverted?

[Otis357]

I have a Class 1 hitch with a 2" drop from the receiver height. The trailer I have is about 4" higher than the ball when level, so can I simply invert the hitch to and put the ball on the top to get a 2" rise instead and use it this way to tow?

 

[TMALEGA]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Just to clarify what you are talking about to make sure i am on the same page. You are talking about the part that goes into the reciever? I know it sounds stupid but i had a friend ask the same question and was actually talking about the trailer not the reciever hitch on the vehicle.

So if that is what you are talking about, the vehicle side then yes you can my father and i have been doing it for many many years and my grandfater was before that, it never failed but we were never towing 20+ foot boats with huge engines either. I believe the largest was a 19 ft i/o 140ish hp motor. It was a full fiberglass boat on a very heavy trailer.

 

[kemer1]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Yup. That shouldn't be a problem. You can use the hitch in whatever orientation works for you.

 

[Gun Dog]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Level your boat/trailer. Measure from the ground to the bottom of the trailer coupler. Install the the ball mount into the receiver ether way up or down to get the same measurement at the base of the ball plus one inch. If your not in that range you'll need to get a ball mount with a different offset (drop or rise).

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

A hitch insert is usually described in both it's "drop" and "rise" dimensions. So of course you can turn it over. But note a 2" drop insert will not be a 2" rise. When you flip it over, you'll understand.

 

[89mercruiser]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Your 2" drop when inverted will only be about a 3/4" rise. with mine flipped, towing got so much better as the weight is more balanced.

 

[Otis357]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Thanks guys... flipped it over, and worked just fine!

Cheers... Jon

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Thanks guys... flipped it over, and worked just fine!

Right side up or up side down is ok, just don't try to attach it sideways!

 

[mwmike270]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

most are designed to be a rise or a drop and due to the normal 2 inch square mount you lose one inch on the rise.

keep in mind the class 1 will only handle 200 lbs tounge and 2000 lbs gross trailer weight. always make sure all components can handle your trailer weight.

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

just to be clear how much weight are we talking?
my cuddy is 6240 lbs on trailer and i needed a 7 inch raise. i bought a cheap $20 hitch and fliped it for a 6 inch raise 10 miles down the road the dam thing cracked in 2. so i went with a 7 inch raise, solid, class IV, 12,000lbs hitch and a 12,k ball i dont have any problems. wieght wise when you flip the hitch over to make it a raise you accually double the amount of stress on everything.

now if your boat only wieghs 2,000lbs then i dont THINK there will be a problem, but just double cheak.

and no my truck doesn't sit that low the trailer sits that high.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

just to be clear how much weight are we talking?
my cuddy is 6240 lbs on trailer and i needed a 7 inch raise. i bought a cheap $20 hitch and flipped it for a 6 inch raise 10 miles down the road the dam thing cracked in 2. so i went with a 7 inch raise, solid, class IV, 12,000lbs hitch and a 12,k ball i don't have any problems. weight wise when you flip the hitch over to make it a raise you actually double the amount of stress on everything..

NOT at all correct.... stress is the same.... the cause of your failure was not the inversion of the ball mount. cheap/defective more than likely.... now the further you lower OR raise the ball, the more leverage is applied

 

[Gun Dog]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

just to be clear how much weight are we talking?
my cuddy is 6240 lbs on trailer and i needed a 7 inch raise. i bought a cheap $20 hitch and fliped it for a 6 inch raise 10 miles down the road the dam thing cracked in 2. so i went with a 7 inch raise, solid, class IV, 12,000lbs hitch and a 12,k ball i dont have any problems. wieght wise when you flip the hitch over to make it a raise you accually double the amount of stress on everything.

now if your boat only wieghs 2,000lbs then i dont THINK there will be a problem, but just double cheak.

and no my truck doesn't sit that low the trailer sits that high.

How does flipping the hitch change the rise/drop?

 

[Otis357]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

My boat is about #1540 total weight in tow, and the tounge weight is at #203 as measured by my bathroom scale (with the trailer level)....
I know the max tounge weight for a Class 1 is #200, so I need to adjust the trailer to shift the boat back a little to reduce the tounge weight.
Will feel better if I can get that weight down to about #170 or #180.

Gun Dog - think about the change in tounge height if we were to take the hitch in the image, and rotate it 180degrees.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Gun Dog - think about the change in tounge height if we were to take the hitch in the image, and rotate it 180degrees.

In a single axle trailer, the lower the tongue, the more tongue weight you get. multi axles can behave like this to a point, but with some multiaxles you can't even get the tongue to the ground, the tongue will hover! Essentially once you have the tongue that low, tongue weight went to zero. It would be impossible to tow, but you could have negative tongue weight if you could get a hitch low enough.

 

[Gun Dog]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

Something like this? We would have to have roof mounted axles.

 

[mwmike270]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

when it comes to towing, it is best to leave some room in the ratings. each component is rated. while the Class IV or 4 is rated at 12,000 GTW (gross trailer weight) 1000 TW(tounge weight) there can be a lower rating on the actual part due to how it gets installed. I have a F250 with a Class IV and it was rated do to the combination of the truck, its 10,000 GTW. its stamped on the Hitch.

just because you put a ball mount or ball that can handel more in your Class 2, 3, or 4 does not bring you saftly up to the higher Class for towing. I can use a 8 ton Pintle in my Hitch and it will not upgrade my truck to handle 16000 lbs.

when you go over 8000lbs most of the ball mounts go solid and they are heavy. also a give away is the ball is also rated and you will see the Diameter of the Shank goes from 3/4 inch to 1" to 1 1/4", larger is for stronger.

when your pulling a 2000 Lbs load, most likely you could randomly grap components and you will be safe... most of the time due to the low rating. even truck bumpers can usualy hold that kind of weight. but when you start going up with weight. you have to be carful to match everything for the weight you are pulling.


correct your ride hight first, with the trailer level then check the tounge weight. get a ball mount to keep the trailer at that ride height. then work on the load, in this case its your boat. you need to move the boat forward or backwards or the axel on the trailer forwards or backwards to achieve the tounge weight you want. some people will add weight to the back or front of the boat this also works if you have the room in the rating.

some of the changes may be safer if you have a trailer place help you set this up.

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: Can a hitch be inverted?

instead of moving the boat/winch post back, put your tackle box at the back of the boat it should be enough to bring toung wieght into what your looking for most likely your not going to notice anything imagine 200# is like you standing on your bumper so its not that much. if there is very little toung weight your boat/trailer will tend to be a little rougher of a ride, i would say even though the hitch is rated at 200 and your 3 #s over you are ok.