Page 1 of 1

towball stress

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:19 pm
by TRobbo
One for the engineers.
If the trailer hitch does not sit level on the tow ball (i.e. the draw bar points either up or down to reach the tow ball), does it create a higher level of stress on the tow ball or cause an increased liklihood of the trailer parting ways with the tow bar?

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:13 pm
by disco-damo
well since the tow ball is designed to take the stresses over the whole range of movement there would not be a problem unless the hitch went beyond where the hitch bottoms out against the ball.
I towed caravans for a hire company for a couple of years and I only ever had 1 hitch fail and that was because it was old and stuffed.
As long as you alow for a few degrees of movement you should be ok.
The only legality that would come into it would be how you load the trailer, so that the load is secure and not going to fall off because of the accute angle.
The handling will be the only real drawback and they tend to wobble around alot more when on an angle.
But besides all this, go spen $70 and buy a good quality drop hitch to allow for the difference.