Apparently, Laura and I have a long trip coming up. We’ll be once again trailering all our belongings across the country in an effort to get ourselves situated for some major adventure. And this landing spot, by far, is going to be the most adventuresome yet. Big mountains, big snow, big vacation spots and big ocean. I’ll give you one last hint because I’m not going to tell you exactly where we intend to end up until we get there. “Big moose.” That’s it. That’s all I’m saying.
I kind of knew this trip was coming for a while. I’ve been in talks with a few people and things have been rolling right along. While I wasn’t sure of what exactly was going to happen, I did want to prepare as much as I possibly could, so I began getting what we needed squared away. One major item I needed was a good ball mount for my new truck.
While I already had a mount that I used to get us to Florida, it’s only rated for 6,000 pounds and it’s one of those entry level, hollow Reese hitches you can find at Home Depot or Lowe’s. What I needed was a really heavy duty ball mount that could handle upwards of 7,000 or 8,000 pounds. I know we don’t own that much weight, but the trailer I’m getting weighs in at 2,000 and about a ton and a half later brings total gross weight to 5,000. That coupled with the various toys I may be finding myself driving in the future might bring me above the weight an entry level hitch can bear. Plus, my current mount’s height isn’t adjustable. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing a tilted trailer being pulled down the road. Trailers really need to be level, especially tandem axle ones.
Anyway, after much research, I ended up getting a sweet “CURT Manufacturing 45900 Channel-Style Adjustable Dual Ball Mount.” Weighing in at 32 pounds, I’d say this mount is heavy duty enough.
Since I didn’t really find many nice, up close photos online before I purchased this hitch, I thought I’d do other truckers a favor and take a few myself. I got all the important stuff – the sticker on the side with all the pertinent information listed, the weight ratings of the hitch and the balls, the look of the hitch and what it looks like on my Ford F-250. I hope it helps. I’ll also put a video review by etrailer.com below the pictures. Wait, can’t do that. Here’s the link.
Are you moving again? What toys? I saw a nice 84 gti for sale ill see if i can find it again!
Just wanted to let you know, I was searching online, desperate for any information on ball mounts, as I needed to get one for my neighbor’s boat trailer I was going to be hauling (with the boat attached of course). This blog set me on the course that eventually led me to where I got all the information I needed. By going thru the etrailer link you provided, I eventually (many google searches later) found another site, where they have stuff like “how to” guides and advice pages – really nice. I just wanted to thank you for the help.
Great Article on driving to Maine!
I am about to do the same with a Diesel Ford f250 and a camper unit that sits on top