How to Measure for a Drop Hitch?

It is always crucial for you to consider safety first when towing, and then you can go for what is required to have a comfortable tow as well as ride. The critical factor here is having the trailer towed to be as level as possible so that you can achieve both of the goals. Drop hitches are necessary because sometimes the towing vehicle is higher than the trailer.

Why it’s important to measure for trailer hitch rise and drop?

One must be thinking why to go for the trouble of measuring the rise or drop of the trailer hitch, and why can't the trailer be attached to the mount ball, load it with the cargo, and then drive away?

The answer is simple, if you have a trailer that can match the height of the trailer hitch, then one doesn't need to look for any extra steps, but it is worth noting that there are different types of vehicles, which means that there are many trailer hitch configurations in the market.

It is impossible to expect your trailer to match any mount receiver and vehicle perfectly, including the towing vehicle and towing accessories that you might be using. Therefore, you may need to account for the difference, and this is where the measurement of drop hitches comes in so that it gets possible to compensate for the right ones.

What is required to measure for a drop hitch?

You will need the trailer as well as the tow vehicle, both parked on the level ground. It will be ideal if the tow vehicle and the trailer get loaded with the cargo, which can be similar to what it will take for the trip, because this way, you will be able to get an accurate measurement. The trailer needs to be placed on the sitting level, and the kickstand will be required to prop up its tongue to the ideal height.

In the next step, you will be required to have a measuring tool. The best tool for you to have in such types of measurements is a tape measure. If there is no tape measure available, a ruler or a square should be working well for you.

How to calculate the required size of the drop hitch?

• First of all, the towing vehicle needs to be parked on level ground. The distance from the ground has to be measured right from the top of the hitch receiver.
• You can then go to the trailer that is to be towed and measure its distance from the ground to the coupler’s bottom. It is worth noting that the trailer must be on the sitting level and on level ground.
• The height of the hitch from the first step needs to be subtracted from the height of the coupler in the second step, and you will be able to calculate the exact size of the drop hitch.

Final Words

When you figure out the required drop or rise, you must be wondering how to get the drop hitch to match the distance of drop or rise? Usually, you can flip a tow ball mount or the drop hitch; therefore, the same accessory can be used to give you a rise. It is possible to flip the drop hitches and tow ball mounts, which means that you can easily adjust these for multiple trailers.