Drawbar too low, bolt in extra box section?

[webbaldo]

I've found out that my drawbar on my trailer is 2inch too low for my new tow bar. I cant adjust the height of the tow bar as its the removable kind.

My tow bar is 16inches high, trailer hitch is 14, so itll look a bit weird when towing. I obviously expect the rear suspension will drop a bit with the weight but nose weight is only 30kg ish (10%) so not enough to drop 2 inches. So the trailer wont look straight

Trailer hitch is this kind of bolt on one



So. Can I just put another say 6inch bit of 2inch box section above the drawbar and bolt through this and the existing draw bar to give me the required height without welding? (Ie bolts through hitch/2inch box section spacer then drawbar itself?)

Will this be safe enough? trailer is under 300kg.

I was thinking like this

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Depending on what draw bar (ball mount) you have now, why not just buy another one with a different rise/drop that will suit your needs?

Here's a nice tutorial on figuring out what rise/drop you need.... http://www.etrailer.com/faq-ballmount.aspx



edit:

Oh and keep in mind that many draw bars can simply be flipped over to give you a drop vs a rise.

[webbaldo]

No trailer is all welded together now, by towbar I mean actual hitch on the car is like this, its a removable swanneck, and specific to the car so you cant change the ends


The height cannot be adjusted

And my trailer looks like this (note the bolt on coupler/hitch)



sorry if im being wrong with the terms, here in the uk, the car part is the towbar, trailer is hitch or coupler.

Here is a crap diagram trying to show what I wanna do and see if its safe. I really don't wanna weld it as it costs a fortune round here for any welding work and ive no access to any big enough for 3mm box.

[CarlLaFong]

What you propose should work just fine. Be sure to insert spacers in both the drawbar and the new riser to prevent them from crushing when you tighten the bolts. Otherwise, everything will loosen up under use and, possibly, fail. It goes without saying to use the best hardware you can with lock washers or locking nuts. Use large diameter bolts as you can drill holes for (1/2 inch or 13 mm) Check it often until you are confident that it's going to be OK. Don't forget a good safety chain

[eamarquardt]

What you propose should work just fine. Be sure to insert spacers in both the drawbar and the new riser to prevent them from crushing when you tighten the bolts. Otherwise, everything will loosen up under use and, possibly, fail. It goes without saying to use the best hardware you can with lock washers or locking nuts. Use large diameter bolts as you can drill holes for (1/2 inch or 13 mm) Check it often until you are confident that it's going to be OK. Don't forget a good safety chain

Pay attention to Carl's sage advise. He speaks with straight tongue. W/O the spacers you'll never be able to tighten up the bolts sufficiently. You want the void of the tubing filled with something solid so you can really tighten the bolts against something solid.

Cheers,

Gus

[webbaldo]

Thanks for the advice, yes I've been using metal sleeves in the box section.

I've just fabricated the spacer and made 2 holes

Ill be using m12 bolts with nylocks so it should be ok

[CarlLaFong]

Yup, should be

[angib]

webbaldo, you're really asking the question in the wrong place - components like this is the US and Europe are different and so is most towing practice.

But what you propose to do is fine, as long as you buy proper bolts.

[Shadow Catcher]

I am a big fan of "parts left out don't go wrong". The level of complication of modifying the trailer tongue and the simplicity of buying the correct trailer hitch ball mount with the correct height, http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mount

[Kharn]

You could weld the two pieces together, or bolt the two touching surfaces only (assuming you can get a bolt and ratcheting box wrench in one and the nut and a standard box wrench in the other) with a ton of loctite, and then bolt the coupler to the upper section only. If it were my trailer, I would pay to have it welded.

[webbaldo]

Thanks for all the replies, ive fabricated the spacer and bolted on with sleeves to stop them crushing the box section. Used hi-tensile bolts.

Seems just as secure as the original setup

[CarlLaFong]

The hitch that you have pictured is meant to be bolted on. The mere addition of a simple spacer and a few internal sleeves does not turn a simple hitch into the international space station. Seeing as how most European standards are much higher than most of ours and that they have approved that hitch, you'll be just fine. There will always be naysayers
Why is it naysayers rarely say, "Nay"???

[pchast]

I was happy to see your reference to hi-tensile bolts. Did you also find the correct nuts.
I used to see too often cheep hardware used in questionable situations.

[webbaldo]

Yep, proper 8.8 grade (UK strength grade) nylock nuts

[angib]

....the simplicity of buying the correct trailer hitch ball mount with the correct height.....

Only possible in North America - in Europe, receiver hitches are not used, so the ball height on the tow vehicle can't be altered.