Tow hitch height

[the_lone_wolf]

Hi all

Asking on behalf of my mum who just bought a 2003 Pennine Fiesta trailer tent

Went and picked it up for her as she was a bit nervous towing it straight away (she'll be fine after a bit of practice, used to tow horses and a caravan around not so long ago)

One thing I noticed, on both my V70 and her Focus, the tow ball is quite high up, meaning once it's hitched up the back of the trailer sits very low, it caught the spare tyre carrier pulling out of the sellers drive and also on every speed bump no matter how careful I was

The actual hitch is bolted straight on to the two chassis rails, and I was thinking with a few spacers it could be fairly easily raised enough to level out the trailer during towing - what I don't know is how this would affect how solid the hitch would be

Both our tow bars are swan neck types that you can't adjust the height of

[italianjob1275]

I've got a feeling you can raise the hitch but not lower it (or maybe vice versa)

However I think your hitches will be type approved so therefore you'll be asking for trouble as regards insurance etc if you started modifying it...

[the_lone_wolf]

Thanks for the reply

The actual hitch itself is totally separate from the chassis of the trailer, no welds - it's literally held onto the two box beam chassis rails with four bolts - I figure so long as you don't take the mickey in terms of the length or type of spacers it would be structurally sound

Not sure about type approval, I hadn't really considered it - people build their own trailers so there must be some scope for modification surely?

[italianjob1275]

Sorry I thought you meant the tow bracket on the car. I am an idiot sorry.

In that case then you can do your plan I think!

[the_lone_wolf]

Ah OK, thanks anyway...

[cpas]

I think the top of my towball on the car is 16" off the ground last time I measured it, if this helps?

[the_lone_wolf]

cpas said:

I think the top of my towball on the car is 16" off the ground last time I measured it, if this helps?

Thanks cpas

I'm pretty sure the car isn't the problem, we have two cars and the tow bars sit at the same height. Also, both work fine with our other trailer which has the hitch at a higher level...

I'll try and get a photo of the hitch on here soon

[cpas]

the_lone_wolf said:

cpas said:

I think the top of my towball on the car is 16" off the ground last time I measured it, if this helps?

Thanks cpas

I'm pretty sure the car isn't the problem, we have two cars and the tow bars sit at the same height. Also, both work fine with our other trailer which has the hitch at a higher level...

I'll try and get a photo of the hitch on here soon

If you can't space out the hitch, you may be able to get some plates made up to 'lower' the suspension units - or you may find they haven't been fitted properly for some reason. It seems a bit daft that any trailer wouldn't be designed to suit a standard towball height!

[the_lone_wolf]

cpas said:

If you can't space out the hitch, you may be able to get some plates made up to 'lower' the suspension units - or you may find they haven't been fitted properly for some reason. It seems a bit daft that any trailer wouldn't be designed to suit a standard towball height!

Yep, seems daft to me

The trailer is already pretty low, with the additional tilt added by the height of the hitch the spare wheel carrier at the back catches on kerbs when leaving driveways

Totally forgot to take a photo today when I was moving stuff around in the garage - it was bloomin cold!! I'll do it tomorrow - doesn't look like a difficult thing to space out, just concerned of the structural strength of adding the spacers

I wonder if the suspension units have dropped...?

[the_lone_wolf]

Photos - finally!! Sorry for the inspection lamp lighting, I'm on nightly builds on my phone and the flash crashes the camera app right now