How level should your trailer be when towing?

[IQRaceworks]

I have my truck/trailer set up about as good as I can....but the trailer is still a little "nose high". I have the load bars tensioned so that the truck is just about perfectly level while towing.....and I have the ball dropped down as low as I can get it on the hitch bar....but the trailer still is a few inches high in the front, and not perfectly level.

The only real solution I can see is that I need to buy a longer drop hitch bar, so I can move the ball mount down a few more holes. I'm assuming that getting the trailer closer to level will also make the load distribution bars work better....keeping my truck level and being able to use less tension on them. Right now I pretty much have to have them maxed out to keep the truck level.

Should I but a tow bar with more of a drop so I can set the ball lower and get the trailer perfectly level.....or should I just tow it the way it is?

Any advice would be great!!

Here is a picture....you can see that the front of the trailer is slightly higher than the rear.....I think lowering the ball 1.5"-2" would do the trick.

[harley]

Truck looks toooo perfect . Drop the bars down one link (if it is the chain style) and you should be good . Remember you will be adding some front weight in the camper...kooler,extra beer,groceries ,etc . That will help even things. And the one less link will take the max tension off the bars.

[Burgy]

I think I would buy a new shank, like you said, to get the ball lower. Then you should be able to get the bars parallel to the ground.

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Acc...nch_Hitch.aspx

[MartyinSC]

Originally Posted by Burgy

I think I would buy a new shank, like you said, to get the ball lower. Then you should be able to get the bars parallel to the ground.

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Acc...nch_Hitch.aspx

That's what we did, to bring our Z-1 down to where it ought to be on our Nissan Titan. The only issue is the shank is REAL close to the ground. On most bumps and railroad tracks we're OK, but some driveways cause a scrape.

[johnboytoo]

You could 'split the difference' - i.e. go down 1 inch on the rear of the truck...
while getting the trailer level will help in the long run since it will balance out the load on the trailer axles and tires (no small thing with ST tires!), how it tows is the most important thing...

but is that road a level road or does it have a crown that you are parked on (maybe just that picture ?!?)

having your truck a LIL low in the back is not a terrible thing as it's more important to have enough tongue weight to ensure no tail wagging the dog ! IIRC, our 350 was about 2 inches lower on the rear than the front when hooked up and it towed fine even with the heavy redwood on the back.

How does it tow once loaded up and you hit some dips ?

[BMVillines]

Great question. I've been debating going through all the work of dropping my hitch down a notch too. I was curious what kind if difference it would make. Hopefully someone has the answers.

[JBOURQUIN]

Id say your bars are way too tight. When adjusted properly they should run as close to parallel to the trailer frame as possible. If they tip upwards that far when properly tensioned then you need to tip the head of the hitch towards the trailer more.

[r2millers]

With a taller truck, you need to lower the ball height. Get your tongue weight before anything else to ensure its a minimum of 10% of your total trailer load.

Too light and it will flop around like crazy, not to mention, very unsafe.

I wouldn't pull that as shown in the picture, until I knew it was safe.

[ewbldavis]

Did you get it leveled out?

I've done alot of adjusting in the past. yours looks like going down one hole on the ball mount will fix 'er up.

Measure truck for proper WD setup - best way. Front should get half way back between no WD and no trailer. Without knowing terrain, the truck looks like it sits well in photo - just the ball height is incorrect.