Trailer Hitch Clinic Part 1: You Need More than a Ball

Are you new to towing? Whether you’re toting a shiny new boat, embarking on a new lawn service business, or purchasing your first trailer to help with your move, it’s crucial to dress your vehicle in the right towing gear for the job. This task involves more than simply purchasing that shiny chrome ball you’ve seen on countless pickups and utility vehicles. You have to make sure you’re getting the right equipment for the job by familiarizing yourself with key lingo, including vehicle weight, trailer weight, and towing weight terminology. 

Trailer Hitch 101: Let the Acronyms Begin!

Before purchasing a shiny new trailer hitch, familiarize yourself with this vocabulary to ensure you outfit your vehicle wisely.

• Vehicle Weight Lingo

• Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)
  Your GVWR is the maximum load your specific vehicle can safely haul, including you, your passengers, and cargo. Don’t worry, there’s no heavy math here. Your manufacturer sets it. It will be on the panel inside your driver’s side door or in your owner’s manual.
• Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)
  This will always be lower than your GVWR. It includes your vehicle, driver, passengers, cargo, and fuel.
• Towing Capacity
  The maximum weight your specific vehicle can haul using a tow-on-the-ball setup. You can find this in your owner’s manual or contact your local dealer with your VIN#. Your tow load should never exceed the total maximum towing capacity of your vehicle, which is set by the manufacturer.
  NOTE: 2WD vehicles typically have a higher towing capacity than similar 4WD/AWD vehicles, as the latter house an extra drive shaft, axle, and transfer case, adding several hundred pounds.
• Curb Weight
  The weight of your vehicle with all the fluids topped, but without you, your passengers, or cargo inside. You might find it on the panel inside your driver’s door, engine plate, or owner’s manual.

• Trailer Weight Lingo

  • Gross Trailer Weight Rating (GTWR)
    This is the maximum amount of weight your trailer can safely carry, including cargo. You’ll find it on a placard in the trailer. It determines the class of your trailer.
  • Gross Trailer Weight (GTW)
    The actual weight of your trailer and all cargo. You can determine this at a weigh station.
  • Trailer Weight
    The weight of your trailer when it’s empty, also found on the trailer’s placard.
  • Payload
    The maximum amount of weight your trailer can carry, as set by the manufacturer. Subtract your trailer weight from the GVWR to determine.

• Towing Weight Lingo

  • Fifth Wheel
    These are found in the beds of larger pickups and semis used for hauling large RVs, horse trailers, tractor-trailers.
  • Gooseneck
    In larger pickup trucks, a gooseneck hitch ball is located in the bed.
  • Hitch Adapter
    This adapter converts the opening in the receiver tube from a small opening to a large one, and vice-versa, however, it reduces towing capacity.
  • Hitch Extender
    Used when additional clearance is needed for the tow vehicle’s bumper, however, it may reduce towing capacity.
  • Hitch Ball
    Alas! The component you know. The hitch ball or trailer ball attaches to the ball mount. The coupler mounts and locks into place over the ball, connecting your trailer to your tow vehicle.
  • Coupler
    This locking mechanism connects the trailer tongue to the hitch ball and must match precisely for a secure fit.
  • Safety Chains
    These connect the trailer tongue to the tow vehicle, serving as a backup in the event of coupler/ball failure. You must have at least two, attached to their own retainers.
  • Hitch Pin
    This steel pin locks the ball mount into the hitch tube.
  • Trailer Wiring
    This wiring mimics the turn signals and brake lights on your tow vehicle, ensuring safety.
  • Weight Distribution Hitch
    This hitch can help better distribute the weight of extremely heavy loads. Using spring bards attached to the frame, it disperses weight more evenly between the front and rear wheels of your tow vehicle.
  • Sway Control
    This mechanism reduces side-to-side sway caused by toting a trailer.

Simplify trailer hitch selection and installation. Find the perfect hitch for your tow vehicle and hauling job with the help of Ainsworth Trailer Repair today.