2 inch receiver capacity?

[ahlkey]

With my F650 I have both a gooseneck & a drop down 2 inch receiver. I am unsure of the 2 inch receiver capacity.  It is heavy duty drop down type hitch welded directly to the frame of the truck. I do have a 18K tri-axle custom trailer and it would be nice to be able to use it with that 2"receiver. I see that I can buy a 20K 2" forged ball mount and with the air suspension on the truck not sure I need any weight distribution hookup.  From what I can gather 15K is the largest WD unit on the market (which is what I have at the moment).   Anyone use these 20K 2" ball mounts on larger medium duty trucks?  My truck has a combined 40,000 capacity.

[whiskers]

my 2" Reese hitch has the capacities stamped on it, seems that would be required on any manufactured hitch with all the rules and regs today. whats a WD unit?

[ahlkey]

Nothing stamped on the hitch.  It just a large 6" X 2" heavy duty steel  frame welded directly to the I-Beam truck frame (see picture).  Definitely, not a factory bolt-on setup.  It is similar to the large plates that are put on dump trucks and other medium duty trucks but with a pintle hitch.   A WD is just a weight distribution hitch. 

[LAZERDAN]

I have one just like it on the camper.   go to any good camper or trailer web site or call your local rv sales and repair , most are very willing to help,you could send them the pic                         Lazerdan

[Ironwood]

I have started to see class IV reciever hardware. That would be a 2 1/2 - 3"  box tube instead of 2". I have just started seeing these, so look around at those for capacity. I just saw it w/ in a month ago, so VERY new.

 Ironwood

[woodhick]

Reid I think you mean class V.  I am pretty sure class IV is still a 2" tube.  We have a class V on a couple of our fire department trucks and they use a  2 1/2" receiver tube.  We have been using them for several years so there not "new" just not that common.

[ahlkey]

I have a appointment tomorrow with a industrial trailer/welding company.  They will be putting some stake pockets on my aluminum flatbed and will also look at my receiver setup.  Since the reciever is welded inside a large beam that is in turn welded to the frame (definitely custom --- no bolts) I doubt replacing the reciever with a larger one would add much strength as it is the large receiver beam welded to the frame beams that allows for the capacity.  However, if I do need to go to a 2.5" & 3" receiver that would be easier to do than adding a pintle hitch plate and cutting off the ball mount on my trailer to add a pintle hookup. 

[ahlkey]

Found out today that the hitch is a solid custom design that is typically done on larger trucks to add capacity.  Most often they weld to the truck frame a large plate and then add a pintle hookup to it in order to increase capacity.  The 2 inch receiver contained within this large beam will easily handle 20,000 as I hoped.  I will go ahead and get the 20,000 forged ball mount. 

[IMERC]

look into a class IV hitch, equalizers and 2-5/16" ball.....