Fish-Hawk.Net

hey all i have an old dakota that im planning on using for pulling my tinny locally (no long trips) it has a very rusty bumper hitch (its a 1990 3.9L V6) well i dont trust the bumper hitch cuz of the rust so im wondering if its worth it to put a hitch (sleever kind) on and spend the money even though its an old hitch... or just bolt/weld a strip of metal over the risted bumper hitch and put the ball on that any suggestions?

(boat is a 14 foot tinney with a 10 hp johnson from 1954) so its not heavy i can lift the toung of the trailer and role it up and down the driveway and im not a big guy

thanks

jebby

jebby call a wrecking yard for another bumper you shoulsd be able to get one for 50 bucks, haggle and barter but it's probably easier to replace that, maybe. I don't know but I'd try a wrecker.

have been (i have a parts truck on the way but its cracked) but u think if i get that bumper fixed up ill be ok with a bumper hitch?

I see what you are up against, so ya take a piece of steel and weld it if you can or just drill them both and through bolt them together. You are not going to have more than 50lbs tongue weight anyway. Or you shouldn't 10% of the trailer/boat/motor weight for tongue weight so you should be fine with a chunk of steel for support. I used to pull that type of rig with an old honda accord and my modified version of trailer hitch and it worked fine. There is not that much weight so you should be fine.

asome info thx.... i think thats all it will be cuz free is better than $$$

I have got a similar/related question dealing with towing using a ball on the bumper. I just bought a 14' Starcraft...pics to come shortly....and will be towing it with a 2005 Ranger 3L. I don't have a Reese hitch or anything like that and was thinking of just towing it with the ball on the bumper. I figure it'll be strong enough as it's not a huge boat...but I figured I'd see what everyone else thought about it.

Thanks for any info you can lend!

Cheers,

MuskieWannabe

MuskieWannabe wrote:I have got a similar/related question dealing with towing using a ball on the bumper. I just bought a 14' Starcraft...pics to come shortly....and will be towing it with a 2005 Ranger 3L. I don't have a Reese hitch or anything like that and was thinking of just towing it with the ball on the bumper. I figure it'll be strong enough as it's not a huge boat...but I figured I'd see what everyone else thought about it.

Thanks for any info you can lend!

Cheers,

MuskieWannabe

Towed a 16 footer for a long time off the bumper of a S-10. Never a problem. You might want to make sure that the boat/trailer is level when on the fender hitch. You might also want to check and see what the max tongue weight is for the bumper. It is usually stamped into the bumper right beside the mounting hole for the ball. To figure out the tingue weight, borrow someones bathroom scale and place the tongue on that when you have all the normal gear you are going to carry in the boat.

I guess then that my only real concern is the height of my back bumper. My truck stands a little higher than some others but I mean it is still a small truck so I don't think it should throw it off by that much.

Thanks for the info.

MW

Just went and checked my truck...the tongue capacity is 200lbs, although I've stood on it before and she ain't yet broke. The towing capacity is 2000lbs, which is well more than my boat...The ball sits 22" off the ground, which I don't think is too high. I would imagine that a normal boat trailer would want it's tongue fairly close to that height so I think I'll be okay.

Am I wrong here? Anyone have any other thoughts or corrections to make as far as my thinking?

Thanks a lot chaps,

MW

Hi Muskie Wannabe

When you hook up the boat trailer it should all line up fairly level or horizontal. You don't want the back of the trailer tipped down to much. One thing to watch for when using the ball on bumper set up is NO TIGHT TURNS or your tongue will bind on your bumper. This can cause a fair bit of damage, I know from personnel experience If you are going to be doing a lot of trailering with this set-up I would spring for a proper hitch, I know they are expensive but are well worth it, and you will be much more at ease when you get into difficult situations.

Thanks Russ