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Old 03-15-2014, 06:04 PM   #21
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I do. Metal bits, wood bits, concrete bits and bits of bits.
I've even got an unopened set of bits from Can Tire. Sealed in cellophane.
No hole before its time.
The only bit I don't have is the one I need.
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Old 03-15-2014, 08:42 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MyronL View Post
This question of stinger/ball location makes me wonder about where mine is. The stinger which Escape provided for my '96 Tahoe seems extended too far out. What you see is what I got --there is only one hole for a pin.

If I were to drill a second hole and close the gap, wouldn't that be best?
Yes, the closer the ball is to the rear axle - without anything hitting - the better. This is commonly done, although as Baglo correctly points out, ball mounts are available in various lengths so it may be possible to find a shorter one and avoid drilling a large hole in steel.

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Originally Posted by DonF View Post
I was also thinking about boring another hole through the bar to bring the ball closer to the back of the TV. Anybody know of a reason not to do so?
No. Some vehicles need more ball mount extension for clearance (such as to clear the bumper or an overhanging spare tire). If everything fits with the mount moved forward, I don't know of any reason not to do that.
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Old 03-15-2014, 09:07 PM   #23
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I'm a current Scamp owner. I also have an A.R.E canopy on my truck (the entire backend hinges up {gullwing} to get to the front of the bed) to lift up without hitting the jack on my Scamp, the Stinger has(d) to be longer than the standard close-to-the-hitch everyone is talking about. The Stinger I have is about 8" longer than the standard... about the same length that cpaharley NOW has for his 21' I haven't noticed ANY PROBLEMS due to the extra length of the Stinger... and I've towed my 16' Scamp Deluxe with this for more than a decade. YMMV
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Old 03-15-2014, 10:20 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Donna D. View Post
The Stinger I have is about 8" longer than the standard... about the same length that cpaharley NOW has for his 21' I haven't noticed ANY PROBLEMS due to the extra length of the Stinger... and I've towed my 16' Scamp Deluxe with this for more than a decade. YMMV
Obviously, the 21' Escape is longer and heavier than the 16' Scamp, and so both tongue weight and control are larger issues. Also, Donna's truck is as long in wheelbase as any tug used by an Escape owner, and much longer than most; the proportion of rear-axle-to-ball length to wheelbase length is the critical dimension.
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Old 03-15-2014, 10:55 PM   #25
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The only extra stinger I don't want is the one I don't need. I saw them pix of Jim's 21 hitched to an extended stinger and if you must have it because of your tow, etc., fine and good but frankly, seeing that long gap bothers me. Just do not like the look of it. I mean, it's like who do you want up on the line on your football team? Guys with long necks, or short ones?
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Old 03-16-2014, 09:38 AM   #26
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When I bought my first used Tacoma it had been used by an ardent fisherman. It had a very long (to me) stinger on it. When I asked why it was so long, he said it made it easier to swing his boat trailer into tight spaces and gave him more maneuverability when backing. His boat and trailer were fairly light with relatively light tongue weight to deal with.
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Old 03-16-2014, 09:57 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbaglo View Post
I do. Metal bits, wood bits, concrete bits and bits of bits.
I've even got an unopened set of bits from Can Tire. Sealed in cellophane.
No hole before its time.
The only bit I don't have is the one I need.
Most of mine are missing the 1/8" bit - seems to be the size I break the most often . Then when it go to buy one, Menards will have whole sets on sale for barely any more then one 1/8" so......
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Old 03-16-2014, 02:30 PM   #28
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I thought all the fish were in Minnesota.
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Old 03-16-2014, 05:08 PM   #29
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I thought all the fish were in Minnesota.
That's what the Minnesotans will tell you ....
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Old 03-17-2014, 06:56 AM   #30
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The reason for my new stinger was an increase in capacity. The old unit had a 500/5000 lb and a 6000 ball capacity, and was 1" too short. When I did use a weight distribution set up, it extended a lot further than this one. The new unit has 1000/10,000 capacity with a new 8,000 ball. and is 1" longer than the old set up. I believe I'm at the same length that the Andersen w/d hitch is set up for but will verify that when I install it. Perhaps someone who has the Andersen can give the length from hole in receiver to ball middle. The Andersen is rated even higher.
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Old 03-17-2014, 07:52 AM   #31
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Andersen hitch Center ball to center of the hole on ball unit 11". .


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Old 03-17-2014, 09:08 AM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
The old unit had a 500/5000 lb and a 6000 ball capacity, and was 1" too short. When I did use a weight distribution set up, it extended a lot further than this one. The new unit has 1000/10,000 capacity with a new 8,000 ball. and is 1" longer than the old set up. I believe I'm at the same length that the Andersen w/d hitch is set up for but will verify that when I install it.
Weight distribution system heads are often excessively long, in part due to the height-adjustment hardware. This excessive length aggravates the undesired transfer of load from front axle to rear, but they can get away with this to some extent because the WD action transfers load from rear to front (and to the trailer axle) - this is the whole point of WD. If you compare handling with and without WD engaged, using the same long ball mount, it tends to make the WD system look particularly good - a nice feature for marketing WD hardware. To have the extra length without the WD action is certainly not good for tug-trailer dynamics.
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Old 03-17-2014, 09:16 AM   #33
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So what you are saying that using the Andersen set up would help mitigate the longer ball mount vs what I have now? Am I pulling more weight off the front axle with the longer ball mount or the rear and what characteristics may I experience with the 2" longer ball mount, from an engineering point of view?
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Old 03-17-2014, 09:57 AM   #34
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Response I received from Anderson in regards to drilling an extra hole to move the hitch ball closer to the vehicle:

"If you choose to bore an additional hole closer to the vertical drop
U-Channel that is acceptable to do as long as you leave at least a full
inch of steel between the current hole and the new hole
you are going to drill."
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Old 03-17-2014, 10:10 AM   #35
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Ah. So the "no neck" principle will hold water. I knew it. Guessing the only down side could be the potential "jack-knife" limitations.
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Old 03-17-2014, 08:39 PM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
So what you are saying that using the Andersen set up would help mitigate the longer ball mount vs what I have now?
Anderson or other brand, there would be little point in WD systems if the hitch ball were at or forward of the rear axle, which is why WD systems don't exist for gooseneck and fifth-wheel configurations. Yes, any WD system partially counteracts the undesirable effect of the leverage the rearward ball has on the tug, so if an excessively long mount makes that worse, the WD system can fix the front and rear axle load situations. WD doesn't move the mass, so it does not fix the underlying dynamic problems.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
Am I pulling more weight off the front axle with the longer ball mount or the rear and what characteristics may I experience with the 2" longer ball mount, from an engineering point of view?
Yes, a longer mount means more load (weight) pulled off of the front axle, and onto the rear. To keep this in perspective, the lever arm of the ball (from tug rear axle to ball) is about four feet or so with typical tugs (a bit shorter with some SUVs such as the FJ Cruiser, a bit longer with some big trucks and vans), so a two-inch change is only a few percent.

The longer lever arm of the longer ball mount (or longer vehicle overhang, if comparing vehicles) means that any instability in the tug (hunting left and right) causes more wiggle in the trailer, and any wiggle in the trailer has more effect on the tug. If the tug's rear axle is near its capacity, or the springs and shocks of that rear axle are less stiff than ideal for the load, the longer lever arm makes that limitation of the tug worse.

You might not feel any difference. You hopefully won't have instability in either case and if so you won't realize that it sets in at a bit lower speed. I don't have any extra length in a ball mount to experiment (and I'm certainly not extending one just to try it), but a member of another forum said he distinctly noticed an improvement from this small change with a Scamp 16' and a full-size light-duty pickup truck... but Your Mileage May Vary.
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Old 03-17-2014, 08:40 PM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DonF View Post
Response I received from Anderson in regards to drilling an extra hole to move the hitch ball closer to the vehicle:

"If you choose to bore an additional hole closer to the vertical drop
U-Channel that is acceptable to do as long as you leave at least a full
inch of steel between the current hole and the new hole
you are going to drill."
Good info - thanks
The fact that they had this answer suggests to me that this is a common modification, and they they understand its value.
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Old 03-17-2014, 11:18 PM   #38
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I hope my question is not too off topic for this thread. I will be picking up our 17B with the lift package in june from ETI. Reace told me I would need a ball height of 20 to 21 inches,but the closest ball mount I can find comes in at around 18inches. If I reverse the ball mount, I would be over the 21 inches by a few inches. Will this height discrepancy make a noticeable difference to the towing of the trailer? I'm pulling with a new Dodge Ram. Would the lower mount be better than reversing the ball mount?
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Old 03-17-2014, 11:24 PM   #39
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Have you looked at an adjustable ball mount? You should be able to get fairly close.
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Old 03-17-2014, 11:52 PM   #40
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Have you been to etrailer.com?
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