Trailer hitch

[makemineatwostroke]

FWIW; a class 9 ball hitch is rated for 30,000 lbs with 3500 lbs tongue weight and goose neck hitches are up to 60,000 lbs .I saw a J 4500 MCI in Vegas with one of these hitches and the trailer looked to be in the 30ft range   

www.yourtrailerhitch.com  

have a great day   

[John316]

Thanks for all of the input.

I will look very seriously at this issue. I will run through some of the things hit and miss as I remember them.
First off I don't think that the fifth wheel extra tire deal will work for us. I have a friend that was pulling a 20k triple axle trailer with an Excursion. He tried using one of these but found them to be to big of a hassle with backing, turning, and he couldn't keep tires on it. Does anyone here have any experience with one?

The hitch that is on our bus now will be a job to get off. The guy we bought the bus from WELDED it onto the frame . That hitch is only rated for 1,000 tongue and 8k towing. The thing that we have to be most careful of, is not damaging the frame as we cut/grind that hitch off.

Our trailer is a tandem axle (7K axles) 16 ft X 102 in. We used to pull it (fully loaded) with a diesel twelve passenger van. It has electric brakes. I know those brakes work very well, because the trailer would slow the van down when stopping (depending what the power was that was dialed into the driver controller). So I am not concerned about the brakes on it.

As far as rear cameras. We have a one on the back of the bus now and have the accessory's for the trailer install.

One concern I have is the ground clearance. Seems like it will ground out a lot. I was wondering about building it into the bumper (maybe not as aesthetically pleasing, I know, but...), and bolting it in so the engine can be removed.

Also we tend to get into some really tight places with just the bus. I'm wondering what will happen with the trailer to compound the problem. I have looked at an electric trailer movable dollies like the one below. Does anybody have experience with one of these?
http://www.powercaster.com/Products.html

Whew,

Thanks, any more input would be great.

God bless,

John

P.S. DrDave-Reloaded, keep it coming. Your posts are great!!!

[Hartley]

I had one break at a bad weld on I-95 at night @65mph.
1000 lb tongue 6k trailer. ( I goofed basically)

It all stayed together but could have been ugly...

[John316]

DrDave-Reloaded,

That sure is something I would like to avoid!!! Thanks for the caution.

God bless,

John