Tow ball mount length

I am going to be towing a tear drop trailer. The factory receiver is tucked under the bumper. I am looking at the Curt ball mounts. 8 1/4 and 10 1/4 inch lengths are being considered. Both with a 2 in drop. At least those are the sizes shown on Amazon. I have never towed anything before. Is the 8 1/4 too short? Is there any harm in going longer to add more clearance?

 

Shorter is better (as short as practical) - the longer the ball mount, the more downward leverage will be exerted by the weight of the trailer (tongue weight) to the rear of the tow vehicle.

 

either will work, but unless you need the length for clearance purposes go shorter. If you mount anything on your trailer tongue, such as a box, battery, bike rack, etc make sure you check the turn radius clearance cause you don't want anything on your trailer tongue to hit your truck or tail lights. Also make sure your safety chains/cables are securely fastened, not dragging, and will let you make turns properly (if too tight they will not give enough movement). If you have never towed anything hook it all up and drive around your neighborhood (or any lightly traveled area to get used to pulling the load. Practice stopping (the extra weight will make a difference), check to make sure your lights all work and your mirrors still provide visibility. Have fun and be careful.

 

I will add to that to go to a big parking lot and practice backing up. Driving forward with a trailer is not to difficult. But eventually you will be parked somewhere and someone will park in front of you requiring you to back out, or some other reason such as parking the trailer at a campground.

You want to know what you are doing.

 

Set the trailer level and measure the height of the coupler before you mount your ball. Just a guess but I would add 1/2" or maybe 1" for every 200 lbs of hitch weight. You might find that you need to turn that 2" drop over for a 1" rise. That is what I use on my boat trailer. Trailer sits slightly high in front which is fine by me because if I stuff in the bed it is level.

 

I have the Curt 8" and it works great.