Trailer hitch installation in Arvada

The trailer decides the setup. Its loaded weight, its tongue weight, the coupler it uses and whether it has electric brakes set the hitch, the plug and what else the truck needs, so those are the first things we ask. Send the trailer's numbers, or a photo of its tongue and its plug, and we build the truck around it.

Colorado requires brakes on every trailer of 3,000 pounds gross weight or more, applied from the cab, which is why most campers and equipment trailers need a brake controller as well as a hitch.

The hitch connects the trailer. That is one job of five: a trailer on the right hitch can still sit nose-down, push the truck on a long descent or run without brake lights. We quote the five together because each one changes the next: the truck's ride height sets the drop, and a brake controller needs a 7-pin to reach the trailer's brakes.

A receiver hitch bolts to the truck's frame and gives you a square opening at the back for a ball mount, a bike rack or a cargo carrier. CURT rates the hitch classes like this: Class 1 and Class 2 use a 1-1/4-inch receiver and are rated up to 2,000 and 3,500 pounds of gross trailer weight. Class 3 and Class 4 use a 2-inch receiver and are rated up to 8,000 and 10,000 pounds. Class 5 runs from 16,000 to 20,000 pounds, with a 2-1/2-inch receiver on the heaviest versions.

The class is a ceiling. In CURT's words, "Your towing capacity is always limited to the lowest-rated towing component, whether the hitch, an accessory, the vehicle, your trailer or any other component of the towing system." CURT's Class 3 hitch for the Honda CR-V has a 2-inch receiver and is rated to 3,500 pounds. The ball mount, the ball, the coupler and your truck's own tow rating count the same way, so we pick the hitch last.

Receivers come in 2-inch, 2-1/2-inch and 3-inch openings, and heavy-duty pickups can have one of the larger two. The size decides which ball mounts and accessories fit, not how much the truck can tow. If your truck already has a receiver, you may not need a new one: often the fix is a ball mount at the right height, wiring or a brake controller. We check its size, rating and condition before we quote a replacement.

We fit CURT, Husky and other vehicle-specific receivers, and the vehicle picks the brand. Husky says its line fits "nearly every vehicle on the road." We choose the one made for your year, model and configuration, then check its rating against the rest of the setup.

A receiver also carries a hitch-mounted bike rack or cargo carrier when there is no trailer behind the truck. Tell us what will go in it, and we check the rack and its load against the hitch's rating.

Ratings change with the model and your truck's setup, so we check both before we quote.

A gooseneck or a 5th wheel moves the trailer's weight off the bumper and into the bed, near the rear axle. A gooseneck couples to a ball in the bed, and it is common on flatbed, horse and equipment trailers. A 5th wheel locks the trailer's kingpin into a set of jaws, and it is the standard hitch for fifth-wheel campers. The trailer's coupler decides which one you need. We install B&W gooseneck and 5th wheel hitches, and how each one mounts depends on the truck.

Ford, Ram and GM pickups can come from the factory with a puck system: mounting points built under the bed, reached through capped holes in the bed floor. B&W's Companion OEM 5th wheel drops into the four holes and pins in place with no drilling, and B&W makes an OEM gooseneck ball and safety chain kit for the same factory systems.

A truck without pucks gets an under-bed mount. B&W's Turnoverball bolts to existing holes in the frame and needs one 4-inch hole in the bed floor. B&W states that no welding or bed removal is required. The ball flips over and sits flush when you are not towing, and the same mount carries B&W's Companion 5th wheel, which lifts out to give you the bed back. Its base weighs 98 or 129 pounds depending on the model, so plan for two people when it comes out.

So the bed stays on for the B&W systems we fit. We install on factory puck systems and on under-bed mounts, and when a truck has factory pucks we use them rather than add under-bed hardware. If your truck has a spray-in bedliner, B&W's advice is that either order works, and a liner sprayed after the hole is cut covers the cut edge. A drop-in liner needs a matching hole cut in it.

Tell us what else the bed will carry before we order. DECKED says its Drawer System is not compatible with gooseneck or 5th wheel hitches, because its center support sits where the hitch goes. Its Tool Box is, with at least 24 inches of depth and 6 inches of height clearance. A tonneau cover has to be open or off while a 5th wheel is hitched, so we plan the cover and the hitch together.

From Arvada, Golden or Wheat Ridge, the way to the mountains is I-70, and its long grades are where a towing setup gets tested. Two things matter most on that drive: the trailer sitting level, and its brakes doing their share on the way down.

A leveling kit or lift raises the receiver, so the trailer's nose tips up unless the ball mount drops to meet it. The Weigh Safe drop hitch has a tongue weight gauge built into the shank, comes in 4, 6, 8 and 10-inch drops, and ships with 2-inch and 2-5/16-inch balls. CURT puts the target tongue weight at about 10 to 15 percent of gross trailer weight, and the gauge tells you where you are before you leave the driveway. If the truck is getting a lift and a hitch, tell us about the trailer when you book the lift, and we size the drop once.

We set the brake controller up for your trailer, so its brakes take their share on a long descent. Our towing guide covers weight distribution, payload and the rest of the setup.