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NorCalCat
03-30-2004, 09:13 AM
I will be towing with a Denali XL. Same as the Suburban. Does anyone know what size drop I need? Seems a bit low. I have not hooked the trailer up yet as I am going to pick the boat up in a couple weeks.
I ordered a 2 1/2" drop, 2 5/16 ball.
Thanks in advance.

CARGUY
03-30-2004, 09:48 AM
I just towed my new boat with my wife's 03 suburban and the standard 2 inch drop seemed to work fine.
Good luck!!

NorCalCat
03-30-2004, 10:52 AM
Is your wifes suburban 2500? 3/4 ton? They are a bit higher. I am just worried that it will be too low.

CARGUY
03-30-2004, 11:25 AM
Yes 2500 3/4 ton 4x4. Our prev suburban was a 1500 4x4 and the 2 inch was a little low, so I took the ball off and flipped the hitch upside down and re-mounted the ball and it worked perfect. By mounting the ball on the other side of the hitch you are raising the front end of the trailer slightly. One of the boat manufactures showed me this trick. I did this with a standard 2 inch drop.
Try the hitch you bought and if it looks too low, remove the ball, flip the hitch upside down so it is a slight raise and not a drop, and re-mount the ball. If it looks too high, try a 2 inch drop not a 2 1/2 inch drop.
PM me if you have further ?'s

NorCalCat
03-30-2004, 12:55 PM
Don't you loose strength in the hitch by turning it up-side-down?

CARGUY
03-30-2004, 01:25 PM
I towed my old boat for 3 years like that and never had a problem. I know of and have also seen several rigs on the freeway with this set up with much bigger boats than I have. I would think that if the hitch would be weaker, the hitch manufacturers would make it much more difficult to switch the ball.
I am a Chevy dealer and it pisses me off that G.M. can't make these 4x4 vehicles a little higher.
This set-up worked for me, but if you are concerned get some other opinions.
Good luck!!!!!!!!!

fourspeednup
03-30-2004, 10:13 PM
A lot of guys with slammed tow rigs roll flipped hitches. A couple inch raise seems a lot easier on the hardware than some of the 10"+ drops I've seen.:cool:

DeltaSigBoater
03-31-2004, 01:05 AM
Originally posted by fourspeednup
A lot of guys with slammed tow rigs roll flipped hitches. A couple inch raise seems a lot easier on the hardware than some of the 10"+ drops I've seen.:cool:
When i tow the 27'er home i use a '93 lowered sub., w/ the flipped hitch, the only thing is that you have to be careful of when you lowerthe tailgate because the toung of the trailer will hit the tailgate. Tows fine.

LOANER
03-31-2004, 08:43 AM
NCC,
I have the 1500 4x4 sub, and use the 2" drop regularly for around town. If you don't have 4x4 you may be sitting lower. For the river runs i use a 6" drop regularly just depends how weighted down I am.
For what it's worth there not that much money, I carry a 2, 4, and 6" and switch accordingly(just slide em in and out) by weight/sag in the rear. Sometimes we have 8 in the truck, others just 4 people. I also find it lighter on the way home then the way out due to consumption of provisions. So be prepared, you'll need to road test your rig with your boat and find the happy medium.
good luck!
Loaner

San Diego
03-31-2004, 09:24 AM
Does your Denali have load levelers? I thought they came stock on the Denali's. I have been wrong before.

San Diego
03-31-2004, 09:28 AM
My bad! I didn't read close enough. Autoride is not available on the 3/4 ton.

NorCalCat
03-31-2004, 09:57 AM
Does your Denali have load levelers? I thought they came stock on the Denali's. I have been wrong before.
SD,
The Denali does come stock with rear air-assisted load leveling and full-time all-wheel drive. I just figures the longer wheel bast and the weight of the trailer would cause some sag that the load levelers could not compensate for. Never towed with the truck before it is new.
Maybe the Denali package makes it look lower than it realy is...