Towing our 5,000# boat, need a few opinons

[gizmopt2002]

Hello all.

well i have an '04 V6, with the wieght carrying hitch. We tow a 22' deckboat wieghing at about 5,000# +/- 100 LBS. I haven't gone to a weigh station but i added up all of the wirghts, engine, boat, trailer, cargo, gas, ect. We towed it for the first time this summer to various places. I noticed that its about 2" leaning to the front, I'm wondering if i should flip the ball ount or not. But i have a dilema, i'm using the ball mount that came with the car. I tried to flip it over and i did, but it sping from left to right when it shouldn't. It looks like when toyota made the hole, thaey did it from the drop side, meaning if i flip it over the washer protrudes. Should i keep it at the 2" inch drop or should i go out and buy a new hotch and flip it?

 

[Spider5]

Do whatever it takes to make the trailer as level as possible. You might need to get a new ball with a larger diameter thread section.

 

[4by4th]

I've pulled a few boats of various sizes with different vehilcles over the years and have only experienced one problem with a boat leaning a little bit too far forward. The thing you need to make sure of is that it will drain through the rear drain plugs when it's raining. I had one set up that didn't drain properly because the front floor of the boat was lower than the back and the harder it rained the more water the boat carried and the more it leaned until I had to pull over and crank it up to get it to drain. If you have any doubts, hook it up at your house on level ground and see if it holds water or drains when you turn the garden hose on in the boat.

You might also check the weight distribution of the boat over the trailer axles to make sure you don't have too much weight on the front of the trailer causing it to sag. Moving the trailer axle(s) forward will correct that, but move it too far and the trailer can fishtail which is no fun at all.

I also have a 2004 V6 4Runner and have used the factory ball mount upside down from the beginning without any problem. Maybe try a different ball. Get the proper diameter threads to fit the hole without any movement. I don't recall any taper to the hole in my ball mount though.