Tow Ball Height Changed?

[604LMDGUY]

Guys, something weird happened.

MY brand new '23 Hemi Big Horn is just over 1000 miles. Last weekend I hooked my TT (3500 lbs) on the truck and brought it to a trailer shop for some inspection. When I hooked up the trailer, everything seemed to be normal. The receiving hitch/ball set up was the same as when I used my Frontier Pro 4x to tow. After the hook up, I was able to drop my tail gate flat without touching the hitch ball just by one hair of space in between. The trailer was on the same level with the truck. I dropped off my TT in the parking lot of the shop as usual.

Three days later when I went to pick up the TT, I raised the tongue jack all the way up to the end and still wasn't able to get the ball underneath the tongue. I had to ask the shop guy to use the fork lift to lift the tongue up and slide a block under the tongue jack stand so that I was able to slide the ball underneath. After hook up, I opened the tail gate and found that the tail gate wasn't able to drop all the way down as it would touch the ball/tongue. The height of the ball raised by one ball. So it looks like I will have to adjust the receiver set by sliding the ball down. Now the trailer's front end sits a little high on the hitch and not level.

I checked the receiver set and didn't find anything loose to changed, and apparently the rear end of the truck didn't change. Isn't this weird? Or my truck's rear end changed after towing? I was driving really nice and slow with tow/haul mode on as the manual says. Now I noticed that the rear end of the truck sits a little higher than before. The truck body used to be flat, but now the rear end sits somewhat higher. The truck looks nicer though.

Any ideas?

 

[Rick3478]

Guys, something weird happened.

MY brand new '23 Hemi Big Horn is just over 1000 miles. Last weekend I hooked my TT (3500 lbs) on the truck and brought it to a trailer shop for some inspection. When I hooked up the trailer, everything seemed to be normal. The receiving hitch/ball set up was the same as when I used my Frontier Pro 4x to tow. After the hook up, I was able to drop my tail gate flat without touching the hitch ball just by one hair of space in between. The trailer was on the same level with the truck. I dropped off my TT in the parking lot of the shop as usual.

Three days later when I went to pick up the TT, I raised the tongue jack all the way up to the end and still wasn't able to get the ball underneath the tongue. I had to ask the shop guy to use the fork lift to lift the tongue up and slide a block under the tongue jack stand so that I was able to slide the ball underneath. After hook up, I opened the tail gate and found that the tail gate wasn't able to drop all the way down as it would touch the ball/tongue. The height of the ball raised by one ball. So it looks like I will have to adjust the receiver set by sliding the ball down. Now the trailer's front end sits a little high on the hitch and not level.

I checked the receiver set and didn't find anything loose to changed, and apparently the rear end of the truck didn't change. Isn't this weird? Or my truck's rear end changed after towing? I was driving really nice and slow with tow/haul mode on as the manual says. Now I noticed that the rear end of the truck sits a little higher than before. The truck body used to be flat, but now the rear end sits somewhat higher. The truck looks nicer though.

Any ideas?

Things do shift around a bit, but not a full ball. Does anyone else have access to the truck? Like a wife or neighbor who needed a lower drop for their rig and thought you wouldn't notice?

 

[604LMDGUY]

Things do shift around a bit, but not a full ball. Does anyone else have access to the truck? Like a wife or neighbor who needed a lower drop for their rig and thought you wouldn't notice?

No way! I parked my truck in my garage almost every day and drove it daily. Anyone who tries to do a suspension job on my truck would've caused a big scene plus bodily harm to himself.

 

[Redz72]

I think @Rick3478 means did a neighbor or someone pull the old “swap ball hitch” trick and hope you didn’t notice?

 

[604LMDGUY]

I think @Rick3478 means did a neighbor or someone pull the old “swap ball hitch” trick and hope you didn’t notice?

No, cuz every time I get finished using the hitch I will right away store it in my garage. I know exactly what my hitch looks like! LOL

 

[CalvinC]

Did you accidentally put your truck in the dryer? Sounds like it shrunk.

 

[604LMDGUY]

Oh, the shop did check the brakes, replaced bearings, shackle bolts etc....Will these jobs somehow.change the height/ground clearance of my trailer? I find it's hard to believe.

 

[LaxDfns15]

Yes if they jacked up the rear end to replace a bunch of stuff it'll take a bit of driving to settle the suspension back down. Although I'm pretty sure we don't have shackles on our trucks since we have coils?

 

[Belvedere]

Were you and the trailer parked on a flat surface both times? If not and front of the truck and or trailer was lower when hooking up that would likely explain this.

 

[Camelot]

Any chance that you have air suspension on your truck as an add on?

 

[Threesuns1]

The only thing that would change the relationship between the hitch and the tail gate would be the hitch being raised or the tailgate being lowered.

 

[Belvedere]

The only thing that would change the relationship between the hitch and the tail gate would be the hitch being raised or the trail being lowered.

If there is considerable angle between truck and trailer, trailer tongue could easily contact the tailgate when down if it was just barely not when everything was flat.

 

[Threesuns1]

If there is considerable angle between truck and trailer, trailer tongue could easily contact the tailgate when down if it was just barely not when everything was flat.

I would agree if you're talking about the end of the tailgate and back from the ball.

 

[Belvedere]

I would agree if you're talking about the end of the tailgate and back from the ball.

Yes, otherwise you are correct in your previous statement.

 

[604LMDGUY]

Any chance that you have air suspension on your truck as an add on?

LOL I wish! The tailgate part really doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[DEG]

If you have an adjustable ball height drawbar someone moved it up. If you had a fixed drawbar then someone needed one with more drop and swapped you for the same model but with a couple of inches less drop.

Raising the suspension will raise both the drawbar and the tailgate equally and will not change the clearance. A change in angle of the trailer will change the distance between the tongue behind the ball and the top of the tailgate, but not at the ball. Even so, if the truck seems to sit higher, making the front of the trailer higher, the change in angle would make the tailgate further away from the trailer tongue; not closer.

 

[604LMDGUY]

If you have an adjustable ball height drawbar someone moved it up. If you had a fixed drawbar then someone needed one with more drop and swapped you for the same model but with a couple of inches less drop.

Raising the suspension will raise both the drawbar and the tailgate equally and will not change the clearance. A change in angle of the trailer will change the distance between the tongue behind the ball and the top of the tailgate, but not at the ball. Even so, if the truck seems to sit higher, making the front of the trailer higher, the change in angle would make the tailgate further away from the trailer tongue; not closer.

That's why I can't figure out what's going on. One thing I'm certain is that my receiver set/draw bar has been the same. No one touched it. I can't confirm if the pavement was crooked, but it seemed flat to me. Just the tailgate part really got me .

 

[Rick3478]

Is it one of those dual ball things and you turned it upside-down?

 

[Rick3478]

Was mezcal or absynthe involved?

 

[604LMDGUY]

Is it one of those dual ball things and you turned it upside-down?

No, single ball.