Front hitch for backing the trailer in

[John and Debbie]

Hi all, I have a tight parking spot next to the garage and thought a front mounted hitch would make it easier to maneuver the trailer into the spot.  E-trailer has one that would fit my 2017 Ford Expedition EL, but the specs say it's only good for 500 pounds of vertical force.  If anyone uses a front hitch, what did you do to make it work?  Thanks

[jd1923]

9 hours ago, John Welte said:

specs say it's only good for 500 pounds of vertical force. 

Not a big concern at driveway speeds. Check with a local trailer shop. They would have a variety of choices and could weld the mount.

[John and Debbie]

1 hour ago, jd1923 said:

Not a big concern at driveway speeds. Check with a local trailer shop. They would have a variety of choices and could weld the mount.

That was my thought too.  I would think that their 500 pound limit takes into account the forces on the hitch of a static weight of 500 pounds hitting some movement.  With highway movement that weight would be higher on the hitch.  From physics the formula F=ma would explain it I would think.  F is force, m=mass, a=acceleration.  I would think that at driveway speeds it would be ok too.  Thanks for your comment.

John

[ScubaRx]

I've had front

12 hours ago, John Welte said:

Hi all, I have a tight parking spot next to the garage and thought a front mounted hitch would make it easier to maneuver the trailer into the spot.  E-trailer has one that would fit my 2017 Ford Expedition EL, but the specs say it's only good for 500 pounds of vertical force.  If anyone uses a front hitch, what did you do to make it work?  Thanks

I have had a front hitch on every vehicle I've owned since 1992. Some I made myself, but I've bought the last three. None I've bought are rated greater than 500 pounds of hitch weight. I just don't worry about it. My tongue weight on The Outlaw Oliver is probably in the 650 pound range, I've not measured it lately. But I am only moving the trailer about 100 feet to get it into its garage and, as everybody always says when describing their tow vehicle, it does just fine.

[MAX Burner]

FWIW:  We bought our front hitch from eTrailer about 6 years ago - used it on the RAM 3500 to get the AS into the cave.  For us, it was an absolute game changer.  Whereas backing the TT into the somewhat "narrow" 10-ft wide door it may have taken a few tries to get the perfect line-up.  With the the front hitch it was "1 and done" - piece of cake.  The 500# vertical weight limitation wasn't an issues for the 30-foot travel distance.  We highly recommend the front hitch option for tight quarters.

[2008RN]

I have a narrow 90 degree turn getting into my driveway, then I have to make a 60 degree turn to the opposite direction right away. The RV port is only 25 ft from the road. I practiced probably 20-30 times backing up normally into the spot had chosen before we built Hummi's home. I had the location marked out with cones and paint. I got it into the area twice without going out of bounds.  I decided that putting the trailer through a wall  greater than 90% was not going to cut it.  I was wanting a heavy duty bumper to stop deer ruining the front front end. That settled it, and I purchased a BuckStop front bumper with the hitch built in.

It is the slickest way to park the trailer.  I can park the trailer within a couple of inch of where I want it every time.

The only thing I wish was the hitch was off set to the passengers side by about a foot. This would make it easier to look around the trailer from the drivers seat.  I also use the hitch to carry bicycles on the front.