Tailgate, can it open when hooked up?

[Mainiac]

Wondering if there is room to open a tailgate of a pickup, while hooked to an Oliver?

[bugeyedriver]

Canoe12,

 

Most likely, but maybe not.  It depends on the height of your hitch, the motion and drop of your tailgate, whether or not you have the basket option, etc.   There is no definitive yes or no to this question . . . it depends.

 

In my case, I have an Elite I with a (the tongue is set at the optional middle  length . . .  something not adjustable with current rigs).  My TV is a Tacoma and I have a 2 1/2" rise on my hitch.  My tailgate folds down without a problem when I am hitched to the trailer.  If I use my hitch with a bike rack receiver addition, I cannot open the tailgate.

 

Tell us about your tow vehicle and whether or not you will have a basket.  If someone here has the same setup they might chime in and let you know.

 

Pete

[rideandfly]

Canoe12,

 

We have 3 1/8" clearance between the tailgate & top of Bulldog hitch latch with a 1" rise ball mount on our 2016 Toyota Tundra.

 

Hope this helps,

[J-Rhett]

My 1995 Ford F-250 4-wheel drive tail gate clears the hitch by a couple of inches. Bottom of my gate when open is 30.25 inches off the blacktop. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

 

[Raspy]

One of the advantages of the long Oliver tongue is being able to open the tailgate.  My Ram tailgate opens with no clearance problems when hooked up.  The front part of the tongue even becomes a convenient step to get up into the bed of he truck.

[Mainiac]

Thanks. I was thinking about getting a ladder that screws to the tailgate. I may anyway as it is easier to recover the boat to reach the winch...

[Mike and Carol]

My tailgate hits the hitch when open.  I have to be very careful not to enlarge the small dent I already have.  Trying to figure out how to solve this....

[Mainiac]

Thanks, I'll have to do some measuring. On my 2016 2500 Ram it is 23" to the bottom of the 2" tow tube. So I know I will need a drop hitch to get the top of the ball at the recommended 23 1/2". Also I want to get a better one than what I have now, something rated at least 10,000 lbs. Have waited until we take the snowplow off to get an accurate measurement on height, but after 60" of snow so far, we are not sure if it's over.

Our intial concern was not wether we would hit the hitch or not, it was whether we would touch the leveling jack. Seems like that is not a concern like it is on our utility trailer.

How much higher is the Bulldog and components than the top of the ball?

[John E Davies]

You shouldn't have any clearance issues with a HD Ram. These are tall trucks. Look at the first page of the Elite II brochure. That pic shows it connected to a Sequoia which is considerably lower.

 

Here are the Install Instructions for the Bulldog....  http://www.bulldogproducts.net/support/installation/N028243.pdf

 

I think it comes with the H Style, with the conventional vertical lever on top. You could swap it for one of the lower versions, or just extend your ball out by using a longer ball mount. You aren't going to overload that truck with a longer one, though it will reduce the departure angle some, if that matters to you....

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Mainiac]

Thank you. Very informative...

[Kgoodusav]

I also have a Toyota Tundra and Elite II but if we lower the tailgate we have to put a towel on the hitch because it does touch.

[Mainiac]

Thanks, I think I am going to be ok. The bottom of the tow tube is 23" high and the recommended "top of the ball" for towing the Oliver is 23 1/2". That means I will have replace my triple ball mount with a 4" drop (maybe 5"). My concern is I am going to add a ladder to the inside of the tailgate to gain access to the bed as we have added a tonneau cover. We don't want the added weight to cause us to drop and dent the tailgate as we have with the old truck. (We get on the tailgate when cranking the boat on it's trailer..a lot dryer that way). We tow up to 6 different trailers, so we will have to be careful as they are all different...

[rideandfly]

Canoe12,

 

Here's an older photo, top of the Bulldog Hitch latch to the rear view camera is about 1 1/2", not 3 1/8", my mistake.

 

 

Here's how the Elite II tows with empty tanks connected to the 2016 4X4 Tundra with 1 " rise ball mount and top of ball before loading is 22 1/8":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SeaDawg]

Just an FYI, it's inexpensive, and works great for us.

We carry a little Rubbermaid folding two step ladder for access to the truck bed. When not use, it holds a home Depot water cooler, with ice,at the campsite . My friend installed one if those drop down tailgate ladders. I feel much more stable on the inexpensive, wide base rubbermaid that we've toted around for nine years....

Sherry

[John E Davies]

 

 

Your pic reminded me, I need to bring a padlock with me to Hohenwald in a month. What is the largest padlock diameter that will fit through the latch holes? Is yours 1/4"?

 

Also, there are way too many threads hanging past the coupler nuts. Have you raked your leg on one yet? I suggest that you cut them nearly flush with the nuts and grind the ends smooth.... I hate shin hazards like that. It's already hazardous enough maneuvering around a hitch.

 

Thanks.

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[KarenLukens]

rideandfly wrote:

 

Your pic reminded me, I need to bring a padlock with me to Hohenwald in a month. What is the largest padlock diameter that will fit through the latch holes? Is yours 1/4″?

 

Also, there are way too many threads hanging past the coupler nuts. Have you raked your leg on one yet? I suggest that you cut them nearly flush with the nuts and grind the ends smooth…. I hate shin hazards like that. It’s already hazardous enough maneuvering around a hitch.

 

Thanks.

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

I think it's a touch smaller then 1/4". My Masterlock wouldn't fit but there was room to drill so I opened it up to 1/4" for it. It seemed strange that the outside was smaller then the normal size lock but the inside was 5/16" give or take, so there was plenty of room to open it up. I figured it was a Bull Dog gimick to make you buy their lock but who knows... I'm sure that they can drill it out for you at Oliver if you don't feel like bringing a drill. I,ve only needed a drill otherwise for a few pilot holes in the drawers, but that's it.

[rideandfly]

rideandfly wrote:

 

Your pic reminded me, I need to bring a padlock with me to Hohenwald in a month. What is the largest padlock diameter that will fit through the latch holes? Is yours 1/4″?

 

Also, there are way too many threads hanging past the coupler nuts. Have you raked your leg on one yet? I suggest that you cut them nearly flush with the nuts and grind the ends smooth…. I hate shin hazards like that. It’s already hazardous enough maneuvering around a hitch.

 

Thanks.

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

 

 

 

John,

 

Good observations.

 

The Master lock shank is .25" outside diameter. Most of the padlocks I use have larger diameter shanks. I was lucky I had that padlock with me when picking up the Ollie from the previous owner.

 

Might not need to cut the hitch bolts off, should have reversed them while in the R&D mode fitting the Sway Master, letting the Sway Master cover them on the other side leaving only hex heads and flat washers on the starboard side of the hitch, don't remember if I've already tried this. Will see if reversing them will work. The longer Grade 8 bolts and washers were purchased for a different mounting arrangement for the Sway Master, found a better installation not needing the longer hitch bolts.

 

The telescoping bolt behind the hitch was previously cut off before purchasing the Ollie from the previous owner, but I need to file & coat the cut end, not going to cut it shorter since it's already close to the fiberglass cover.

 

Also use the long padlock shank to hang stuff on while not towing. With the newer Ollies using cables instead of chains, longer shank may not needed:

 

[cptgringo]

My 2015 f-150 will not allow me to open hitched

[ScubaRx]

On our GMC Sierra there is about 5 inches of clearance from the top of the hitch lever to the tailgate when lowered.