If youre not using a load distributing hitch. Of course over the years Ive towed much more than the actual hitch is rated for as a load carrying hitch. On my Dmax I towed 12K on a 3000 mile road trip with no problems but it still made me nervous. I recently bought a 2007(GMT900) silverado and plan on keeping it for a while so I figured Id go ahead and upgrade the hitch. Its cheap insurance after all, I bought mine off of amazon.com for $186 shipped.

I ordered PN 15522, it is classified as a class V. Rated for 1500 tongue weight and 15000 GVW as a LOAD CARRYING compared to just 600/5000 with the stocker. This is the hitch I ordered
CURT Manufacturing | CURT Manufacturing - CURT Trailer Hitch #15522

How it comes out of the box

Beefy

The stock hitch, notice how it hangs down about two inches below the bumper.

Comaprison of the stocker vs the curt. Physically it doesnt look like that big of a difference but the difference in gauge of the steel is huge. The curt hitch weighs atleast double what the stocker does as I verified when it fell on my knee while positioning it

The Curt hitch bolted up. It reuses the two holes closest to the bumper but uses an existing hole further towards the axle and not the hole the factory hitch used as you can see by the under coat missing. Some things to note, all the factory bolts are 21mm and the supplied hardware with the Curt hitch is 19mm.

Installed, notice the reciever tube is now tucked up nice and close to the bumper

With my B&W tow and stow installed back in


Besides the shear strength gained by going with this hitch, I really like that it moves the ball mount up two inches. That will helpw ith offroad departure angles at the deer lease and will also help keep the trailer level with heavy loads. In the past when Ive towed a heavy tongue weight trailer Ive had to flip my drop hitch to a raise hitch but now with the gained two inches I shouldnt have to. Along with the airlift helper bags I recently installed should help with that too but Ill make a separate thread for that.

This hitch from my research is the best deal out there for a tough aftermarket hitch. Most of the other class V hitches have the main cross tube hanging below the bumper and/or the reciever tube at the stock height. This one is hidden like the stocker and also raises the receiver tube up, win win IMO.

 

I assume my 2011 NHT doesn't come from the factory with any better of a hitch than your truck did, and therefore needs this hitch to safely tow its 10,400-pound rating?

 

Yes, yours is the same hitch as is the 3/4 ton trucks(rating wise) which makes no sense to me. If you're towing that much with a load distributing hitch you're fine, but if its a load carrying then no. I plan on upgrading my lowboy trailer and enclosed trailer to allow me to use the load distributing hitch since I've already got the ball mount and arms, just need the attachments on the trailer tongues. Even with doing that I still wanted the heavier duty hitch for the added safety and if I pulled someone else's trailer. For less than 200 to my door if you tow, I can't see why you wouldn't do it just for the added safety. I've seen too many of these trucks with bent hitched and bumpers.

 

I've pulled 9K with my 07 with the stock hitch and load distributing arms with no issues I can see this upgrade if you tow that much with any frequency at all but I wouldn't think it's warranted for the occasional pull. Not to mention a lot of the bent up hitches you see are from complete misuse/abuse or flat out not knowing how to properly load a trailer.

 

Like I said, I've towed much more than the hitch is rated for and not had a problem but for how cheap and simple it is to install its good insurance. The curt hitch also bolts further up the framerail so its much less likely to have a bent frame like you got with your helper bags. Imagine what a personal injury lawyer would do to you if you got in a wreck and you had your hitch overloaded even though you were under GCVW.

Load distributing is a totally different ballgame since it doesn't just put downward pressure on the hitch it also LIFTS that's how it transfers the weight to the front axle. Using a LD setup doubles the stock hitched capacity whereas a LD setup on this hitch only jumps tongue weight up 100# and 1000# total load. That should tell you how much more stout this thing is.

Obviously we all do stuff that is outside of the manufacturers guidelines but this one is an easy fix. Having air bags also makes the hitch have a tougher job since it doesn't get as much dampening from the suspension and has to soak up more of the moment load due to the leaf spring no longer being able to soak up that shock of a bump.

At the end of the day everyone is going to do what they want but I doubt many people even pay attention to the little sticker on the hitch and would be surprised its only rated for 5k as a load carrying hitch.

 

I don't really like helper bags either, false sense of security IMO. They do help on long trips with the ride but all too often people confuse big hitches and helper bags with the trucks ability to do the work.... Just because it sits level and can hitch up to it doesn't mean it has any business dragging it down the road... I know you understand this, but there's tons of people who don't.

 

Absolutely, as we all know there are a ton of idiots out there. My hitch is rated for 16k but there's no way I'd trust a half ton to that kind of load. The same basic truck as mine is rated for 10,400 and I plan on occasionally towing a little more than that but I'm upgrading my truck accordingly. Helper bags, heavy duty hitch, rs9000xl shocks, trailer brakes, heavy udty sway bars, load range E tires and once I get my 20s I'll be running the baer 6 piston 15" fronts and 4 piston 14" rears that are sitting on the shelf.


I think a lot of people take towing safely for granted and don't necessarily think about all the aspects they should. That's why I will be posting threads in here as I go along prepping my half ton to tow heavy. I'm going a bit over-board, but its better to be safe and its always fun getting new goodies for the truck.

My truck has stock 18s and I need 20s to put my brakes on so its a good excuse for the wife to upgrade to wheels/tires I want for "safety"

 

i did the same on my 3500 , got a hitch rated for 18k and a beefy 2.5 shank weight distribution setup. ive only pulled about 12k with it but i felt much safer since the truck is lifted a bit as well as not using lift blocks and atlas leaf springs which are a bit stiff but nice when towing along with long travel airbags. gotta love the dmax for towing .

 

^ Our OE hitch looks like a toothpick when compared with yours.
No trouble with the occasional trailer of oversized lumber or manure though.

What you be towing with yours?

 

yeah i know the hitch that we install at work (uhaul) is rated weight/weight dist. is 6000/8000 for 130 bucks and its beefy as the curt you put on. i got mine from factory and the most ive towed was 4000-5000lb big generator. was more worried about stopping than the hitch rating lol. looks good though.