Just a question that popped into my mind after seeing one of these. I've never been in or never will be in a situation to use one, but, i want to know.
Are these things safe?
I saw a pickup at the gas station yesterday(no surprise there). It was a 99-03 F350 with a slide in camper in the bed. It was a larger camper that stuck a good couple of feet out the back of the bed, making use of a regular receiver hitch out of the question. He was using what looked to be a 3' or 4' extender in his receiver. Seemed like it was just a 4' steel bar inserted into his receiver hitch, with a ball setup on the end. He also had his wires extended to the end of it. His chains were just hooked up there to the end of the bar instead of to the frame of the truck. I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but it just seems to me like this would create undesireable changes to the distribution of weight on the truck, with the hitching point being that far back from the rear axle. It also seems like a safety issue could be created here. What if this thing fails or has too much play in it?
Anybody with experience have input?
Are these things safe?
I saw a pickup at the gas station yesterday(no surprise there). It was a 99-03 F350 with a slide in camper in the bed. It was a larger camper that stuck a good couple of feet out the back of the bed, making use of a regular receiver hitch out of the question. He was using what looked to be a 3' or 4' extender in his receiver. Seemed like it was just a 4' steel bar inserted into his receiver hitch, with a ball setup on the end. He also had his wires extended to the end of it. His chains were just hooked up there to the end of the bar instead of to the frame of the truck. I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but it just seems to me like this would create undesireable changes to the distribution of weight on the truck, with the hitching point being that far back from the rear axle. It also seems like a safety issue could be created here. What if this thing fails or has too much play in it?
Anybody with experience have input?