Best Drop Hitches For Lifted Trucks

Pickup trucks are, primarily at least, vehicles made for work and towing trailers, or really anything that is ‘towable’, is just one of the many things they can do.

Things can get a little more complicated when you want to do the same with a lifted one, and by that i mean you’re probably going to need a big drop hitch.

How to choose

The drop hitch you should get for your pickup entirely depends on how high it is lifted.

Normally, a truck without any sort of height modification would need either a 4 or 6 inch drop hitch to work with different size trailers, so if you was to add,  let’s say, a 4 inch lift kit, at least a 10 inch drop hitch would be required.

Figuring out the size of the hitch you’d need this way should work, but just to be sure it’s best to do so manually, unless you don’t have a trailer to begin with:

Now even though you can get a drop hitch that specifically fits the type of trailer you have, i would suggest getting a slightly larger one, if possible. You never know which trailer you might stumble into, considering that shorter or longer ones need completely different drops and raises.

Weigh Safe 180 degrees

Features and benefits

Can be purchased in a variety levels of drops, but the most important ones, particularly for a lifted truck, are the 8 and 10 inch, which should be enough for pickups that are lifted from 4 up to 6 inches.

The hitch comes equipped with two different balls that measure 2 inch and 2 5/16 inches in diameter; they are alternated by turning around the slider itself.

It’s nice to have two trailer balls on a single hitch, as it removes the need to store them somewhere else, and makes using them when time comes easy.

An important feature of a high quality drop hitch is the maximum towing capacity: when using the 2 inch ball, this one can handle loads of up to 8,000 pounds, and with the larger one, 10,000. The overall tongue weight of both these configurations is 1,500 pounds.

This should be more than enough for the majority of things you’d might want to tow like travel trailers, boats, quads and so, but if you have a more powerful truck and need to pull even heavier stuff, see the other suggestions below.

A neat feature which makes the Weigh Safe drop hitch stand out from the other ones is that you can either raise it up or down in just 1 inch increments. This makes it very easy to find just the right amount of drop for your specific trailer, keeping it as level as possible.

On average, the hitch weighs only about 20 pounds. The reason for the small weight is because it is made primarily from aluminum. A hitch that weighs less is also less of a struggle to install and remove, and you can end up doing that a lot when not using it.

Comes with a 1 year warranty.

Made in the U.S.A.

Things to consider before buying

Not the largest of drop hitches. Again, 10 inches of decline should be enough even if your pickup truck has a 4 inch lift kit installed, but in case yours rocks an even higher one, there are bigger options coming up.

Neither the most heavy duty, that is, could be too weak for your particular hauling needs.

In conclusion

If you’re going to be pulling not the most amounts of weights, i don’t see how the Weigh Safe 180 can’t be the first choice you should consider, simply because it does everything a proper hitch should do.

BulletProof

Features and benefits

Well, the main advantage of this hitch is that it can be bought in a variety of different longer lengths like 12, 14 or 16 inches, which means that even if your truck sports a 10 inch lift, there’s something for it as well.

Just like the Weigh Safe, it also has two 2 inch and 2 5/16 inch balls that can be changed by flipping them over.

Made from actual solid steel. It’s definitely going to be more prone to corrosion, or rust in general than aluminum, but because the item is made from steel, it can handle a lot more weight.

You can tow up to 22,000 pounds with the larger ball, and 12,000 with the 2 inch one. It can bear 3,000 pounds on the tongue alone, and that friends means the product is about twice as tough as the very first drop hitch i reviewed.

Made in America.

Things to consider before buying

The pins which secure the ball mount to the hitch aren’t lockable. These BulletProofs cost about 30% more than the Weigh Safe 180s, so it would only make sense to protect them from potential theft by getting some.

Also, don’t forget to get a locking pin for the actual receiver, considering that it doesn’t come bundled with any of the products i have reviewed on this article.

The ball height can be raised or lowered by 2 inch increments – having a larger distance between the positions could make it a little more awkward to find the perfect flush spot, especially if you will be using different trailers all the time.

Rather heavy. Regardless of the size, the hitch you would choose will be right around two times heavier than the Weigh Safe.

Is that bad? Not really, as the additional weight comes from the heavy duty-ness factor; it’s just that this will make it a bit more of an exercise to get one in and out of the receiver.

In conclusion

Personally i feel that you should only consider purchasing the BulletProof drop hitch if you’ll actually need to pull huge loads, and have a proper full-size pickup truck for that.

Otherwise the better choice, in my mind at least, is the Weigh Safe 180, which is also more affordable.

Gen-Y 16k

Features

If you thought you couldn’t get any lower on the drop, think again, as the Gen-Y 16k has a 17.5 inch option.

For a truck that has the common 4 or 6 inch lift kit on, this shouldn’t really be much of a concern. Things change if your pickup is sitting on more than already monstrous 10 inches; in that case, this is the only drop hitch solution for you, at least of what i have mentioned on this post.

When we talk about the actual limits of the hitch, it’s right around the middle – as example, the 17.5 inch version can tow up to 10,000 pounds while not exceeding 1,500 pounds on the tongue.

The 12.5 inch model goes up to 16,000 pounds, so the results really depend on what type of a hitch we’re talking about.

The unique feature of these drop hitches is that many of them come equipped with pintle locks, which will give you the possibility of towing trailers that have lunette rings.

I should mention that the drop hitches which are 15 inches or longer also come with stabilizer kits.

Things to consider before buying

Although these can definitely be bought in the largest levels of drops, they still can’t handle the most heaviest of loads, like the Bulletproof.

In conclusion

I mean, what else can i say, this is the only choice for those owners with the most ridiculous lifted pickups.

You can get it on Amazon by following this link.

General use tips

You probably already noticed that drop hitches aren’t the cheapest of truck accessories out there, so in case you don’t want to end up buying a new one because it got stolen, don’t forget to get a locking pin for the receiver.

Many of the drop hitches i mentioned can be also purchased for the 2.5 inch receivers, but not all. In case you did end up getting a version that’s too slim for your vehicle, you can just get a hitch adapter to make it fit.

Some drop hitches can be louder on some trucks than others, and normally it’s not the issue of the product itself. If you find that it is indeed making overly much noise when you’re driving, get a hitch quieter.

Be aware that it is possible to end up scratching the hitch along the ground when traveling, normally when it’s sitting on the lowest position.

A drop hitch can be a great alternative to a tailgate ladder for getting into the bed with ease, just be careful.