shank bar question

[JB2004]

Today we hooked up our new-to-us Sunline and discovered that the w/d hitch bar does not drop far enough to allow a level tow vehicle/trailer setup. I have the Reese standard 54970 bar that has a max 1 1/4" drop. I am looking at one online, the Reese 63971 bar that will drop to 5 3/4" max and should work. I was thinking of calling the dealer where we first got "turned on" to Sunlines...... and bought one, thats where we purchased the w/d hitch setup. I just want to get this setup straightened out for our trip in 2 weeks. Anyone have any experience with a replacement shank bar that allows enough drop ?

[Steve Collins]

Jeff,

I have several different drop shanks. We bought the same shank that you currently have and used it on a 2WD '98 Dodge Ram 1500 for 8 years. When we bought the duallie, we found that the rear end of the truck sits very high because of the suspension that gives it 4,700# payload in the bed.

Luckily, I had a shank that gives me about 9" of drop laying around and swapped it out at no cost. (Long story on how I acquired that!)

If your purchase of the shank from the dealer is reasonably recent, most dealerships will swap shanks at minimal cost, usually the price difference and possibly a restocking fee.

I have the Reese adjustable ball platform and acquired the right tool to do any adjustments in height or tilt needed. It's a 1 1/8" offset box wrench that I found at a yard sale years ago. The offset allows the wrench to "get around" the ball platform to the adjustment nuts.

The right shank is very, very important to your wd setup.

[LanCoPA]

I had exactly the same problem with the 54970 and bought the 63971 drop shank you are looking at. It solved my problem and the trailer is just as level as can be. We are pulling a T-1950 with a Dodge Durango. I think I still have another hole or two that I could lower the hitch head, if it was necesary. So I would think that would give you the right amount of drop too. But I am new at all this, and there's lots of helpful experts here. It's just that I was having the same exact same problem three months ago...