Need help with towing a boat.....
 

So I bought a new boat and I was trying to prevent a problem that I had with my old boat.......When the boat was hooked up with a standard length ball mount it would hook up with out much of a problem, however when trying to get the boat off the ball, the latch for the trailer would stand straight up and jam into the spare tire, causing me to open the gate and finagle it off the ball. So I thought I would just get a longer ball mount where the latch is not under the spare tire, did that and well the height is all wrong and the chains don't reach and its just a pain in the @$$. I really don't want to have to relocate the spare and would like to make this an easy process. In order to get the boat home I made it work with the extra extra longer ball mount (16 inches from eye to eye) and it towed amazing, no sway, no vibration, no wobble, or anything towed like a dream!!!! With a bit of swag to the rear of the jeep.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5tbqdefb.jpg

Towed the boat 65 miles like that with out a problem. Highway, local street, city street, and all even dumped it in the water at a launch and pulled it out with out a problem. So what are my options to make this work where the trailer is towing level and I am not using a ball mount the length of my arm?

I am not looking for people to tell me what I am doing in the picture is wrong....I know that...thats why I am asking for other solutions. If you look at the tongue of the trailer that tongue jack is also fixed in that vertical position and theres no room to add one that swivels. It would be nice if I could find one that was fixed vertical and I could remove the wheel with a pin. I don't know I just want a solution thats safe to tow this boat (which I am going to take to a scale as well I am curious as to what the total weight is) that isn't going to cost me a ton of money out of pocket.

Oh yeah.....theres a 2.5 RC Spring lift on the jeep with RC shocks as well. She's sitting on 33" TerraGrapplers.

What size tires are in that trailer?

On my 2dr for my twin seadoo trailer I had to get a 6" drop hitch to tow level.

Jeep is on 35s and my trailer wheels are the small 12inchers I think.

The reason I ask is your pic doesn't look to me like he trailer is level. Is it?

Looks like you could drop another inch or 2 which light let your latch clear the spare tire.

Also could you not just drill another 5/8 pin hole in the extended hitch and run it up closer to he receiver?

In other words instead of a very long extension, shorten it?

Yes sorry I should have added that....this is not a standard length ball mount in the picture this is the extra extra long one....the standard one was a 2 inch drop that would hit the spare. I can get pics of that but then I have to get to the old boat and find that ball mount. It can be done....just not today.

Looks like you need to unbolt the ball from the extension, and flip the extension upside down, re-install the ball.

If chain length is an issue, buy longer chains.

Same here. I'm a 2 door on 35's and AEV 3.5. I need a 5 1/4" drop for my twin seadoo trailer. Even a 2" drop should be enough to clear the tire though

I had the same though my about flipping the ball but with all those horizontal and vertical lines in the picture, and perspective, and the lines of the boat, etc I definitely wanted to give benefit of the doubt.

Here's a pic of my el-cheapo drop tongue concoction from Harbor Freight for scale and measurement comparisons.

From the center of the ball to the center of the pin is 13.5"

My trailer tongue on level ground is 18.75" to the top of the tongue.

My latch is 4.25"

That means with the latch open, from the ground, it measures 23".

My latch clears my spare with no issues.

FYI I'm running the same 35/12.50/17 spare (Nitto Trail Grabber) on a 4.53 backspace wheel on the stock tailgate tire carrier.

Hope this helps. Next time I hook up the seadoos I will snap more pics.

Best option is to do a drop hitch. You want your trailer as level as possible anyway. You do not have much tongue weight, which will cause the trailer to be prone to sway.

Long time coming but here are pics of mine in tow. Finally.

Did you ever sort out your issues?