Replacing the hitch on the back

[Montyman]

We have a 09 Montana 3400RL and want to replace the "wimpy" little hitch in the back so we can tow our golf cart trailer (tongue weight under 100 lbs)with a 2" hitch. Probably going to have one fabricated here by a local welder.
Just throwing this out there for any ideas and/or suggestions from those who have done this before. Will the existing frame need to be beefed up? Any wiring suggestions? Would like to hear from anyone who has tandem towed with the Montana.

Thanks,
Montyman

[8e3k0]

We also have the same model and year of Monty. It may be worthwhile to talk to your Dealer or even Keystone before wellding on the frame and increasing the hitch capacity. If one did run into any problem down the road with Frame, weight on suspension, etc. your warranty may be Void because of modification.
My question is: why did they only install a light reciever for the eqivalent of carrying bicycles only? I have also looked at this but am hesitant at this point. Would also like to hear opinions on this change.

[Countryfolks]

There has been a lot of discussion over the years about added hitches. Keystone finally relented and added a hitch specifically for carrying bicycles. They will probably void your frame warranty if it is changed or mis-used. There are a number of folks that have added hitches though.

[Art-n-Marge]

I've heard the same as Countryfolks. Keystone, their dealers and service folks have been telling us no hitches (can't remember why, though).

In '09 or '10, if they started adding them it was due to customer pressure and I would imagine that if you attempt an upgrade you are now on your own. You might have to shore up the hitch support at the frame quite a bit to tow something. You must consider that for a 100 lb tongue weight the frame would also have to support the 1000 load, too.

If you are upgrading a bike hitch and bike load of about 100 lbs, adding a load increases exposure 10 fold! That's some frame upgrade. After all I think it's only an aluminum frame.

That said, I have seen enough 5er SOBs that tandem pull and were probably good at metalurgy, welding and the mathematics to calculate what to do. Risk assessment aside, it can be done and I have not heard of any accidents or bad stories associated with this.

Good luck on your quest Montyman! (nice tag by the way)

[Emmel]

Montyman, there are quite a few MOCers out here towing doubles. Some are towing boats and I think there is even a cycle or two. They have installed the 2" hitch, so they can tell you how they did it and any problems they've had.
Keystone added a hitch capable of carring bicycles only since that is what most of us requested and they thought they could do that safely. They said at the rally that they do not promote pulling a trailer behind the 5er.
Art, the frame under the Montana is steel and so is the hitch Keystone installed at the factory, at least mine is.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

IIRC, the original objection to hitches on the back of our units was the pressures, torque or whatever a good physics doctor would explain (Errr, son #1, what is your ole mom trying to say here??)

Anyway, what I remember is that when hitches were on the back, and carried more than 100 pounds, say someone put a generator back there on one of those support racks, well, after some miles on the road, with the bouncing up and down, (what do you mean your unit does NOT bounce??) what happened is that wayyyyy up in the front 'bout mid bedroom, the units outside walls would develop a crack.

I know, there was an early frame situation, where the wall cracked by the bedroom slide, not talking bout that. This is different, and also appeared on the non-slide side, the curb side.

Now, it could be that those hitches were not "enhanced" enough under the rig, not enough re-inforcing done??

And, I probably just duffed this explanation big time. SIGH

Well, I tried!

[KathyandDave]

We have the same hitch. The receiver tube is tee'd to a tube that spans the full width of the frame. As a result, the bike rack oscillates up and down alarmingly and has damaged the bikes. To combat the oscillation, we're considering adding an extension tube forward, from the tee of the spanning and receiver tubes, between the stabilizer assemblies, then run diagonals forward and out to attach to the frame behind the rear wheels. This construction is called an "A-frame" and also allows some weight to be towed (which we do not plan to do), whereas the existing assembly would bow the spanning tube if any weight were to be towed.

[Delaine and Lindy]

Our 2010 (SOB) was ordered with the 2" receiver and the towing capacity is 3,000 lbs and we are reseaching a car of some brand to tow behind the 5er. We have looked at the Smart Car, but we are not sure thats the way to go we also will be looking at the Jeep Liberty among others? GBY...

[clutch]

We pull our quads behind our Mountaineer with no problem. The hitch does have to be anchored both at the rear of the frame and again about 3' toward the front. Our hitch weight is close to 200lbs.

[Art-n-Marge]

Emmel, thanks for the correction. The bottom of the RV IS steel. It's the body of the trailer (living quarters) that is aluminum according to the "how it's built" book.

The steel part of the frame is what the hitch would be attached to (bolted or welded), but I wish I could remember what Keystone said about why not to do this.

[HamRad]

Art,

If I remember correctly there are at least a couple of reasons Keystone does not want you to add a trailer hitch on the back. One would be that it, depending on your load, alter significantly the pin weight. Secondly it could cause the frame to twist and or bend or break. The frames are engineered for a certain amount of weight in certain places. If the distribution is changed then bad things could happen. Heck they sometimes change without us even doing anything except pulling the rig down the road!

If you do add a receiver hitch onto the rear of your rig then make certain you know how it will effect the towing (because of change in pin weight) and that you reinforce the frame so as to accommodate the added stress of the load on the hitch.

Good luck.

Dennis

[Tom S.]

The frames on these trailers is twice the width as on a truck and end much farther back from the axles. In simple terms, that means that in order to get the same kind of capacity in a hitch on a trailer as is on a truck is going to require MAJOR work. The trailer frame rails need to stiffened with crossmembers to prevent lateral flex. A hitch with a mounting surface 2 feet long like a truck won't work either as you need to extend it much further up the Montana's frame to prevent frame stress. Truck frames are boxed, resulting in significantly stronger resistance to flex, where the frame on the Montana is open channel iron. Where the 2" cross tube on a truck offers sufficient strength for most hitches (not class V of course), it will not be strong enough for the long space between the frame rails on the trailer.

If you can find someone to fabricate one for you, don't be surprised at the cost. We are talking a major amount of steel, cutting, and welding.

[8e3k0]

Also , to add to the above; you will be increasing your weight at the extreme rear of the 5th wheel with the steel and structure needed to meet the demand of a higher Class hitch; now add your tongue weight to the rear and you will likely exceed rated frame/ springs and tire specifications for load. With the long length of the 5th wheel frame there will be a tendancy to reduce your pin weight on the TV and tranfering this weight to the suspension and axles of the 5th wheel.
Ellis

[dnichol]

My dealer said my warrenty would be voided if I changed the hitch & to wait until the warrenty was out before doing anything. SOB you can mount a hitch or order it with one but I would'nt do it on the Monty because the factory knows what they are building & you would be taking a chance on frame failure. JMO.