Hey All! 've been real busy and I'm not purposefully ignoring the Chapter. Hello....., to all my meet-n-greet friends.

I was told the other day by a passerby that my truck bumper mounted ball is no longer allowed to pull a trailer, no matter what the trailer weight is. The guy said this change was due to so many bumpers falling off with the trailer connected. I checked VADMV website but could not find any specific information.

My truck is an '86 with a welded on 10K pound limit and 1K pound tongue weight (I recall) bumper hitch. According to this guy I cant even pull my smaller 3500# trailer with this set up as he said the tube receiver is now required.

Anyone hear about this? Is it a Federal DOT regulation for trailers above ??? gross weight? Or was this guy some kookoo bird? He had me really worried about getting home from where I was.

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Hey man, good to see you still around. I hadn't heard about the law, but here's some info on it. I know for awhile now uhaul and Budget have not been renting towed equipment to bumper hitches.
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp...20SB0646+SBREF

2010 Senate Bill 646, about trailer safety. See nothing explicit about class 1's

Looks like state police superintendent's office can be contacted for info at 804-674-2000

Here's a summary. Looks like the law is mostly about safety chains and adhering to weight/size limits. Can't find any info that a bumper hitch is explicitly illegalhttp://safetysentryinc.com/images/press_items/fact_sheet_1.pdf

 

Haven't heard that one either. I would probably try a call to either the Virginia State Police or VDOT?

Do you have a pic of the setup for a better visual reference?

 

Dave804 - thanks for the help.

The officer in charge of enforcement area 63 (I think) said that there is no law that prevents one from towing from a bumper hitch or using leaver type chain binders if you are a private individual towing, not for hire or operating commercially. The law I information found quotes Representative Watson, who submitted or supported the Bill, speaking about using a pin, bolt or lock in the handle of the trailer portion to prevent the mechanism from unlatching or someone from forgetting to latch it. The hitch has to be strong enough for the towed load and adequately sized chains must be used. I think the guy whom told me this wanted to buy the lever chain binders I picked up for $2 each. Good-ol' made in USA types that were in good shape - I think the guy wanted to buy those binders because he was telling me they weren't legal either.

Archtaan - I don't have a photo.

 

Did he have brown stuff running out his ears? Sounds like he is full of it.