Hi, I just got a 2023 F350 Super Duty Lariat. My 2.5" receiver hitches are too small. I'm looking for recommendations on hitches for my 3" receiver. Right now I'm looking at a B&W Stow and Tow with 7.5" drop and Tri-ball. I'm looking for something to give me options, nothing specific right now.

I do have a pop-up trailer, 2 7/8" ball. We are planning on buying a 5th wheel trailer soon, the truck does have the 5th wheel rails and in bed connecters.

 

I’ve got one of those B&W hitches and I’m very happy with it. Had a 2” with my old F150 and replaced it with the 2.5” for the F250. Bulletproof is another good option but they seem to rust more easily than the B&W.

 

I'd get a Curt or similar drop plate hitch that uses the four bolt mounting. Then you can run at whatever elevation, and swap between pintle or ball setups.

 

I went with a bulletproof hitch. It’s solid. I also got the reversible ball attachment and the attachment to use with my equalizer hitch.

 

I like my weigh safe 180. Aluminum so no issuses with corrosion and relatively light weight to handle.

 

I really like my 2.5" Tow and Stow. Unless you have a lift I would suggest that 7.5 is too much drop and get something more like 5" if it is available for the 3" receiver.

 

I would also add that unless you have something specific that requires it, toting around a 1-7/8" on a tri-ball is pretty pointless. Stuff that size seems to be pretty rare these days.

 

Do you have a F350 DRW? We just went from a 2019 SRW to 2024 SRW and on those they changes from a 3” hitch receiver back to a 2.5”. Andersen makes 3” shanks with a 4” and 8” drop.

 

I got the 7.5" dual ball tow & stow, haven't laid eyes on trailer that needed a 1 7/8" ball in forever

 

I have found the Gen-Y to be my favorite so far.

Adjustable height
2-5/16 ball
2 ball
pintle

And strong. Something like 2X,000lbs rated. I’d have to lookup the exact number. But with this hitch you know there’s (generally) no bumper pull you won’t be able to safely tow. Unless you have some crazy heavy bumper pull trailer and I think the 3” shank version is probably rated even higher.

They’re nice.

 

I tried one of the flip-style hitches and found that the bottom ball would hang down too low, there's no doubt that I would scrape it at the end of my steep driveway, destroying it before long. So I got the regular Weigh Safe 4" drop hitch instead, with switchable 2" and 2 5/16" *****. Very nice setup for my non-lifted truck, although I'm hoping they also introduce a switchable pintle hook.

 

Since you only have a pop-up and sounds like you don't tow much on the ball, I would do a couple things.

First, swap the pop up to a 2" ball (guessing you meant it has a 1-7/8 ball, not 2-7/8 as that doesn't exist) so you don't need a tri-ball setup.

Second, just buy an adapter. I could see if you were trying to pull max weight with the ball, or pulling better than 50% of the time, wanting or needing a 3" shank, but the reality is most people will never need that much steel, the hitch gets that much heavier with no benefit, and adapters don't make much noise, if any at all. I've been running a 2-2.5 adapter on my truck, and use it to pull our 35' travel trailer all over for over 7 years now, and have had ZERO issues with wallowing out the holes or damage to the pin. I would expect a 2.5-3" adapter to be roughly the same.

That said, I have had the B&W tow & stow 2-ball (2 and 2-5/16), 7" drop, 2" shank for almost 5 years now, and 99% of its use has been in a 2-2.5" adapter. My truck is 100% stock and I have never drug the bottom hitch ball on any approach/departure in the full down position, even when pulling our flatbed (which is the reason I bought the 7" drop, it is a low-slung car hauler). I leave it in the full-down position most of the time since that's the trailer I hook up to most often, but I occasionally need to raise it to pull the boat or move our travel trailer back and forth from storage (about 2 miles away on country roads, no need for weight distribution or sway control for that short trip). You can't go wrong with that hitch, it's rock solid.

 

I have been pulling trailer since the 70's. most of them light weight (under 8K) Started out with a 2" ball in my step bumper. When I got a truck with a receiver, bought 2" receivers to match trailer drop. When I bough my F250, it came with a 2-21/2 sleeve adapter. I used it, not wanting to spend the money on a new hitch. My "new" F350 came with the 3" receiver and a 3"-21/2" sleeve. Still not pulling heavy bumper pulls I utilized both adapter to fit my 2" hitch assortment. Got tired of messing with 2 sleeves, so welded the two adapters together which greatly reduced the frustration of aligning two adapters. If I had extra disposable income (not committed to my 5th wheel camper) I would buy the 3 inch adjustable hitch available from many companies. The adapters have worked and the two inch hitches have outlasted may trailers and tow vehicles.

 

your light weight requirements would be satisfied with an adapter sleeve and reuse your existing hitch.

 

The 3" shank will eliminate all the slop/noise of the adapters plus give you greater towing numbers. No brainer there.
I'd upgrade the hitch on the trailer to a 2" to resolve that one off issue.
I have the 3" shank tow and stow that is a 5" drop with 2 and 2 5/16". The beauty of the two ball setup is that is rotates parallel with the ground when stowed. The tri ball setup wiill have one hanging down that could be problematic. Also the 7" is way too long and if you ever do any off-roading/off pavement it's going to drag often. Even entering/exiting a steep driveway will drag. The first model I owned was the 7" drop and I hated it. That was on a stock height 18 250. The one I have now because it is a 3" shank its actually even shorter than the one I had that was 2.5" shank by a little. I've yet to back up to a trailer that would not accommodate my available hitch heights. Keep the pins lubed with lithium grease. They include a pack with the hitch for a reason. It does everything I need it to do and is not so gaudy and protruding from the truck like some of the others.