I hitch up with my tailgate down, within about 25*, and I can access my front storage when hooked up, but I agree, more space would be an advantage. As I write this I am on my deck looking at the nose of the 303 and the corners are rebated back some and without that, would probably hit the truck in a tight turn.
When I was first looking at hitches back in the 90's, the sliders never looked that strong in my opinion, so I never looked at them again. Cate&Rob
Maybe I should have.
As to that last point Jim, could be the height of the drivers eyes.......

Love my B&W Companion. I've had it for 17 years. No issues. I can hookup with the tailgate down and plenty of room with my longbed.

UPDATE: Weigh Safe was great to work with. They gave me several options to choose from. I elected to have them send me a new Middle Weight hitch which should work out fine with our rig.

Jim

Jim, I had the exact same failure yesterday, 10/20/2023, with a few exceptions. Both bolts sheared off, plastic parts were missing or busted, and the bottom metal piece the bolts pass through was missing. I just had the trailer winterized and brakes serviced in UT, and was towing the trailer approximately 25 miles to storage and noticed sway. Once unhitching the trailer the lower half of the weigh safe pivoted and fell to the ground.

I’m a retired Air Force Safety Officer and structural engineer, this is a very questionable piece of equipment and in my eyes unsafe.

Could you provide your contacts at Weigh Safe, I’m in UT and might take it directly to the factory. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum, Gator87. Please check out the Welcome Letter as it will provide hints on how to get the most from this forum, like quoting and tagging. I quoted you above (so you get a notification I responded) and now will tag Jim so he gets a notification there's a question waiting for his response: TucsonJim

Howard

P.S. I'm a retired USAF CMSgt (Aircraft Maintenance).

Well, that is disturbing to say the least. Two equals a trend. I used their email address: support@weigh-safe.com for all my communication. You can also try their phone number at 801-820-7070, but they didn't answer when I tried it.

Due to the safety concerns regarding load distribution and possible sway, i'd highly recommend you file a safety report with the NHTSA.

Note: They tried to blame me for the failure by stating that I'd bottomed out the adjusting bolt. Even though I disputed this, a properly designed hitch should not be able to fail like this if a customer moves the bolt through it's full range. There are no warnings or cautions about how far you can adjust the bolt in the owner's manual.

Jim

Did you ever get things straightened out with Weigh Safe? Can you update how they handled your broken hitch? Thanks

I heard that Weigh Safe has discontinued the HD True Tow hitch. They substituted a Middle Weight hitch for my failed one and did not offer to reimburse me the $300 difference.

Jim

The rest of the story.

Took the hitch and truck to Weigh Safe in Lindon, UT, 10 minutes from Bish's RV in American Fork, UT. Weigh Safe replaced the entire hitch, under warranty, with an upgraded unit with grade 8 bolts and all plastic parts replaced. They asked if I had made any sharp turns which is the typical failure mode, I hadn't but did witness Bish's RV make a very sharp turn into their maintenance bay the very day the hitch failed.

Took pictures of the failed hitch and went to Bish's RV, spoke with the shop supervisor and mechanic about the failed unit and witnessing the mechanics tight turn. The mechanic admitted he had broke the hitch. Bish's RV did NOTHING except say "oops. Lesson learned, Bish's caused the failure, allowed me to tow a trailer with a failed unsafe hitch, and did nothing. I'll never use Bish's RV again and wouldn't recommend them. Side note, Bish's manager bad mouthed Weigh Safe said they would never sell the product and offered to sell me another hitch. I explained they had recommended the Weigh Safe and sold me the unit only two years prior. I found Bish's to be unethical, unsafe, and untrustworthy.

The following day I towed the trailer (13,500 lbs when loaded) to Weigh Safe who took their time, answered all my questions and set up the hitch. They offered free safety/setup checks anytime.

Lets see how the upgraded Weigh Safe works out.

P.S. Thanks for the note Chief Howard. I was A-10 maintenance (QA and Flight Test Pilot) also flew the Viper.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Thanks Gator, I also have the same hitch and keep an eye on the bolts. Did they indicate if have a kit where we can upgrade our existing hitches or if they have to be totally replaced if we want the new one?

They did not indicate that an upgrade kit was available.

UPDATE (2/7/24) - I was contacted by the U.S. Department of Transportation who is gathering information to support a possible recall on the Weigh Safe True Tow HD hitch. Note: The failed hitch still shows up on their website, but is no longer offered.

Jim