Reese Hitch Extender with Step Review

Review of the Reese Hitch Extender with Step

Hey, guys, Randy here at etrailer.com. Today we're taking a look at the Reese hitch extender with step. This is going to allow us to move our hitch pin hole back 18 inches, plus give us a step to help us gain access to the roof, maybe over our tailgate, or even into an in-bed camper. Now, a couple of other ways our customers have mentioned they like using this step, one guy mentioned in a boat, being able to step up here first, and then step onto your boat makes it a lot easier to get in and out. But I've also seen people use these on the front of the vehicle, if you've got a front-mount hitch. Standing on this can allow you to get into the engine bay a little bit easier and do service, or get up to the windshield and clean it off properly.Now, not only do we get an 18 inch extension from pin hole to pin hole, but we also have a nice step.

Now, the step itself is nice and sturdy. We can get up on, there's no flex or not give to the steel. There's going to be a little bit of movement, just in the play that we have there at our receiver tube, but it's going to be do a great job. This is going to allow us to get up into the in-bed campers. It's going to allow us to reach in and over our tailgate, or gain access to roof racks and get those items loaded and unloaded.We have really nice heavy-duty construction here.

We showed you the solid shank, the entire extender and step is going to have a nice heavy black powder coat finish on it. Grip tape here at the top to prevent any slipping. Then you can see the chrome covered plastic, kind of a bezzle around here, it kind of cleans up that look, and they also give you a plug that goes inside of here, and that keeps that 2 inch by 2 inch receiver tube opening nice and clean. When it's time to secure items, we're going to use the 5/8 diameter pin hole, you can see it here on the side. There's plenty of room around that, so you want to choose a Class III pin and clip, maybe a locking hitch pin or even an anti-rattle device, they're all going to work out really well.

You can to go along with that 5/8 inch diameter pin hole here on the outside, our receiver tube opening's going to be 2 inches by 2 inches, and will work out really well with Class III ball mounts or accessories. The step itself is going to offer 17 inches in width and 6 inches in depth.Another good measurement to keep in mind will be the distance from the leading edge of the step to the center of our hitch pin hole. That's going to help determine whether it gets it out far enough for your step to be usable. It's going to be 13 1/4 inches.Something else that I like about this when compared to some of the other ones that we have, you can see this nice heavy-duty steel shank. That's going to prevent any failure at all, definitely more sturdy than the hallow shank designs we see out of some manufacturers.To get it installed, it's going to go in just like a regular ball mount and any other Class III accessory.

We'll slide it in, get those pinholes lined up. We want to secure it with a pinning clip. Keep in mind you do want to have your own pin and clip. If you don't already have one, just get one on our website there. Get that in and in place, everything's going to be nice and secure. Now, there's a little bit of movement associated with it once installed. If you want to eliminate that, pick up one of the anti-rattle devices that we have. You'll want to use a collar style, or a wrap-around style because that solid shank won't allow an internal type.Now, here's one of the many problems we run into. Our accessory and the spare tire are too close together, and we can't get the bike rack properly installed. Here you'll see with our extender installed, you've got more than enough room to operate our bike rack, maybe a cargo carrier. Plus we have the advantage of the step to be able to get up on the rooftop of our vehicle, get into our in-bed camper or gain access over that tailgate.Now, the hitch extender itself is going to be rated for 400 pounds worth of tongue weight, that's the maximum downward force we can put at the receiver tube opening, and a 4,000 pound gross trailer weight rating, so total weight of your trailer and anything that you're going to load up on it. It's rated for use with weight distribution. When using weight distribution, the tongue weight goes up to 650, gross trailer weight rating's going to go up to 6,500. But when we use this extender, it's going to reduce our hitch's capacity by 35%. So, we're going to use whichever's lower, either the maximum of the extender or 65% of your hitch's rating.That will conclude our look at the Reese hitch extender with step.