Don’t f*** up like I did…

sirhrmechanic

Command Sgt. Major
Full Member
Minuteman
So just a warning for you folks with the big new 2.5” Reese hitches and “sleeve” adapters for your 2” hitches…

I got in a rush last fall and forgot to grease the adapter (steel from tractor supply pos China crap store) and then made the mistake of leaving it in all winter. In the salt. In VT.

Now it’s a little known fact that rust is 9x thicker than the metal it replaces. So .001” of a rust pit = .009” of thick rust bloom. And when Chineseium steel rusts… it is bad.

Anyway, took me 4 hours to get the hitch out (and the adapter.). Penetrating oil, 20 pound sledge, hoking tractor to hitch… torch…. And wedge… all required. $&@€%!!!!!

The had to bead blast the parts and etch prime… so they won’t rust overnight.

So remember to use grease/graphite. Grind the cheap powder coat off before fitting… take the hitch out when not using. Buy the polymer Reese adapters (they don’t last for shit with heavy loads) or get stainless steel adapter and at least only the truck and tow hitch will rust… not the adapter, too.

Just my apocryphal story for the day…. Don’t let this happen to you.

Sirhr
 
I just live somewhere that doesn't happen. The old truck I think went 5 years without pulling up the b&w ball and it still slid right out.

The adapter sleeve in my 16 hasn't been out in years, yet it pisses me off every time it wiggles just enough to not let the pin through.

I'm just not pissed off enough yet to replace $300 worth of stingers with an adjustable aluminum one yet.
 
Funny.
My stainless hitch has been in the tube for going on 10 years now.
Still wiggles a tad and makes a tiny bit of noise on very rough dirt roads.
Get what you pay for ?
OBTW, always weld the ball to the hitch after tightening and welding the nut on.
If nothing else it will show people you can TIG weld like a mutha.
Need a different size ball....get a different hitch adapter and weld that ball on too.
 
Should’ve hooked up something heavy to it and towed around for a couple hours. Everything would’ve been nice and broke free by then.

Just got back from pulling a 12000 pound car/trailer combo 200 miles. On frost heaved roads.

Guess what didn’t loosen up?

Went to take off load leveling hitch to put on dump trailer drop hitch. That’s when the foul language started.

Good idea, though. Sirhr
 
Heh heh, Sirh said 'Chineseium. Heh heh

Fuck Chineseium.

I've got a good old American made one thats been in for 20 years and the paint is still black and good, no pitting.

Buy American, If you can find it,

Which you cant. Just had the brakes done all round on that 2002 truck and couldnt find American made parts anywhere, No Canada. Mexico and India and Chineseiuum.

Did I say, fuck Chineseium.
 
Funny.
My stainless hitch has been in the tube for going on 10 years now.
Still wiggles a tad and makes a tiny bit of noise on very rough dirt roads.
Get what you pay for ?
OBTW, always weld the ball to the hitch after tightening and welding the nut on.
If nothing else it will show people you can TIG weld like a mutha.
Need a different size ball....get a different hitch adapter and weld that ball on too.

Do you try and come up with completely shit advise constantly?

It's incredibly dumb to weld on heat treated parts. All but the bottom of the barrel crap is heat treated.

Balls wear out. They need replacing.

I've never seen a ball loosen the nut. It provides much greater clamping force than running a bead could ever hope for, if you're not an idiot trying to hold it with one hand and using the tiny crescent wrench with the other.
 
Do you try and come up with completely shit advise constantly?

It's incredibly dumb to weld on heat treated parts. All but the bottom of the barrel crap is heat treated.

Balls wear out. They need replacing.

I've never seen a ball loosen the nut. It provides much greater clamping force than running a bead could ever hope for, if you're not an idiot trying to hold it with one hand and using the tiny crescent wrench with the other.
tenor.gif
 
Heh heh, Sirh said 'Chineseium. Heh heh

Fuck Chineseium.

I've got a good old American made one thats been in for 20 years and the paint is still black and good, no pitting.

Buy American, If you can find it,

Which you cant. Just had the brakes done all round on that 2002 truck and couldnt find American made parts anywhere, No Canada. Mexico and India and Chineseiuum.

Did I say, fuck Chineseium.
My 2001 PSD got dinged by a hit & run driver, nothing catastrophic, just cosmetic damage on the sheet metal.

The body shop at first said they couldn't work on it because it was too old. Anything over ten years they said they can't get parts for. It wasn't until they saw it and saw they wouldn't have to replace anything they accepted it.

FJB and the Chinese.
 
A few years ago I got a call from a friend who wanted to know if anything will dissolve duct tape. He had one of those cargo trays. He put a bit of duct tape on it before putting it in the receiver to stop the rattle.
 
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Do you try and come up with completely shit advise constantly?

It's incredibly dumb to weld on heat treated parts. All but the bottom of the barrel crap is heat treated.

Balls wear out. They need replacing.

I've never seen a ball loosen the nut. It provides much greater clamping force than running a bead could ever hope for, if you're not an idiot trying to hold it with one hand and using the tiny crescent wrench with the other.
Aww, does junior need a nappy ?

How the fuck do you think the hitch....or hell, the frame of your vehicle is put together ?
You actually think a tightened nut is better connected than 2 fused pieces of metal ?
Well isn't that special ?
 
Aww, does junior need a nappy ?

How the fuck do you think the hitch....or hell, the frame of your vehicle is put together ?
You actually think a tightened nut is better connected than 2 fused pieces of metal ?
Well isn't that special ?
You know that there's more than one way to skin a cat. Not everyone has access to a welder and a bit of axle grease is still needed if it's welded.
 
You know that there's more than one way to skin a cat. Not everyone has access to a welder and a bit of axle grease is still needed if it's welded.

I have access to about every tool known to humankind… I almost cut it off with a powerband and drove it both ways….

Design flaw coupled with my own “oops” costs time and PITA. Won’t happen twice! Sirhr
 
I have access to about every tool known to humankind… I almost cut it off with a powerband and drove it both ways….

Design flaw coupled with my own “oops” costs time and PITA. Won’t happen twice! Sirhr
There's no doubt Tim the Tool Man Taylor would be jealous.
I was interjecting in the back and forth about "to weld or not weld" back and forth.
Put the ball on gorilla tight and a smearing of grease on the ball will prevent it from coming loose. Even if it is welded it needs some grease on it.
 
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So just a warning for you folks with the big new 2.5” Reese hitches and “sleeve” adapters for your 2” hitches…

I got in a rush last fall and forgot to grease the adapter (steel from tractor supply pos China crap store) and then made the mistake of leaving it in all winter. In the salt. In VT.

Now it’s a little known fact that rust is 9x thicker than the metal it replaces. So .001” of a rust pit = .009” of thick rust bloom. And when Chineseium steel rusts… it is bad.

Anyway, took me 4 hours to get the hitch out (and the adapter.). Penetrating oil, 20 pound sledge, hoking tractor to hitch… torch…. And wedge… all required. $&@€%!!!!!

The had to bead blast the parts and etch prime… so they won’t rust overnight.

So remember to use grease/graphite. Grind the cheap powder coat off before fitting… take the hitch out when not using. Buy the polymer Reese adapters (they don’t last for shit with heavy loads) or get stainless steel adapter and at least only the truck and tow hitch will rust… not the adapter, too.

Just my apocryphal story for the day…. Don’t let this happen to you.

Sirhr
Sir I feel your pain and I am a fellow - “fuck the bitch is rusted in the fucking Reese again”. Here is wonderful MI not only do they use the most corrosive of road salts they also spray our thousands of miles of dirt roads with chloride all spring and summer , if not immediately washed off you can hear the rust growing on your vehicles metal. Actually for real you can- the best way I can describe the noise is if you’ve heard the maggots moving/feeding in a gut pile on a still July or August morning.

We pull trailers daily for work to haul fire wood and equipment maybe to take the boat out twice a year . Hauling feed and hay and lumber . The amount of time I’ve spent dealing with stuck hitches , rusted wheel wells , bad wiring and burned wheel bearings I could have built my dream cabin with hatchet and speed square and walked the shore line of all the Great Lakes .
Tonight we are slaughtering a hog - when it’s hanging I will pour 3 fingers of Sour Mash Whisky in solidarity with you, we in woe of the hitch!
 
I made alot of money in the last 30 years removing frozen hitches, easy if ya know the secrets. I have heard "i hooked a chain to a tree" stories many a time...
 
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Would also like to mention these effing new aluminum garden hose connections. Within a month galvanicly fused to the hose bib. Within 2 months the hose is rotting to pieces. WTF
Dissimilar metals. Wanna know something weird? We dont have the same problem at my new house. Not on city water. Not sure if its the water or something to do with being part of the system.