Don’t f*** up like I did…

[sirhrmechanic]

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

 

[chevy_man]

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.

 

[n2ishun]

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.

 

[7.62willdo]

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.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

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

 

[Maggot]

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.

 

[chevy_man]

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.

 

[Hecouldgoalltheway]

I'll bet you didn't even try kicking it.

Amateur hour.

 

[Maggot]

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.

 

[Maggot]

I'll bet you didn't even try kicking it.

With your shin

Amateur hour.

FIFY.

 

[hafejd30]

That hitch isn’t the only thing not pulling out tonight….

 

[cas6969]

Just got back from pulling a 12000 pound...

No, if you'd have forgotten and acidentally left the retaining pin out, it would have come free. (but not if you left the pin out on purpose)
Because that's how the universe works.

 

[The D]

That hitch isn’t the only thing not pulling out tonight….
View attachment 8131134

I bet your boyfriend will be surprised.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I'll bet you didn't even try kicking it.

Amateur hour.

I did try using The Force. Didn’t work.

Sirhr

 

[diverdon]

I use these https://www.bulletproofhitches.com/...psi_x-kqU2XINQlGQEPMFDtzxqNuuS2_F76dP0aAr3IEA

And I remove it when not towing.

 

[TexPatriot]

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.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

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.

 

[Maggot]

I did try using The Force. Didn’t work.

Sirhr

Shins dont work either but you can offend a lot of people screaming when you hit it on the hitch.

 

[Aftermath]

That hitch isn’t the only thing not pulling out tonight….
View attachment 8131134

Who is the lucky guy and who is the receiver? Is it a 2" or 2-1/2" stinger?

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I’ll just get one of these…

 

[n2ishun]

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 ?

 

[buffalowinter]

 

[CaptArab]

Penetrating oil, 20 pound sledge, hoking tractor to hitch… torch…. And wedge… all required. $&@€%!!!!!

Sounds like a pretty good Saturday afternoon tbh

 

[n2ishun]

Sounds like a pretty good Saturday afternoon tbh

 

[Major Wader]

Buy a BW. No worries about corrosion.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

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.

 

[vh20]

View attachment 8131160

That last one is supposed to say, "It can't be stuck if it's liquid."

 

[FWoo45]

If a 2” hitch is insufficient, figure out how to hook the bitch to the Pete. That 2-1/2” shit pisses me off.

 

[Steel+Killer]

Hook up a recovery chain to the hitch run other end around oak tree hop in truck smash down on the accelerator.

Follow me for more Darwin award winning advice......

 

[Numedal]

Hook up a recovery chain to the hitch run other end around oak tree hop in truck smash down on the accelerator.

Follow me for more Darwin award winning advice......

Oh, and get someone to film it

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Oh, and get someone to film it

Meh… I’ll leave that stuff to the people I already have on Ignore…

Sirhr

 

[Numedal]

Meh… I’ll leave that stuff to the people I already have on Ignore…

Sirhr

Good plan

 

[sirhrmechanic]

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

 

[EddieNFL]

Screw ball hitches...

 

[EddieNFL]

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Screw ball hitches...

Got one of those, too. But never leave it installed. You can’t move artillery on a ball hitch.

Follow me for more towing advice!

Sirhr

 

[Alphatreedog]

Next time try rippin open a knuckle . Funny how some repairs require a blood offering .
Oh and the requisite number of " Mother F's " .

 

[EddieNFL]

Got one of those, too. But never leave it installed. You can’t move artillery on a ball hitch.

Follow me for more towing advice!

Sirhr

Just don't forget to close it.

 

[vh20]

Next time try rippin open a knuckle . Funny how some repairs require a blood offering .
Oh and the requisite number of " Mother F's " .

One of my mentors always maintained that the "F" word was invented by a mechanic.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

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.

 

[lash]

Sparky the Blue Tipped Wrench

 

[Alphatreedog]

Sparky the Blue Tipped Wrench

Smoke Wrench for the win .

 

[BurtG]

Screw ball hitches...

Yeah I love trailers banging around instead of being nice and tight.



Also. Hitches don’t get tight if you use them now and then.

Internal rust can be an issue though. Plus shit roads

 

[BurtG]

Put the ball on gorilla tight and a smearing of grease on the ball will prevent it from coming loose. Even if you it is welded it needs some grease on it.

F that. Their chrome. Run them dry.

No sense in getting mechanic stripper glitter on everything

 

[Slash0311]

Here's a trailer that was abandoned in my AO. Can't figure out why...

I don't see much welding. And for all the trailer gurus out there, wouldn't a 1/2" drive be better than the 3/8" or is that overkill?

 

[nagantguy]

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!

 

[Pbgt]

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...

 

[SONIC SAAMI]

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...

Care to share some of them their secrets?

 

[redhooker]

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

 

[Jgunner]

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.