HITCH PINS Safety and Security

[Rossue]

Have started bringing a box of nitrile gloves. Use them at the rv dump, etc. then use an old one to cover the ball.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Have started bringing a box of nitrile gloves. Use them at the rv dump, etc. then use an old one to cover the ball.

Do you wear another pair of nitrile gloves while pulling the used one over the ball?

[thoer]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Do you wear another pair of nitrile gloves while pulling the used one over the ball?

I've got one of those special covers for our ball, but I think the grease just jumps onto my pants before I can get it covered.

[sumac.rhus]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

When I bought my hitch I bought a locking hitch pin to secure it. I put it on the truck and have left the hitch in place ever since. It's not clear to me why people remove their trailer hitches. Enlighten me.

Will not be towing more often than towing ...
1) Am planning on using bike rack directly on car, at times.
2) Parking in tight spaces, when not towing.

[float5]

Can't resist, Steve,
You just love love love that Wisconsin weather with all of that salt.
I will be on Washington Island shortly which I love love love but I don't go in winter!

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I use my truck to tow my travel trailer , firewood trailer and utility trailer so I change the stinger out to match the trailer.
If you lived in an area that uses road salt you would soon discover one reason for removing the stinger . All it takes is about one winter and the stinger is rusted into the hitch and any hitch lock is rusted so badly you cannot unlock it.
I spent 4 hour one Saturday trying to remove the stinger from a friends hitch . We finally gave up and cut the hitch off his truck and installed a whole new hitch.
I pull my stinger out and store it until I need it again to prevent it from rusting in and putting dents in someone's bumper.
I also coat the hitch and stinger with grease.

[War Eagle]

I used to leave our ball mount attached until one day I walked behind someone else's pickup, not watching where I was going, and almost took out one of my kneecaps on their "stinger" (appropriately named!). After that, I started removing ours as a courtesy to others. And when not in use, I keep the ball covered with a little rubberized ball cover like this to keep the grease from making a mess.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Curt-Manu...p_A8fpiGoZMmlM

[float5]

We have a cover for the ball but I never put it on grease. Takes 30 seconds to wipe off the grease with a shop towel right after disconnecting. Then I don't have to wonder if the grease will end up all over something which it would if it were in the cover. Guaranteed. We use white lithium grease, for newbies.

[Rossue]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Do you wear another pair of nitrile gloves while pulling the used one over the ball?

Uh, nooo...it is already inside out. Crack another one

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Eric
I just went ahead and bought two bottles of Grandma spot remover at Walmart and looking into buying stock in the company I washed 4 pairs of pants today and had to scrub grease out of two I'd them. Maybe that's not so bad though, first time I've had to wash since April. Last week the coupler got my wife when she swerved to avoid the hitch ball out in New Mexico. Don't get me started on the day Jake used the coupler to scratch his back.
A Smart person I know, wipes The ball off each time he stops And regresses before he hooks up Again. Others just cover the ball with a plastic bags that's certain to blow by in a minute.
Dave

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Uh, nooo...it is already inside out. Crack another one

I assume you have 'truck nuts' to go with that glove then.

[Great Eggstrications]

I've been real happy with my locking hitch pin from Trimax. It not only locks the pin in place for the obvious security benefit, but it also clamps the side of the ball mount against the inside of the receiver, so apart from the added security of the lock you also eliminate the sloppy fit that can cause galling on the inside of the receiver. It uses a springy bracket with a nut welded to it that squeezes into the inside of the (gotta be hollow) receiver, then the threaded part of the pin threads into the nut, the sleeve slides onto the smooth part of the pin, then you snug it down with a 5/8" box wrench thereby clamping the ball mount against the receiver, and then put on the locking piece. A bit of an inconvienence perhaps, but well worth it to me. I also threw on a thick nylon washer to avoid metal-to-metal contact between the head of the "bolt" and the receiver. The fact that the pin goes through the receiver and ball mount and into the nut is some assurance that the pin stays put even if the lock piece departs.

That took care of side-to-side and wagging motion between the receiver and the ball mount, and then to eliminate teeter-tottering of the ball mount about the hitch pin I just cut and bent up a piece of scrap sheet aluminum that sits on the top surface of the ball mount and is locked into place by 2 tabs - one bent up and one bent down - at the ends, so it can't go forward and it can't go back. The Reese ball mount was a real sloppy fit in my 4Runner, and between the clamping/locking pin and piece of aluminum sheet I'm getting no relative motion at all between the receiver and the ball mount, which should help the receiver last a good long time without getting all torn up inside from things moving around and galling. It'll be real easy to bend up new aluminum pieces when they sacrifice themselves and the price is right, and I'd sure rather do that than have to deal with replacing a worn receiver. Over 7,000 miles so far and everything looks fine.

On Amazon I found a couple of anti-rattle devices - one was a u-bolt clamp sort of thing and the other was a wedge that gets driven into the gap between the receiver and the ball mount - ouch. The Trimax products are available on Amazon, but I ordered directly from the Trimax web site so I could also get a keyed-alike 1/4" coupler lock pin. Not particularly cheap but it looks like real good quality stainless steel stuff.

I always remove the ball mount unless we're actually towing - our receiver is bolted to the welded-to-the-frame rear crossmember, and all it would take would be some texting idiot to boot us in the rear to do some real damage. Hitches are not bumpers...

[tractors1]

I learned to remove my stinger when not towing the hard way.

Backed across a street with a high crown and put a golf ball size dent on the door of a low Mercedes Benz, right on the door keyhole. Could not see it in any mirrors. Alarm went off and I dutifully sat on the curb, writing my contact information, when the lady owner showed up and thanked me for not driving away. Little did I know it would cost $4500 to repair the innards, reskin and repaint the door.

[padlin]

When I had a bumper pull, the "stinger" was the whole WDH's head, it must have weighted 40 lbs. After bashing my shins half a hundred times I started removing it. It also added about a foot to the trucks length.

It's one of the things I don't miss now that I have a 5th wheel.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by float5

Can't resist, Steve,
You just love love love that Wisconsin weather with all of that salt.
I will be on Washington Island shortly which I love love love but I don't go in winter!

Yes I kinda do !!. One of my accounts when I was working was a large road salt - - road chemical plant / supplier . Salt and rust made a lot of work and paid a lot of bills for me.
I do enjoy Wisconsin / Minnesota weather.
I have loved cool /cold weather and hated hot weather since I was a kid some 60 years ago.
Southern Iowa is about as far as we go, so we can avoid the heat.
.YMMV

[Mike Lewis]

Well, those were interesting answers regarding removing the hitch, thanks. Now I have a second question: why do you lubricate the trailer ball?

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Well, those were interesting answers regarding removing the hitch, thanks. Now I have a second question: why do you lubricate the trailer ball?

I don't.

[steve dunham]

You use grease for four reasons

1) To reduce wear from rubbing of the trailer ball and hitch
2) Reduce noise ( squeaking ) when turning / backing up
3) To insure that at least one leg or leg of your pants gets grease on it.
4) To properly lubricate your hands so that everything you touch gets grease on it.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Well, those were interesting answers regarding removing the hitch, thanks. Now I have a second question: why do you lubricate the trailer ball?

Metal-on-metal wearing off of the chrome finish on the ball, exposing ferrous metal underneath that will rust and pit, which then will wear on the inner lining of the coupler, inducing rust there, what will eventually weaken in the damp atmospheric conditions we have here in Alabama. Under the right conditions, the metal-on-metal rub under pressure can make an annoying high-pitched squeak when the ball-coupler interface rubs, and I hate squeaks (just ask my wife!). That, and my dear departed father told me to always do that, and so I do, and many other things, in small ways to honor his memory and the many lessons and blessings he gave me. But that's just me....

[Iowa Dave]

I don't have any tattoos but if I ever get one I'll honor my Dad with the inscription "Grease is cheap". To keep things from wearing, pitting, rusting, squeaking and to keep somebody's kids in shoes I buy and use grease on things that turn under pressure. Except on brake drums, and grape vines if you're Tarzan, grease is usually good.
Dave

[advenas]

Originally Posted by Great Eggstrications

I've been real happy with my locking hitch pin from Trimax.

Looks like this is a great idea for a regular hitch. Does anyone use something like this on a weight distribution hitch? They weight like 40lbs and having that hammering around when in use or not is annoying at the very least. Thanks