Trailer Maintenance

[TOXIC]

Just a heads up to do a little receiver hitch check once in a while.  Getting ready to head out for Lake St Clair in a couple of weeks and will be pulling my buddies 2020 Ranger.  I have pulled it to Florida but we discovered that my drop doesn’t keep this boat as level as it should.  My 2005 Ranger sits perfectly level.  EzLoader now makes Ranger trailers so that may be the difference.  Anyway, we are going to use the receiver off of his truck for this trip so I needed to remove mine.  I had a locking Masterlock hitch pin that had been on since 2016 and I knew it was going to be a little gummed up even though it had a rubber cover over the key slot.  Boy was I right.   I soaked the key slot and internals with WD40 but it was a no go.  I had 2 options.  Get out the sawzall and cut the stainless pin or get out the drill and drill out the lock.  I chose the latter and it drilled out fairly easily.  I also took the opportunity to spray rust converter in the hitch and on my draw bar and follow up with some bed liner.  I’ve seen pictures of draw bars that look fine on the outside and have totally rusted away inside the receiver.  Going forward, I think I am going to go with the old style lynch pin instead of the locking style.  Especially since most of my buddies tell me that a locking pin can be popped off in 10 seconds with a wrench if you know what you are doing.  Just a word to the wise to check your receiver!  

[BassinCNY]

Thanks. I was naive enough to think that my locking pin was pretty safe but I just watched a video defeating it in seconds.

[Bankc]

I always remove my trailer hitch when not in use.  Those things love to bite my shins.  

[gim]

1 hour ago, Bankc said:

I always remove my trailer hitch when not in use.  Those things love to bite my shins.  

I always remove mine too.  No reason to keep it exposed to the elements when not in use.

 

My old man left one in his previous truck for years.  When the time came to try and take it out, it wouldn't budge.  We used WD40, tried hammering it out, even took a blow torch to it.  I took it to an auto body shop and they hooked it up to a fork lift and it STILL wouldn't come out.  That thing was rusted in there permanently.  He ended up selling that truck with it stuck in there.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if @TnRiver46 had some stories about rusted hitches and pins.

[TOXIC]

There’s a little known traffic law here in Virginia that makes it a ticketable offense to leave it in.  I never take mine out.  As for busted shins, Gator Guards makes a rubber shin protector for hitches.  Works well.  You can see it on mine.  

[K1500]

Those master locking pins are good for rusting shut. I had to grind mine off to get it to release. I suppose I should have YouTube’ed it to figure out how to get it off in 10 seconds. It took a while with the grinder. 

[Log Catcher]

It looks like I am using the same lock @TOXIC was using. I leave my receiver in place during fishing season for me. I take it out and store in the truck in the winter time. So far no problems. On rare occasion I take it out in the summer.

[Way north bass guy]

I use my hitch for work all year, but up here in the “land of winter salt”, I always remove mine when I’m not using it. All they do is trap salty road dirt up around them all winter, and even just plain old dirt and mud in the summer, and like mentioned before, can be a real pain to remove. Also, I’ve been known to “remove” a bit of hide from my shins from time to time, so off she comes when not towing. 

[Junk Fisherman]

I always heard it was illegal to keep them in even though I often drive with mine in and have never had a problem.  I had mine meld into my hitch on my last truck and I could not get it out.  I take mine out periodically so this doesn't happen.    

[slonezp]

6 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said:

I always heard it was illegal to keep them in even though I often drive with mine in and have never had a problem.  I had mine meld into my hitch on my last truck and I could not get it out.  I take mine out periodically so this doesn't happen.    

Was made a law as the result of influence by insurance companies.

 

There's a product out there called Tri Flow. A locksmith told me about it. I spray the lock cylinders annually with it as well as the hitch, winch, and boat buckles. Fantastic stuff.

 

 

As far as the OP, a 5lb sledge or a piece of pipe would have been the fastest way to remove the lock. The hardened steel will break apart with ease.  

[BigAngus752]

This REALLY makes towing a trailer more pleasant.  It takes out movement that you don't realize is there until you install it.  I'm guessing it is also as much of a deterrent to theft as a locking pin.  Not handy if you need to change drops all the time but I don't and I love this thing.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWL3R3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[TOXIC]

14 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

This REALLY makes towing a trailer more pleasant.  It takes out movement that you don't realize is there until you install it.  I'm guessing it is also as much of a deterrent to theft as a locking pin.  Not handy if you need to change drops all the time but I don't and I love this thing.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWL3R3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Funny you post that.  My buddy who’s boat I am towing with his hitch uses one on his truck and removes it every time.  Kind of a pain needing a wrench every time but it works as advertised.  I think I am going to start removing mine because I bought a plain hitch pin yesterday to replace the locking one and it can be stolen easily when I am not towing.  

[GTN-NY]

15 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

This REALLY makes towing a trailer more pleasant.  It takes out movement that you don't realize is there until you install it.  I'm guessing it is also as much of a deterrent to theft as a locking pin.  Not handy if you need to change drops all the time but I don't and I love this thing.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWL3R3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

I use one of these. I’m towing a kayak trailer that has little tongue weight. This quiets that ball/receiver chatter down to nothing

[Bankc]

16 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

This REALLY makes towing a trailer more pleasant.  It takes out movement that you don't realize is there until you install it.  I'm guessing it is also as much of a deterrent to theft as a locking pin.  Not handy if you need to change drops all the time but I don't and I love this thing.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWL3R3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

I have one of these too.  They work extremely well.  

 

Though I prefer to use this: 

https://www.amazon.com/Draw-Tite-63080-HITCH-SILENCING-SYSTEM/dp/B011E8BWH6/ref=sr_1_2?crid=TEKTXYNFGD6R&keywords=drawtite+qsp&qid=1651858236&sprefix=drawtite+qsp%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-2

 

It only works with Draw-Tite receivers (which I have) and it still leaves a little bit of play.  You probably cut back on 90% of the noise and vibrations of the more permanent solutions above.  But it's much easier and quicker to use and doesn't require tools.  And since I'm always pulling mine off and on, this is the more convenient solution for me.  

[TnRiver46]

On 5/5/2022 at 3:34 PM, gimruis said:

I always remove mine too.  No reason to keep it exposed to the elements when not in use.

 

My old man left one in his previous truck for years.  When the time came to try and take it out, it wouldn't budge.  We used WD40, tried hammering it out, even took a blow torch to it.  I took it to an auto body shop and they hooked it up to a fork lift and it STILL wouldn't come out.  That thing was rusted in there permanently.  He ended up selling that truck with it stuck in there.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if @TnRiver46 had some stories about rusted hitches and pins.

Haha! Mine is a little rusty but not stuck. Having two boats that sit different heights keeps me switching it around 

[Hammer 4]

I had my pin since around 2008, I live 10 blocks from the ocean, so salt air. Anyway it getting so rusty, it looked like dog poo poo, so a few days ago I removed it without issue. What I did was, when I first installed the pin was to give a super light coat of marine grease, makes removal much easier.

[Alex from GA]

I came out of the grocery store one day to find my receiver 1/2 out of the mount.  Someone wanted it more than I did but got scared off.  I remove mine now.

[cbat]

Rust keeps it from being stolen.

[cyclops2]

So very true.Removing rust & repaint is VERY expensive.  Not worth stealing.

[dickenscpa]

I just went thru this same thing a few weeks back. I bought one of those extended hitches a few weeks ago that has an extra receiver on top of it for bike racks when you're towing something else. I bought it to use the top one and extend it out a bit for a Boondox bed extender and raise it a smidge.

 

I was guilty of leaving my previous hitch in year 'round as well. When I went to take the old hitch off, my locking pin was seized up tight as a drum. I soaked it, torched it and called the Pope but wound up cutting it off as well. Mine had the rubber cover on it as well and I never thought about it corroding and seizing.

 

I went back to the ole faithful pin and cotter pin.

 

I met a buddy one time at Kroger which is open 24hrs and we left my truck there in a fairly crowded parking lot and took his to a hockey game. When we got back around 10ish my whole receiver and everything had been disassembled and removed right there in the parking lot.

[Krux5506]

I had the same issue last year with the same type of locking pin. Had it left on my truck for years, so absolutely no way I was getting the key into it to unlock. Ended up grinding it off and getting a new one and now I just remove everything when not in use. 

[A-Jay]

I don't do rust ~ on anything.

Rapid Hitch with the locking pins is the way to go.

A-Jay

 

[Trox]

I lost the key to mine a long time ago. One less thing to worry about ?

[K1500]

Mine corroded shut after a trip to the Gulf of Mexico. Never got the hitch in the water, I guess it was just the salt air. 

[TnRiver46]

On 5/18/2022 at 9:04 AM, A-Jay said:

I don't do rust ~ on anything.

 

 

That probably takes some time combatting it where you live. And a garage haha