mrekim wrote:
I bit the bullet and bought a 1 7/8" 3/4" drive socket and "T-Handle" breaker bar.
I will say that there's no way the existing ball was torqued to 450 ft/lbs. I was prepared to struggle for a while to get the old one off and it broke loose way easier that the 5/8" lug nuts do on one of my trailers!
This was originally installed by the the trailer shop that sold me the hitch.
I agree that you should be able to have a shop do it, but I also think that you either need to watch over their shoulder every step of the way or you have to **really** trust them.
Not just the 'shops', but also the folks who tighten it 'Farmer Tight'
Some match torque wrench tightened...some over to weaken the bolt...some
under torqued...
There was an old thread where a member drilled a dimple for a steel
BB on both the flat surface and the bottom flat of the ball.
That goes along with the discussion of wired, etc
Bottom line is that if it is torqued to spec, it 'should' not come
loose. That torque is what the designers calculated according to their
design spec loading
That design spec loading is for the worst case conditions and a lever
arm the length of the trailer...which can be over 30 feet long vs
the breaker bar in discussion (inches)
Why I recommend greasing the coupler/ball interface
