How often do you need to tighen your hitch ball?

How often do you need to tighen your hitch ball?

When the waistband finally gives out :o

How often do you check the bolts on your connecting rod caps and main bearing caps in your engine? A properly torqued (stretched) bolt will not loosen.

Tighten them?? Only once when installing. In fact I've rarely had one that would come off without some major southern engineering. They rust on pretty quick.
As said, don't need a socket. A crescent or pipe wrench will work.

On my primary rig I have an Anderson hitch, so no ball to tighten (side nuts are on there with an impact wrench). On my other hitches I tack weld the nut after getting it tight. I'm all about doing it once and doing it right :-)

John..no offense meant and apologize for an inadvertent slight

That term is often used throughout my early career in design. Even
Uncle Bill Leckilkner (who taught me my hands and design acumen) use
that term often...as he did NOT normally use a torque wrench, but was
'good' for it with his hard knock schooled hands

I did mention preload or tension for the shank. Even 'tried' to explain
why proper tension is very important here and many, many times
on other threads. Did also mention that anyone working on an ISO
certified production facility would be fired for not using or following
instructions on torque for a fastener

Also stated that there are years of courses in basic engineering that
folks here so cavalierly dismiss and have had a guy call it gobbledygook

Missed is that this stuff is of life and limb, but I am in the vast
minority vs the fat part of the bell curve (call them the herd)

Also lost respect for a few who I 'thought' had at least a basic understanding
or appreciation of how it is NOT a game, but serious engineering
or re-engineering discussions

So, am gone for a while as have more hobbies needing attention (OBTW
no longer just a hobby this forum, now serious as too many PMs and
even my email in box with real issues caused by poor to even dangerous
advice here)

JBarca wrote:

If you still need help with this and you have a 1/2" torque wrench that will go say 200 ft lb or even 150, I can offer some help.

I have a 150 ft/lb beam torque wrench.

JBarca wrote:

I do happen to have a 700 ft lb torque wrench. And there are other proven methods of obtaining the correct torque. If you can get it to a known 150 or 200, you can scribe a line in the nut and head and I can get you the nut rotation required past that torque to get 450.

We just need to know if we are talking lubed threads ( and what kind of lube) or dry threads.

Dry (fine, I think) threads. 1.25.

JBarca wrote:

For what it is worth, have done the 225 lb guy on the end of a 2 foot breaker bar and then went back and checked it with a torque wrench for 450 ft lb. The torque wrench check pulled morem almost a 1/2 rev, to get to 450. While the 225lb guy got it close, it was not 450 when I checked it directly after. Exactly why I do not know, there is some loss in the wind up I guess. And calibration tolerance in the wrench.

This is how I did it. I did notice that my setup did have some bend and wondered if that impacted the results. I figure it should not - except being off 90 degrees and holding something to balance will probably reduce the weight.

JBarca wrote:

Also a tid bit I have not yet seen listed. Fastener torque does offer a proper tightness effect which helps with anti back off, however on a fastener the torque per the fastener material also creates a preload stress in the joint. This preload is most important as it prevents fatigue of the bolt which can over time lead to bolt failure. Towing on the ball can be considered having a loading and unloading effect that can and will put stretch on the ball from stops and starts if not tighten correctly. If the torque is correct, then the bolt tension is high enough that the bolt does not stretch each stop and start cycle.

Yes, I understand this for the most part. It's about the clamping force and having enough force to keep things from moving. If the nut does not back off but the ball spins in the hole or there's a tiny flexing of the ball in the socket as you accelerate/brake then problems could come up.

That's also one reason why something like lock-tite or even welding the nut to the shank can't replace proper torque.


I had a strange problem with the bolts that mount the head to the shank too. The spec for them is 150 ft lbs + 1/4 turn. I must have moved the head 10x in the last two weeks. On my last move I got about one turn in when removing the nut and it was STUCK. I don't have a 3/4" socket and I gave it all I could with the 1/2" socket, including a good quality 1/2" impact gun. Eventually I had to cut it off.

Originally I cut one entire face of the nut off and it still wouldn't turn - as if it was welded on. I had to cut through then entire bolt to get it off. It was not cross threaded. I guess it's possible a small piece of metal got in there but it went on without incident.

I was thinking that the 150 ft lbs + 1/4 turn messed up the threads enough to cause some kind of failure that seized up the the nut when trying to take it off. My effort to remove with a 3' breaker probably didn't help either.

There are new bolts and nuts on there now.....

BenK wrote:


Not just the 'shops', but also the folks who tighten it 'Farmer Tight'

Hi Ben,

Hey I resemble that comment... !!! :) I know what you are referring too and I do not think you are singling out a profession, however pick a different adjective.

I'll go with the farmer with 30 years of experience over the green tech any day, maybe even a seasoned one in some cases. Those of use who came from an agricultural background are a proud bunch and by the time we went off to school to learn what Dad or Uncle Art had been telling us for years gave us a jump start in industry over others who never picked up a wrench. Also Uncle Art always had a Snap On dial torque wrench. When he passed away, my cousin got it but I have his Snap On tool chest. I think he bought is back in the 50's.

mrekim wrote:
I bit the bullet and bought a 1 7/8" 3/4" drive socket and "T-Handle" breaker bar.

Hi mrekim,

If you still need help with this and you have a 1/2" torque wrench that will go say 200 ft lb or even 150, I can offer some help.

I do happen to have a 700 ft lb torque wrench. And there are other proven methods of obtaining the correct torque. If you can get it to a known 150 or 200, you can scribe a line in the nut and head and I can get you the nut rotation required past that torque to get 450. We just need to know if we are talking lubed threads ( and what kind of lube) or dry threads.

For what it is worth, have done the 225 lb guy on the end of a 2 foot breaker bar and then went back and checked it with a torque wrench for 450 ft lb. The torque wrench check pulled morem almost a 1/2 rev, to get to 450. While the 225lb guy got it close, it was not 450 when I checked it directly after. Exactly why I do not know, there is some loss in the wind up I guess. And calibration tolerance in the wrench.

Also a tid bit I have not yet seen listed. Fastener torque does offer a proper tightness effect which helps with anti back off, however on a fastener the torque per the fastener material also creates a preload stress in the joint. This preload is most important as it prevents fatigue of the bolt which can over time lead to bolt failure. Towing on the ball can be considered having a loading and unloading effect that can and will put stretch on the ball from stops and starts if not tighten correctly. If the torque is correct, then the bolt tension is high enough that the bolt does not stretch each stop and start cycle.

Another tid bit is lubed threads verses dry. Those are 2 different torque specs. Lubed can require approx 20% less torque to obtain the same preload in the bolt compared to dry.

Hope this helps

John

mrekim wrote:
How often do you check it?

Never

Maybe read this thread.