Nut backed off ball caused accident
I was heading up to santa cruz ca. in my 40' american eagle I had my motorcycle in tow on a utility trailer. Before I left I had tighten the nut on the ball with an air impact driver the kind that you...
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We get a lot of rain around here. Half the pickups you see have rusty hitch balls. They never grease them. They only tow to the lake or job site but I bet a few loose their trailers.
That lock washer that comes with all the hitch balls, I've seen is hardened and has the ends where split at a sharp angle. The balls all have a hard small ball bearing in the bottom. Together with the lock washer, it should never come loose. The cheap zinc plated balls are worse about rusting. Given enough rust the coupler can put a lot of torque in all directions going down the road.
I'm amazed that no one cleans the inside of the coupler or the ball and greases them.
It should never come loose when installed in proper sized hole and torqued down to crush the washer and inbed the ball bearing into the metal of the tow bar. A little red Loctite which is for permanent attachment and it will never come off.
That lock washer that comes with all the hitch balls, I've seen is hardened and has the ends where split at a sharp angle. The balls all have a hard small ball bearing in the bottom. Together with the lock washer, it should never come loose. The cheap zinc plated balls are worse about rusting. Given enough rust the coupler can put a lot of torque in all directions going down the road.
I'm amazed that no one cleans the inside of the coupler or the ball and greases them.
It should never come loose when installed in proper sized hole and torqued down to crush the washer and inbed the ball bearing into the metal of the tow bar. A little red Loctite which is for permanent attachment and it will never come off.
