Trailer hitch nut lock

If your worried about the ball nut coming loose you can take a second nut and tighten the two together by locking one against the other. We used to do that all the time in the const industry.

Aluminum...so the why of their 250 ft/lb torque...my ball/nut tag says to tighten to, IIRC, 450 ft/lbs, so this RJ lock isn't up to spec for my ball/nut

There are reasons for that kind of torque requirement and is to keep the ball on the shank from being loosened by the trailer over time. Trailer will have 18-20-24-28-30 or more feet of lever arm working on that ball

Aluminum is a wonderful metal but not for a lock body application. Anyone ever see a pad lock made of aluminum? If yes, please post pic's and links so I can read up on them

Locking the coupler makes more sense to me...

DutchmenSport wrote:
Don't know why anyone would want to steal a hitch ball, but I suppose if you have vehicles at construction sites, thieves will steal anything. How many times have we heard of tools and equipment being stolen at various construction sites? OP didn't say anything about having a trailer hitched.

I have never seen that. Is the theory to prevent the ball from being stolen or a connected trailer?

I would think just removing the hitch would be more secure if it is the ball and easier ways to defeat a trailer lock and just take it than removing the ball.

I use a punch to secure the nut. Slightly burring the threads wear the ball and nut make contact.

Another way to "lock" the nut is to put a small weld on the exposed threads.
That's what I do on all my receivers but not for security reasons.

I've had the receiver nut work it self loose a couple of times (only by less than
1/2 a thread) and when this happens the receiver rattles like crazy. One quick weld on the exposed threads stops the nut form loosening AND adds a level of
security.

Click on link they have quite a few different ones.

https://www.etrailer.com/search/trailer+ball+lock

Thanks Barney....now I get it. Thanks for the education.
I'm a gadget junkie, but I'll pass on this one.

Don't know why anyone would want to steal a hitch ball, but I suppose if you have vehicles at construction sites, thieves will steal anything. How many times have we heard of tools and equipment being stolen at various construction sites? OP didn't say anything about having a trailer hitched.

You can run a security chain between the trailer tongue and truck receiver body for additional deterrence. I would question why you stay or visit an area with such a high risk rate.