WD hitch head wear issues
OK, this may be long winded so bear with me, we`ll see how well I can explain this. I`ve had this hitch head for about 5-6 years, I replaced an older hitch head. Everything from the shank to the b...
Forum Discussion
Hi Dodge Guy,
That hitch head is a lot older then 10 years. At least of the new ones of the time.
That said, it may be new to you 10 years ago, but it may have been sitting in a dealer pile for a long while before you bought it.
This hitch head is from the 1996 to approx 2001 time frame. Notice the square corner washer for setting head tilt. All cast Steel.
This head is my first one, I bought in 2003 and is a 3 piece welded head to replaced the all cast one shown above. Uses serrated washer for adjusting
Then approx 2008/2009 an all cast version started coming back. Looks like this
The 2003 vintage (right) next to the 2008 vintage (Left).
I have seen the heavy wear you show on some buddies Reese heads but only when they did not use grease of any kind. Then the lower lugs swedge in short order. I can attest from mine at 1,600#, if you use grease there is very little wear (the 2003 series). Those who use no lube, the lower trunnion lobes swedge up around the edges from the extreme friction and load. Yours does not show the swedge of no grease.
I have an educated "guess" on what may have happened on yours.
Your head is a 3 piece welded head. Forged top and bottom welded to formed steel U to go over the shank. Your bottom lug looks bent down. See here in this pic, the bottom lugs are leaning down at the end and the trunnion lug is not sitting in place like it is supposed to.
This one does not look right either, the right side looks bent down more then the left. Might be an optical illusion or not.
Here is the "guess" Maybe Reese can fill in some missing pieces.
I have only seen that head on the older trunnion hitches that used straight tipped WD bars. And back in that time frame 1,000# use to be a somewhat limit of the higher tongue weight ratings. And there use to not really be any kind of sticker on the hitch heads as far as ratings. That head may have only been targeted as a 1,000# head. Reese will need to confrim.
When the first one I showed up top as all cast head, the 1,200# WD bars started coming on the scene. I do not know exactly when Reese started the 1,200# bars but they became more popular in the mid 90's early 2,000 years.
The guess is, the lower lugs are bending under load. Since that load is that high, you may have worn through a case hardened area of the lower trunnion lugs. Now into softer steel the wear progresses at an accelerated rate.
I may be off on some of this, but there is something going on that is for sure. I take your word for it, if it has seen grease since day one, and your trunnion lugs show little wear and there is no swedging of the lower pocket up, this backs up you used grease. The head has changed temper somehow and is wearing aggressively for the load being applied. And the load may have finally gone past the yield limit of that design what ever the rating was and bent the lower lugs down.
Please report back what you find. This is a new one for me. Trying to learn as we all are.
Hope this helps
John
That hitch head is a lot older then 10 years. At least of the new ones of the time.
That said, it may be new to you 10 years ago, but it may have been sitting in a dealer pile for a long while before you bought it.
This hitch head is from the 1996 to approx 2001 time frame. Notice the square corner washer for setting head tilt. All cast Steel.
This head is my first one, I bought in 2003 and is a 3 piece welded head to replaced the all cast one shown above. Uses serrated washer for adjusting
Then approx 2008/2009 an all cast version started coming back. Looks like this
The 2003 vintage (right) next to the 2008 vintage (Left).
I have seen the heavy wear you show on some buddies Reese heads but only when they did not use grease of any kind. Then the lower lugs swedge in short order. I can attest from mine at 1,600#, if you use grease there is very little wear (the 2003 series). Those who use no lube, the lower trunnion lobes swedge up around the edges from the extreme friction and load. Yours does not show the swedge of no grease.
I have an educated "guess" on what may have happened on yours.
Your head is a 3 piece welded head. Forged top and bottom welded to formed steel U to go over the shank. Your bottom lug looks bent down. See here in this pic, the bottom lugs are leaning down at the end and the trunnion lug is not sitting in place like it is supposed to.
This one does not look right either, the right side looks bent down more then the left. Might be an optical illusion or not.
Here is the "guess" Maybe Reese can fill in some missing pieces.
I have only seen that head on the older trunnion hitches that used straight tipped WD bars. And back in that time frame 1,000# use to be a somewhat limit of the higher tongue weight ratings. And there use to not really be any kind of sticker on the hitch heads as far as ratings. That head may have only been targeted as a 1,000# head. Reese will need to confrim.
When the first one I showed up top as all cast head, the 1,200# WD bars started coming on the scene. I do not know exactly when Reese started the 1,200# bars but they became more popular in the mid 90's early 2,000 years.
The guess is, the lower lugs are bending under load. Since that load is that high, you may have worn through a case hardened area of the lower trunnion lugs. Now into softer steel the wear progresses at an accelerated rate.
I may be off on some of this, but there is something going on that is for sure. I take your word for it, if it has seen grease since day one, and your trunnion lugs show little wear and there is no swedging of the lower pocket up, this backs up you used grease. The head has changed temper somehow and is wearing aggressively for the load being applied. And the load may have finally gone past the yield limit of that design what ever the rating was and bent the lower lugs down.
Please report back what you find. This is a new one for me. Trying to learn as we all are.
Hope this helps
John
