When to replace the hitch pin?

mosseater wrote:
Any idea what the shear forces required to chop it in two? There are anomalies in this world but betting the farm very few ever are sheared. The receiver welds would probably fail before that pin would shear. I'd sooner keep the one I have road tested than risk a new one these days.

Bout 28000lbs. Times 2 of course since there’s 2 shear planes.
This is not has not been and won’t ever be an issue. Nor is wearing one out.

I've been in RV transport for a while now and have never seen or heard of a pin failing. This is not to say they couldn't fail. Prior to this I was a police officer for 29 years and never heard of an accident caused by a pin failure.

Any idea what the shear forces required to chop it in two? There are anomalies in this world but betting the farm very few ever are sheared. The receiver welds would probably fail before that pin would shear. I'd sooner keep the one I have road tested than risk a new one these days.

swimmer_spe wrote:
OP here.

I tend to replace by loosing them. I have yet to have one look rusted or have any marks on it. I also don't like the idea of replacing it only when the safety chains are used.

Something I have never thought of before; If safety chains are used, get a unknown shock load, should they be replaced?

OP here.

I tend to replace by loosing them. I have yet to have one look rusted or have any marks on it. I also don't like the idea of replacing it only when the safety chains are used.

If I exposed my pin or any part of my vehicle or attachment hardware to a salt environment I would look for rust each time I used it and replace if it looked weakened.

I've got one pin that I have used 23 years with out any wear or tear. Mostly used to pull the boat and light weight trailers (less than 3000lbs) behind my Astro van. I guess if I lived where rust was an issue I might worry about it or the hitch bolts, welds and other attachment hardware. My truck pulls the 5er and not much else. I do have a spare hitch pin for it somewhere but when I was pulling doubles I used the pin from the van in the 5er hitch to pull the boat. It has been dipped into salt water a time or two but then washed off as soon as possible with fresh water along with the rest of any metal I had near the sea.

swimmer_spe wrote:
The pin for holding the hitch into the receiver is the only real thing holding our trailers to our trucks. Mine is new, but it got me thinking, how often should it be replaced?

I’ll wager a large sum that if you’re ever able to put any significant wear and tear on your hitch pin, by the time that happens, 95% of the current rvnet members will be pushing daisies and I will, at a minimum, be long since retired and on here babbling about hitch pins and other non issues, or also in the ground looking up.

nickthehunter wrote:
When was the last time you have seen someone break a pin?

Break? Never.
Bend? Only when used with a reduced sleeve.
Noticeable loss of cross sectional area due to wear? VERY rarely and likely a pin in daily use for decades.

opnspaces wrote:
If the pin is smooth and undamaged I would leave it alone. I would replace it if it's showing signs of damage like maybe the receiver tube gouging into the surface of the pin.

A few weeks ago I noticed that a replacement pin for a 2 inch receiver is a whole $3 on Amazon. At that price I ordered a few extras since I have multiple hitches at home. I also keep an extra in the center console of the Suburban as a just in case.
Amazon

$3 Scamazon hitch pins are maybe not the best purchase…I’ll leave it at that.

bucky wrote:
Safety chains are the back up for those pesky pins.
I only replace them when I have no idea where I put it. For years now I have put it back in the receiver when finished towing.

Lol, really? Not the replacing part, the safety chain part…unless I missed the sarcasm, in which case, a hearty LOL!