Ball mounts Is it legal to have one when not towing?

That sponsor probably rear ended someone and lost a rad, LOL. Get a life.

Ill has bigger issues than hitches to solve. Just a waste of time & tax money.

rk911 wrote:
I did find reference to an Illinois House bill back in 2009 that apparently died without being passed. I sent an e-mail to the sponsor asking about current status.

I heard back from the bill's original sponsor back in 2009. she tells me that the original bill, which died or was tabled in 2011, has NOT been re-filed and to her knowledge "no action has ever been taken on a similar proposal". so unless someone can cite chapter and verse it would seem leaving your ball in your hitch ( there's just no polite way to phrase that, is there?) is not illegal in the state of Illinois.

DougE wrote:
I've always been surprised that the insurance companies haven't lobbied to make removal of hitch balls mandatory. They've got to increase the cost of repairing vehicles' wreck damage.

The insurance companies don't care - most of the time, damage caused by a trailer ball would be below the deductible amount anyways.

They are really better for banging the unwary if the shiny ball is removed and just the shank is installed.

WyoTraveler wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
The only thing that I have found that vaguely addressed that is the 'interference with visibility of license plate'.
Course that was when I lived in So. Cal. and CHP's used as an excuse to pull over vehicles......license plate frames was another one.

I hate them sticking out on my truck or anyone else....shin knockers.

Don't like the locking pins either......always a pain to get them unlocked. Dirt, mud, grime in key way...rust etc.
So I always use a standard pin and just remove when not needed......get stolen otherwise.

It isn't the worry of being stolen. Kids love to pull pins as practical joke. The bolt will vibrate out several miles later. That is when I started locking my hitch.

I never used a locking receiver pin either, until my daughter had her cargo trailer stolen from off her truck. The trailer was locked onto the ball but the thieves pulled the receiver pin and slid the bar still attached to the trailer into their receiver. I do remove mine after each use, put it in tool box, but the locking pin is always used.

I have actually run into mine before, while walking around my truck. It only has happened once, but it didn't feel good. Having said that, it would be legal in many states to have something hanging out of the back of the truck (distance varies by state) much further than a hitch hangs out.

As far as the insurance industry goes, they may save money for the violator who ran into the back of the truck in front of them but the truck that got hit would probably have more damage. So who should pay the bill? The violator or the victim? I think I'll keep my hitch in.

About a year ago I was riding in my FIL's SUV when he was rear ended. He had recently taken his hitch out. Both of us were sore for several days and his SUV (Mercury Mountaineer) suffered a few thousand dollars of damage. If the hitch had been in the receiver there probably would have been no damage to his vehicle and we wouldn't have been as sore. He now drives with the hitch always in.

I suppose that if I was a bad driver who made a habit out of rear ending other vehicles I wouldn't like the idea of a hitch sticking out.

I don't leave my hitch in for the sake of my shins, I also think it looks better without the hitch sticking out. I have started locking the hitch when it is installed since one got stolen last year while camping, fortunately I noticed the day before we were to leave.

There are a couple of guys at work who leave theirs in all of the time and they don't even pull anything. Must be for the other cars all though the last time I was rear ended was almost 30 years ago.

I live in ILL and I have yet to see any "red" covers covering hitches and almost every truck I see has the hitch in.....I don't keep mine in but The only trailer I have is my TT with WD hitch but I do carry a hitch n ball just in case. I figure it would be my luck my regular hitch in it would rust in and then I wouldn't be able to pull my TT. I also have never heard of anyone being pulled over and issued a ticket for having a hitch.....

It sure wakes up those using a cell phone while walking! Just sayin.

Helps prevent tailgaters. Keeps them honest you know...