Adapter sleeve for 2 1/2 receiver

Walaby wrote:
I welded a sleeve into mine. And glad I used the sleeve and a 2 inch shank instead of the 2.5 inch. I broke down and had to have the truck and trailer towed. Was in the middle of nowhere. Tow truck put my truck on the flat bed and had to use my hitch to tow the trailer. He had a 2 inch receiver. If I had the 2.5 inch shank Im not sure what we would have done.

Mike

Your truck your money, but that does not solve the issue, at all. I challenge anyone to put a lot of miles towing heavy on a hitch adapter sleeve and not bend a pin. That adapter creates a longer bending moment on the pin on both sides. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. It also helps Waller out the hitch pin hole on the receiver.
Btw, don't take it the wrong way. I didn't learn this from the Internet. I learned it the hard way!
Mfgs provide a more robust hitch and people go to great extremes to defeat it.....

I got one at Walmart much cheaper than everywhere else and it's just as heavy.

Grit dog wrote:

Walaby wrote:
I welded a sleeve into mine. And glad I used the sleeve and a 2 inch shank instead of the 2.5 inch. I broke down and had to have the truck and trailer towed. Was in the middle of nowhere. Tow truck put my truck on the flat bed and had to use my hitch to tow the trailer. He had a 2 inch receiver. If I had the 2.5 inch shank Im not sure what we would have done.

Mike

Your truck your money, but that does not solve the issue, at all. I challenge anyone to put a lot of miles towing heavy on a hitch adapter sleeve and not bend a pin. That adapter creates a longer bending moment on the pin on both sides. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. It also helps Waller out the hitch pin hole on the receiver.
Btw, don't take it the wrong way. I didn't learn this from the Internet. I learned it the hard way!
Mfgs provide a more robust hitch and people go to great extremes to defeat it.....

I did the same as above. I completely welded in the adapter and have only towed 6-7k miles but am WAY happier with it this way. With the adapter not welded there was a LOT of slop and it was very noticeable towing. With the adapter welded in place I have zero slop and have noticed zero issues and no bent pins. Only towing 8-9k lbs though.

I personally can't see towing more than 10k lbs on a bumper pull hitch ever. Anything I will ever tow weighing a lot more than that will be a 5th wheel/gooseneck. I suppose some boaters would be the audience for that?

^ Boats, big TTs, and about a gazillion tradesman doing work. I'd guess there's as many bumper pulls over 10k as GNs and 5vers.
I love seeing real hitches on hd trucks. Little more factor of safety for those that use them every day and especially for those that don't have control over every situation their trucks see. (Employers. I have laborershooking big trailers every day and I can't be there to make sure everything is perfect. The stronger the better. )

I had a lot of hitch wobble using the adapter. I upgraded my shank from 2" to 2 1/2".

I found that the sleeve fit fairly snug into the 2 1/2" receiver but there was a lot of slop between the 2" shank and the sleeve. Had a welder run a bead around the outside and on the inside of the shank. Very little play now.

Dave