Pin wear (pics working now)

[caseybloo]

How much wear is too much. I can feel some slack when towing. Just wondering about fixing or replacing.

[larry_barnhart]

I use white grease to grease the pin before each trip and clean it off on arrival.

chevman

[Me_Again]

45Ricochet wrote:
So your highly hazardous loads ( gasoline :E ) had a sliding bar hitch also ? That's what I thought :W
I even bet you never lost the trailer because of not being latched correctly :B

Actually the tanker trailer did not have landing gear. So I only dropped it when the tractor had to be serviced without the trailer. I did the washing, oil, grease, filters and brake work myself in our fuel depot. I sweat bullets each time I hitched the Titan 90 tractor back up. We jacked and blocked the trailer up on oil drums.

Trailer was 8500 gals, aluminum and weighed just 10k. I did have a 4 way 5th wheel hitch.

Did like the 13 speed Roadranger. Much better than my fathers 5x3. Chris

[45Ricochet]

So your highly hazardous loads ( gasoline :E ) had a sliding bar hitch also ? That's what I thought :W
I even bet you never lost the trailer because of not being latched correctly :B

[Me_Again]

45Ricochet wrote:
Thanks OP for the hitch information. That's what I thought from the get go. Double Jaw system is much easier on pins, right Chris :W
Never have liked the slide bar type hitches since the big boys don't have em.

Well! I got my Hijacker sliding bar hitch in 1997, it is in it's second truck and has towed this second 5th wheel starting in 2004. No wear problems. Never worried about it being correctly latched! I keep it looked to the bed rails, as I do not want to ever loose it.

Chris

[kennethwooster]

Just bought a B&W Companion and love it. Easy hook and unhook. Instead of grease I'm going to paint with slip plate, and refresh it on a regular basis. That way the dirt is not attracted.

[45Ricochet]

Thanks OP for the hitch information. That's what I thought from the get go. Double Jaw system is much easier on pins, right Chris :W
Never have liked the slide bar type hitches since the big boys don't have em.

[caseybloo]

Thanx folks for your input. This is such a good classroom to learn in. It is a Pro Series 15000 going into 5th season. Guess I am shopping for new hitch.

[wandering1]

Why put grease on it? Haven't ever put grease on mine for 15 years and it shows no wear and works fine.

[laknox]

Me Again wrote:
What kind of hitch is in the truck? Chris

That first pic appears to be the locking bar on a sliding bar-style hitch. Put all that pressure on that small and area, and that's what you get. AFAIK, there are 3 ways to fix this; 1) replace the FW hitch with a wrap-around jaw-style (B&W Companion), and do nothing to the pin, 2) replace the pin box, but you still have the same style hitch, which will cause this again, 3) have someone weld up the groove in the pin and grind it back down. Again, without a hitch change you'll end up in the same place, eventually. It's also not real cost-effective.

Lyle

[45Ricochet]

Me Again wrote:
What kind of hitch is in the truck? Chris

Yeah I'd like to know that too. Like someone said grease plus dirt is not a great combo. That is the worst looking pin I've seen.

[Me_Again]

What kind of hitch is in the truck? Chris

[Bigfoot_affair]

Grease and dirt = grinding compound. That thing looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a long time.

[greende]

Call a place that repairs Big Rig trailers. They have a pin guage that will tell you if it is worn enough to replace. Looks pretty bad to me.

[waltbennett]

I'd figure out how to replace it for certain. Bigger issue is what's causing that wear? Looks like you've been putting grease on the pin, but maybe it wasn't the right kind?