Hitch Lock Hazared!!

[B_s_Bunch]

I have the typical receiver hitch lock on my pickup. I usually have to change out the ball size several times a year so I have the different sizes on individual inserts. This last week I go to remove the insert like so many times before and low and behold when I removed the key from the lock the whole lock assembly came out with the key. What the hey?? The thing just came apart in my hands. SO just a heads up check these thing out occasionally could have been bad if it came apart towing as I was getting ready to do. Larry

[DiskDoctr]

down home wrote:
Put the locking hitch pin, on in 06. Have no idea where put the key so it wouldn't get lost.
Guess I had better check it find the key and see if it will come lose. I bet from all the road dust and being washed again and again it won't come off the MH.
Glad you found it before it fell off on the road.

Crowbar between head of locking hitch pin and hitch. Pry. Might take an extra 5 secs to change to another position and pry again. 😉

$7.99 at Harbor Freight. Most of those latches are real junk. The locking mechanism rusts and seizes. That's how I know and why I don't use them any more.

[down_home]

........

[mlts22]

I keep mine locked, just because there are always those little fingers that love flipping tow latches and yanking hitch pins when given the chance, especially if one is in an urban area. Friend of mine actually saw someone try to flip open the jaws on his fiver's hitch while at a restaurant, so it doesn't hurt to use locking hitch pins, if only to keep the nuisances at bay.

[jaycocamprs]

NMDriver wrote:
So what size bolt are you using to fit the hole and not have to much play under stop and go load?

5/8" X 3" or 3 1/2" flat washer on each side nyloc nut. I've never used any kind of safety, never found it loose either.

[CavemanCharlie]

Fish 'n ' Grits wrote:
If my hitch is going to be on the truck for a while, I use a grade 8 bolt with a lock nut. And just because I'm paranoid, I drilled the bolt and put a Cotter key in it.

I've thought of that. But, I live in MN where they use a lot of salt on the roads. And, I live on a gravel road. If I didn't take it apart and lube it once a month is would soon get so rusty that I would not be able to get it apart.

My ex girlfriend has a van where the receiver hitch got stuck in the tube so badly that I drug the van backwards with a tractor trying to get it out.

I had a friend that brought his boat to the lake once and when I looked he had no pin in the receiver hitch at all. :E He was just relying on rust to keep it together. I put a bolt in it for him because I didn't think that looked like a good idea at all.

[pitch]

I don't lock mine. If the trailer is not attached the stinger is not there either. I also check mine each time I am away from the vehicle while it is attached.

[B_s_Bunch]

BurbMan wrote:
I use the locking type because it was the only one I could find with square shoulders on both ends...I ruined one receiver using the J-pins that wallowed out the holes.

OP, maybe post a brand or a pic so we know which one you had that failed?

This was a Valley Brand. Had it a couple years just surprised me that it just fell apart. If most are like me you wouldn't have thought of this happening as to the purpose of the post. Just something else to check. Larry

[mlts22]

I have tried a number of hitch pin locks. Most are garbage. One had a very cheap keylock that I could kick open with a paperclip. Another one I nearly used decided to go into "secure" mode and jammed up completely.

So far, there is just -one- hitch pin lock that seems to do the job well. A Strattec BOLT lock. It comes with no keys. Instead, if you have a Big Three vehicle, it will key the lock mechanism to your vehicle's key.

The reason why I actually go out of my way to tout it... is because it works well, is incredibly hard to pick, is an automotive lock with a shutter (and a rubber cap), so dirt doesn't get in, and the four ball bearings hold the lock onto the rest of the hitch pin quite securely. Nothing else like it. It isn't cheap, but for something that you buy once and keep with the vehicle... it is worth it.

[dodge_guy]

I never keep the hitch in the receiver. Always comes out. When it does go in, it gets locked with a normal keyed lock through the hitch pin.

[rockhillmanor]

The hitch locks that have the push button where the key goes in seem to fail the most. I stay away from using them. Too many more parts in it to go bad from the elements.

[NMDriver]

Unless a thief has a Allen wrench the stinger is staying put.

Or a cheater bar and thick wall sockets 🙂 But I agree most theft is spur of the moment and easy targets (like mine) are picked first. So what size bolt are you using to fit the hole and not have to much play under stop and go load?

[Raften]

Fish 'n ' Grits wrote:
If my hitch is going to be on the truck for a while, I use a grade 8 bolt with a lock nut. And just because I'm paranoid, I drilled the bolt and put a Cotter key in it.

That is what I use and take it one step more. I drill thru the nut and not all the way thru the bolt. Then enlarge the hole in the nut. The bolt gets tapped for a set screw that uses a 1/8 Allen wrench. Unless a thief has a Allen wrench the stinger is staying put.

[Fish__n___Grits]

If my hitch is going to be on the truck for a while, I use a grade 8 bolt with a lock nut. And just because I'm paranoid, I drilled the bolt and put a Cotter key in it.

[CavemanCharlie]

zigzagrv wrote:
I drilled a hole just beyond the lock and put a pin clip through the hole just in case something like that happens.

That sounds like a good idea.