solutions for sloppy hitch?

[GordonThree]

Hi, cheapskate here - I got what I paid for. Bought a $200 adjustable class V drop hitch, rather than one of those fancy $600-1000 machined ones.

Of course, being cheap, the fitment is total carp. It slops up and down a good 1/2" or so, and side to side almost as much.

All this slop makes towing a bit unnerving, there's a lot of banging during stops and starts, as well as on the stronger bumps. The first few times it was banging so hard I thought I hit something. After pulling over a few times, I realized it's just banging and not collisions.

Brians Mobile1 on youtubes advocates grinding the paint off the shank and welding some X's on all four sides, and then grinding those X's until it's a very snug fit in the receiver. I guess that would work, but I hate to destroy the baked on coating just yet, oh and I don't have a welder.

e-trailer is happy to sell me anti-rattle devices to go with my rattle prone hitch, but honestly, they all look like junk to me.

So what's the fix, other than spending $600-1000 on a machined ball mount?

[SCVJeff]

Cept' it's a borrowed truck 😞

[joshuajim]

My solution that has worked for me for 10 years or so is to drill a half inch hole in the bottom of the receiver forward of the pin. Then drilled the appropriate size hole in the receiver and tapped it for a 1/2" grade 8 bolt.

Insert the bolt and tighten with a 18" breaker bar to about 80 ft/lbs. Receiver never moves an iota and the bolt provides a secondary attachment and security.

[JaxDad]

"solutions for sloppy hitch?"

The DW just smacked me upside the head and said "don't you dare post what I think you're going to post mister."

She knows me better than I thought she did.........

[Horizon170]

You could adapt one of these.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Hardware-Hardware-Fasteners-Bolts-U-Bolts/N-5yc1vZc2ao

[Vet_Man]

Could you tap some metal shims in between the hitch and receiver? You could get them back out when you return the truck.

[derh20]

X2 what Wolf10 said. that is an excellent solution to your problem.

[GordonThree]

SCVJeff wrote:
I had the shop drill a hole and weld a grade 8 nut along with a bolt and stop washer into the side of the hitch and that quiets down any noise and slop I had once tight.

Look at it this way: You can grind paint to weld in the X heading or you can wear the paint off with hitch slop you have. So.....

I like this idea, except I'm borrowing the truck from Fiat and I don't want to be making any permanent mods.

You're right about the paint - it's already wearing on the sides from one 200 mile trip.

I'm going to sand the paint off and have a welding shop up the street lay down a few beads for me, then I can grind them down as needed.

Thanks for the feedback everyone 🙂

I was lucky with my first hitch, a fixed drop Reese - it fit very snug in the receiver on the old truck, no slop at all.

[J_herb]

SCVJeff wrote:
I had the shop drill a hole and weld a grade 8 nut along with a bolt and stop washer into the side of the hitch and that quiets down any noise and slop I had once tight.

Look at it this way: You can grind paint to weld in the X heading or you can wear the paint off with hitch slop you have. So.....

What Jeff did except I did it my self, works great for over 15 years now.

[IAMICHABOD]

I have tried almost every Anti Rattle device on the market, most have been no good or so complicated and cumbersome that they are useless. Including the Roadmaster type,totally useless.
Until I found the one at Hitch Rider.

Their Hitch Vice is the best and easiest one I have come across and it really works.

[wolfe10]

Roadmaster "Quiet Hitch": http://roadmasterinc.com/products/accessories/hitch/quiet.html

[kmb1966]

I found a gizmo at Uhaul that allows you to tighten up the hitch. I had the same problem with my cargo carrier. It has an inner nut and outer bolt and lock.
I think this is it:
https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Hitch-Towing-Security/Anti-Rattle-Receiver-Pin?id=16372

you can tighten it up with a wrench and the hitch stays in place, and won't wobble around.

[SCVJeff]

I had the shop drill a hole and weld a grade 8 nut along with a bolt and stop washer into the side of the hitch and that quiets down any noise and slop I had once tight.

Look at it this way: You can grind paint to weld in the X heading or you can wear the paint off with hitch slop you have. So.....

[TUCQUALA]

So, I have a "fancy" chinese made pricey hitch shank, and have had the same problem!!! I first welded the top of the shank at the front of the receiver, and at the rear bottom and ground down to a fairly solid fit that could still be installed and removed. With the high hitch weight our newer trailer has, it soon "egg" shaped the top of the receiver and slop returned. All that tongue weight and force of the hitch bars is increased in that small welded area!!

I replaced the OEM receiver with an aftermarket, ground the shank back to normal measurements, and now use a flat 2" wide thin metal spacer on the top surface. It is as long as the shank length inside the receiver. So far, in a year of towing, it has helped a bunch. Still a small bit of vertical slop, but not very much, and no apparent distortion to the receiver box. I do have to replace the "shim" every so often, due the the forces applied to it tends to "squash" it out on the edges that touch the inner edges of the receiver box.

Should be easy enough to get a rough measurement of necc thickness for a shim in your case, then find the right metal to do it. Your trailer probably does not have as much tongue weight as ours, and also a lighter set of hitch bars, and you may not need to replace that shim very often.

[aguablanco]

It is going to difficult, if not impossible, to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. I bought my Curt WDH for around $350. Step up to the pump and make us all safer with a quality hitch. It will be a lot less than you paid for the truck.
RichH