3" hitch issues on 2018 F350

[CarterKraft]

First short trip out (75 miles) using the 2" Hensley Arrow in the 2-2½ and then in 2½-3 sleeve it seems I have bent the oem pin and can't get it out of the hitch. I already new this would be a problem but I could not find a 3" WD hitch shank in time.

I can get 2½ shanks all day from several manufacturers but can't seem to find a 3".

Has anyone else had any luck?
Have you had any trouble using just the 2½ shank in the 3" sleeve?
I am thinking I would like to get away from sleeves all together but I could weld strips of steel to the 2½ shank to make it 3" or possibly just weld the sleeve to it...

[CarterKraft]

time2roll wrote:
I really dislike adapters. Two makes me cringe. Get a 3" Hensley or a 2" receiver would be my solution.

No 3" Henlsey shank that I am aware of. That would be ideal though.

[CarterKraft]

JBarca wrote:
An adjustable shank on a Hensley. Wow! Nice work. You must have access to a water jet or laser. Those side plates look like they came from that technology.

And your shank issue fix looks great too!

I'm on 2 1/2" shank now and the bugger is heavy. Gosh... a 3" receiver...

A new truck is in my future some time. And by then I will be older... I can see it now, I may be down grading the truck receiver on my next F350 just to not deal with the 3" shank and all the trailer and hitches I have. This F350 I had to upgrade the receiver when I got it to get above 1,260# TW in WD mode...

Have fun with the new truck. Cool times for sure.

John

Thanks for the compliments. Those side plates are actually done old school... vertical bandsaw, drill press and milling machine. I designed it all in cad but didn't want to blow the budget on the CNC cutting since I wasn't really sure it would work great.
I did the hitch backwards of the Pro Pride 3P because I wanted to be able to use the off the shelf WD shanks, and I am glad I did.

I think in retrospect just replacing the hitch with a 2 1/2 would have been the smart thing but now that I have the 3" weigh safe ball hitch and this hybrid WD shank it's not that big of a deal I guess.

[time2roll]

I really dislike adapters. Two makes me cringe. Get a 3" Hensley or a 2" receiver would be my solution.

[JBarca]

An adjustable shank on a Hensley. Wow! Nice work. You must have access to a water jet or laser. Those side plates look like they came from that technology.

And your shank issue fix looks great too!

I'm on 2 1/2" shank now and the bugger is heavy. Gosh... a 3" receiver...

A new truck is in my future some time. And by then I will be older... I can see it now, I may be down grading the truck receiver on my next F350 just to not deal with the 3" shank and all the trailer and hitches I have. This F350 I had to upgrade the receiver when I got it to get above 1,260# TW in WD mode...

Have fun with the new truck. Cool times for sure.

John

[CarterKraft]

Here is the finished product, it works excellent.

I added some stainless shims to the 2.5" stinger before hammering the 2.5"-3" adapter on the 2.5" stinger. I then welded the 2.5"-3" adapter to the end of the Curt 2.5" stinger only. It would be easier to just weld the adapter to the stinger at the back and the front of the stinger making it one piece but that weld around the stinger would be a perfect spot to crack and snap the shaft.

I also made a shim top/side for the 2.5"-3" adpater in the trucks reciever hitch. The approx 16ga shim made the fit perfect with no up/down or side/side slop. The 3" reciever fits pretty loose to the adapter and my 3" weigh safe 180 hitch for my taste. This shim makes a big difference as the fit in the reciever hitch is now "exact" and has no real slop.

[CarterKraft]

I see what you are saying about the upgraded pin diameter. I will check out the fit after I receive the 2.5" shank. It might be best to add a permanent 2.5-3 sleeve and then redrill it all to use a ¾ pin.

[Lynnmor]

CarterKraft wrote:
I could drill the receiver now as it's new centering a drill bit won't be a problem but then you will have to get a ball mount that will take a 3/4 pin.

The 3” receiver on your truck should be 3/4” already, that’s the problem. The shank and adapters need to be 3/4” so that s 3/4” pin will fit each part correctly. A machine shop can do the machining for you and get it right. It is not unusual for the factory holes to be rather crude.

I suspected all along that folks were using 5/8” pins in the 3” receivers and that is a real problem.

[CarterKraft]

I could drill the receiver now as it's new centering a drill bit won't be a problem but then you will have to get a ball mount that will take a 3/4 pin.

[Lynnmor]

You need a 3/4” pin for the 3” receiver, so any sleeve, adapter or shank will need a 3/4” hole. Not much is available so you need to drill and adapt as necessary.

[CarterKraft]

wrvond wrote:
I was using my twenty-something year old Reese weight distribution hitch with 2" shank, which meant I had both sleeves installed. There was a lot of slop in this set up and I bent the 5/8" diameter Reese locking pin I was using.
I then purchased a Blue Ox Sway Pro with 2000 lb. bars and a 2.5" shank. I had to use the OEM pin for a while, but it worked with no issues. I have since purchased and installed a Bolt locking pin. I must say it is pretty beefy, and the pin looks much more substantial than anything else I have seen to date - including the OEM pin.
I did a bit of research prior to my purchase of the Sway Pro. Nobody, with the possible exception of Gen-Y makes a WDH with a 3" shank.
I decided against the Gen-Y hitch mostly because it doesn't seem to really be a purpose built unit. The weight distribution assembly seems to simply slide over the shank in some way that really wasn't clear to me.
There still appears to be some up and down movement allowed, which I don't think adversely affects anything. However, since I will probably not ever purchase a three inch shank, I am considering doing a few spot welds on the back side where the 2.5" insert meets the 3" receiver.

Thanks for the feedback. I thought I had figured out the cause but now after reading your experience that might rule my theory out. Below was my thinking...

thinking about this more I might see the problem. The hole I am using in the stinger is a hole I added. I drilled it to the next size up I had from 5/8 so it's a tight fit. It may actually be holding the stinger in the center of the hitch tube so that when the WD was loaded up and then pulled out here I bet it bent the pin at the edge of the 2" stinger. I will get the 2.5" hitch and see how that all fits up.

The 2.5" hitch will help immensely I think regardless and I have been thinking of the same thing about the sleeve. I may make a sleeve from cold rolled flat bar and a heat shrunk band around the outside and a bolt through the front into the end of stinger. No welds at the midpoint to cause a stress crack.

[wrvond]

I was using my twenty-something year old Reese weight distribution hitch with 2" shank, which meant I had both sleeves installed. There was a lot of slop in this set up and I bent the 5/8" diameter Reese locking pin I was using.
I then purchased a Blue Ox Sway Pro with 2000 lb. bars and a 2.5" shank. I had to use the OEM pin for a while, but it worked with no issues. I have since purchased and installed a Bolt locking pin. I must say it is pretty beefy, and the pin looks much more substantial than anything else I have seen to date - including the OEM pin.
I did a bit of research prior to my purchase of the Sway Pro. Nobody, with the possible exception of Gen-Y makes a WDH with a 3" shank.
I decided against the Gen-Y hitch mostly because it doesn't seem to really be a purpose built unit. The weight distribution assembly seems to simply slide over the shank in some way that really wasn't clear to me.
There still appears to be some up and down movement allowed, which I don't think adversely affects anything. However, since I will probably not ever purchase a three inch shank, I am considering doing a few spot welds on the back side where the 2.5" insert meets the 3" receiver.

[CarterKraft]

Yes I am using the OEM sleeve but can't imagine it would be much different with a different sleeve.

I ordered a 2.5" shank to try with only the 3" sleeve. That should help but I think I will ultimately weld cold rolled steel to the shank and mill it to size so I can get the actual fit I want (no slop).

I am sure about the time I get the modifications done the manufacturers will catch up and release a 3" shank...

[kerrlakeRoo]

www.e-trailer.com
has the curt hitch adaptor from 3" to 2" but it may be the same as what you tried.