Trailer hitch removal, How???

[S.Crum]

A couple months ago I bought a 97' F-150 with the towing option. I thought it was odd that it had the 2" hitch block still in the class 3 receiver, most people don't leave them in place especially when they sell a truck. I found out why it's still in there! I wanted to take it out of te 2" receiver so I can use my class 4 load equallizer. Must be this block hasn't been out of this receiver since new. I've tried heating and beating, I've used almost a full can of PB Blaster on it over the past 2 months and tonight I chained it to the front bucket of the backhoe and "bumped" it a few times under power and it still won't budge (yes the pin is out). I've considered black powder but want something left. Any suggestions besides replacing the entire receiver? The current one has proven to be very solid so I don't want to replace it.
Thanks

 

[keh]

I hate to sayit, but it sounds like you will have to take the receiver hitch off the frame and get it to where you can apply force to it. Try driving it in with a large sledge hammer, then go to the other end and try there. If no joy try heating the receiver tube lightly and do more hammering. If you are in the salt on the roads area it may be more of a problem. Just a wild idea, you might check to see if someone welded the hitch in place.

KEH

 

[fordtractor2000]

if it is that rusted do yourself a favor, take the whole reciever off, throw it in the garbage and start fresh with a new one, your talking about how rusted it is, i d question the integrity of the rest of the hitch, better to be safe then sorry !!

 

[504]

Rose bud tip and a ten pound hammer, you may have to weld a steel block to the bottom of the hitch to have something to hit on. BTDT I got mine on the hoist so I could get a good swing.

 

[Mike M]

Cut it off and then cut the inner tube. Maybe a sawsall ? A torch would be able to cut the inside tube out before the outside tube burns through. If you are not good with a torch find someone who is.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I've had luck putting a tow strap (the kind that stretch a lot) around the ball and to something solid like a tree. Then drive the truck forward to put a little tension on it. Then heat it up good and hot and start hitting it with a hammer. The mixture of constant pressure, heat, and blunt force trauma have seemed to do the trick.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Good one on the welded part, wilder things have been done

 

[gary in canada]

i had 1 of those and i used a hydraulic cylinder to pull it off, i removed the clevis end on a 4 inch cylinder stuck it into the hitch and bent a 3/8 x 1 flat bar into a hoop and welded it to the hitch and started applying hyd pressure till it let loose but dont stand anywhere near it just in case something goes wrong

 

[John T]

I had one like that once almost impossible to remove. I got mad and used my torch to heat the exterior and used a hugeeeeeeee sledge hammer n heat n beat it nearly to death n finally she drove out whewwwwwwwwwwwwww

Its takes heat and shocking heavy hammer blows, I dont think you could use any sort of dead pull to extract it even if you hitched it to a D8

Heat n beat is the answer

John T

 

[scotc]

We bought an old F-350 that had the insert rusted into the Reese hitch. Never put a pin in it and used it for several years and it never budged.

If you cut the end off the insert, couldn't you put a (really hot) bead of weld on each side of the inner tube, and shrink it that way, like with an engine sleeve?

 

[Pair-a-dice farm]

Hook it up to a trailer and drive down my road....that will shake anything loose.

 

[RodinNS]

Get a new receiver... You're probably going to end up splitting the tube in half to get this one out so you might as well just get the new one now before you waste a day on it.

Rod

 

[bc]

I wonder if it was in an accident and the hitch twisted and bent in the receiver and the whole works isn't square anymore. Has to be more than rust. Sawzall or torch.

 

[JDseller]

QUIT using the spray lube on it. All that will do is lock the rust in forever. Spray around it with some carb/brake cleaner. Get the oil off of it. Then take a BIG hammer and hit the hitch side ways, both directions. Then take a air blow off gun and blow any lose rust out from around the hitch. I have gotten several out this way that heating would not get out. Put some pressure on the hitch too. If you have a tow rope or strap. Hook it to a post/tree, another truck, anything, put some pressure on it. Then hit the hitch sideways and up and down. Then blow the lose rust out. Keep doing that and they will usually come out. The spray lube just locks the rust in and it turns to paste.

 

[36 Coupe]

People are too lazy to take them out when not in use.Road salt locks them in tight.Rough methods will break the stud on on the hitch ball.Ever see a chain recoil when it breaks.Take the whole thing off and find a big hydraulic press.Clean up the rust and spray some Fluid Film on it before you put it back in.Watch the bit where Bill Dance gets a trailer hitch in the shin.

 

[MarkB_MI]

My guess is the drawbar has rusted inside the receiver. Rust is bigger than steel.

You can probably get it out with enough heat, but you might anneal the receiver tube in the process. Consider cutting off the tube and welding on a new one.

 

[showcrop]

I had one that got rusted in on me some years ago. There was no urgency so I just kept hitting it with penetrating oil for a few weeks. I finally broke it loose by hitting it INWARD with VBFH, then chained it to a heavy load, (tree), and pulled it out.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hi Steve, I did a small one like John T sez. It was a lot of heating & beating but it finally came out. I've had better luck using diesel than pb blaster for a soaker. Good luck with this one! Too bad we couldn't take it down to the Lehigh and put some rose buds on it. joe-

 

[CH(upstate,NY)]

What ever you do use a long handled sledge. Couple months ago I beat on one for over an hour with a short sledge. Finally got it out but gave myself a case of tennis elbow. Must be getting old, still bothers me today.

 

[gordy from Iowa]

Holy balls, just remember that the thing can come shootin" out of there at anytime. Maybe even when your moving over to heat the other side.

Hate to think of what could happen.

 

[DH in Carolina]

Take two bottle jacks and place a heavy steel bar behind the hitch ball. Place a jack on each side and pump a couple of strokes on each. I have removed a couple like this with no problem. DH

 

[PDRuff]

I had one couple years ago, took it off the frame and hooked it between 2 tractors and put a lot of pull on it and put the tractors in park, got out a rosebud and heated the frame and let cool. went out with a sledge and gave it a whack or two and it popped right out. took a grinder and polished off the rust, reassembled with antiseize and I try not to leave it with the insert in the frame.

 

[jimva]

Sure fire way to get it apart. Hook up your trailer, load your most expensive piece of equipment on to it, cancel all your auto and accident insurance. Then take it out on the interstate, that baby will slide right out of there slick as a ribbon.

Seriously though,you can go the heat and hammer route, but then again if its that rusted i would seriously look at replacing the whole hitch.

 

[Gchase24]

Don't hit it too hard. Remember it's a Ford!!

 

[Gchase24]

Don't hit it too hard. Remember it's a Ford!!

 

[rlp in Co.]

Don't you all just love the magnesium chloride they put on the roads for idiots that don't know how to drive in the snow? The car makers love it cause it ruins all the old cars out there.

 

[dhermesc]

Agreed.

I wouldn't want to use it on too big load after using a torch on it anyway.

 

[Anonymous-0]

just cut off the insert and then reach in the tube and cut the insert in two places and then use a punch and fold in together and pull it out just did one last night that was in for years took 30 minn.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 06:40:51 07/29/11) Holy balls, just remember that the thing can come shootin" out of there at anytime. Maybe even when your moving over to heat the other side.

Hate to think of what could happen.

ay what? what might the propellent for this projectile be?

 

[MF294-4]

I removed mine with a soaking with PB and a pull with the tractor annddd a 2ft long air hammer. It still took an hour of hammering on it.

 

[gordy from Iowa]

The strechable tow strap.

 

[Bartt]

C4 and an electrical blasting cap, small battery with a looooong wire. Worked in Nam. Have a goodun

 

[Mel in SW Iowa]

Once I removed a rusted hitch and used 2 half inch
log chains to suspend it in the ripper hitch on a
D8. Used 2 rosebud torches to uniformly heat the
tube red while nudging the ripper. Broke the chain once. Finally got it out without further damage.

Once I slit the outer tube with a torch and pulled
the hitch with a come along. I damaged the insert
a little in the process but the insert and the receiver tube both welded up and were used for several more years after cleaning all up with
wire wheels, grinder, and disc sander.

The way that receivers often stick with salt spray
accelerated rust in this state, even greasing the insert is no guarantee that you can remove it after the next winter. If one is stuck so that you can't tap it out with a two pound hammer or a
good air chisel with a hammer tip, I don't believe
that you can safely remove a tougher one without
removing the hitch. Once it is removed from the vehicle, you can see what you are doing better and
more importantly see if it is even safe to reinstall and use or if the fasteners are still
safe to use.