Remove your hitch.

[Diamondpilot]

So today i had a guy stop by my shop. A friend of a friend sent him over. His truck is a 2008 Dmax 2500. Anyway, he needed to get the 2" ball out and switch over to a 2 5/16". He said it was stuck and had been in there for 6 years. Anyway, we put a chain around it and a couple of good pulls from my F350 popped it out. Good thing he didn't tow anything serious with it.

Guys will argue it's ok to leave them in but this is probably the 10th one I have dealt with that says otherwise.

Chris

 

[nybirdman]

That's why I Neversieze mine and pull it when not using.I am always banging into it if it's in the truck.

 

[Soundguy]

that says 'salt' all over it to me.

He should have painted it... paint don't rust.

 

[BrinkME]

Good point, but I really never understood the need to list the make/model of vehicles involved when it has little to no relevance to the issue . . . just had to get that off my chest.

Back on topic . . . adequate paint coverage to help prevent the start of rust is hard to achieve inside a small tube, not to mention some of it most likely gets scrapped off when installing/uninstalling. I don't recall the brand of hitch, but I came across one that was actually sealed off on the backside, and I wasn't to keen on that design because I believe it had the potential to make a situation like this more likely to occur or even make it worse!

 

[bcp]

The receiver is probably weaker, too. The insert rusted all the way through.

Bruce

 

[Soundguy]

I think anyone over the age of 14 should be able to get paint inside a tube.. a short tube at that. and painting tounge is nothing more than a dip coating, since they are loose enough to rattle around anyway. ( ie. truck bed liner or other rubberized paints are great for this sort of thing.

Add in a layer of grease and you have a pretty good amount of rust protection.

Good point, but I really never understood the need to list the make/model of vehicles involved when it has little to no relevance to the issue . . . just had to get that off my chest.

Back on topic . . . adequate paint coverage to help prevent the start of rust is hard to achieve inside a small tube, not to mention some of it most likely gets scrapped off when installing/uninstalling. I don't recall the brand of hitch, but I came across one that was actually sealed off on the backside, and I wasn't to keen on that design because I believe it had the potential to make a situation like this more likely to occur or even make it worse!

 

[dave1949]

The hitch is probably older than the 2008 truck.

 

[Soundguy]

could be. don't look like a reese.. almost looks like a drawtite

 

[Furu]

It does not look like a very robust hitch in the first place. Last time I saw one like that it I think it was limited to 5000# max.

 

[HHR]

That is the nice thing about solid bar ball carriers. They will never rust through and are pretty darn strong.