Leave Hitch In Receiver?

[mudcat]

Do you leave your hitch in your receiver or do you pull it out and store it?
I always leave mine in. Today I noticed some rust on the receiver pin and it got me thinking.

 

[Highbeam]

I always pull it out and put in a decorative plug. Point being that with the big old hitch sticking out there I am likely to receive a painful knock in the shins accompanied by a greasy smear to add insult to injury. I raise the trailer off the ball, then slide the hitch out and leave it on the ground right beneath the trailer tongue. I don't even remove the WD tension bars.

I also have always thought that if I got rear ended with that receiver in there that the impact could twist my frame more than just the naked receiver.

 

[George2615]

I always take mine out as well. Mainly for theft reasons. I had a couple stolen before I bought a locking pin to secure the hitch. Then since it was locked I left it on for about a year or so. When it came time to take it off the lock was so froze up from the weather that the key wouldn't go in. Had to torch off the locking pin and drive out what was left with a punch. Have taken them out ever since. I also use a dab of grease on all four sides and usually pop in a cover plate in the receiver. Like Highbeam said, by taking it out your less likely to ram your shin / leg into it or get grease on your clothes. Leaving it in will lead to it rusting in place as well and you may have a hard time getting it back out later.

 

[midlf]

If you leave it in corrosion may make it virtually permanent. I pull mine out after use, grease it, push it in and out to spread the grease around, and use a cover. I also grease the hitch before I put it into the receiver.

 

[txdon]

...hitch sticking out there I am likely to receive a painful knock in the shins.... I also have always thought that if I got rear ended with that receiver in there that the impact could twist my frame more than just the naked receiver.

I have left mine in for the past five years and have a new bruise each month on the shins to prove it. When I got rear-ended by a taxi I had no damage but the ball in the hitch tore his license plate in half.

 

[roxynoodle]

They are highly prone to theft around here. I take mine out and store it under the back seat. I had a Dodge decorative plug in there with a locking pin and also had mine corrode due to weather. I could turn the key but not pull the lock off the pin. Had to cut it off with a reciproating saw.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I have left mine in for the past five years and have a new bruise each month on the shins to prove it. When I got rear-ended by a taxi I had no damage but the ball in the hitch tore his license plate in half.

In an effort to re-grow skin on my shins, I started taking mine out when not in use.

A couple years ago, I was using a jack hammer and trailer type portable compressor (courtesy of my employer) for a home project. I needed a pintle hitch for towing it. I bought one that mounts on a reciever hitch. The very first time I drove home, with just the pintle hook sticking out of the hitch, a fellow (who'd had a bit to drink) ran into the back of my Dodge at a stoplight. It scratched the paint on the hitch. His Toyota minitruck ended up wasting the grill, radiator, transmission oil cooler, air conditioning coil, fan, bumper, and his drivers license.

 

[RayH]

Sometimes I take mine out, sometimes I leave it in.
I did get rearended by a guy in a Mercedes because he decided there was something in his newspaper that was more important than stopping. Did nothing to my hitch insert but left a nice weird looking pattern imprinted into his hood.

 

[firemanpat2910]

I have a locked aluminum insert with the interchangable 3 ball system that stays on the truck at all times. When I used steel inserts they used to rust in to the point my tractor could not pull them out.

 

[howlin_wolf]

The very first time I drove home, with just the pintle hook sticking out of the hitch, a fellow (who'd had a bit to drink) ran into the back of my Dodge at a stoplight. It scratched the paint on the hitch. His Toyota minitruck ended up wasting the grill, radiator, transmission oil cooler, air conditioning coil, fan, bumper, and his drivers license.

Yes, these come in handy against the folks who like to park their $500, 1980, 4 color, smoke bellowing, uninsured, rust bucket half way into your parking spot and a quarter of an inch off of your bumper in parking lots. My pintle hook is one with a ball on it and adjustable drop. It's a good 20 pound hunk of steel. I've seen several license plate holders, Grill/bumper pieces and paint chips laying behind me when I come out, but never any car there. My bumper still looks brand new, but I wonder if any of those people have learned how to stay in their own parking spot yet?

 

[unreconstructed]

I tend to back my truck into parking spots--I take my hitch out since sometimes there is a sidewalk behind the parking spot and don't want to get other people's shins. Plus, like everyone else, prevents theft of the hitch.

 

[Bird]

You can count me among those who never leave the hitch head in the receiver when not in use.

 

[RobertN]

I leave it in most of the time. I tow just enough it is easier to leave it in.

I have been rearended, hard, with the hitch in. It bent the hitch, as well as the cross support on the main receiver section. Truck frame was fine though. Did a job on the car that hit me... I was on my way to work, and was suppossed to pick up a buggy of concrete.

Also, I use a locking cross pin. We used to have horses. When we bought our used horse trailer, I had a simple cross pin with the hair clip holding it. The guy we got the trailer from described how he had the hairpin come loose, and then his cross pin wiggle out, while he had four horses in a larger trailer. He was on a mountian road when it happened; fortunately the safety chains caught and cradled the trailer tongue.

Ever since that sotry, I default to the locking cross pin.

 

[bx23barry]

You guys seem to get hit alot.

 

[themichelob]

I leave mine in during most of the warm weather months when I tow my boat most every weekend. Late fall, when I winterize my boat for the year, I grease it up and put it away--one of the saddest days of the year....
Regards, Mike

 

[Gatorboy]

I remove mine when not in use.

 

[rback33]

Sometimes I pull it sometimes not. I try to pull it most of the time since 90% of my pulling is goosneck anyway. I also like the skin on my shins. However... right now I have the hitch without the ball from pulling a hay trailer.. it makes a great step.. so it has stayed in for a month or so...

 

[RobertN]

You guys seem to get hit alot.

In my case, it was my first new vehicle; only had it about 5 months.

Almost as bad as the body damage was the chocolate. I've had an espresso machine at home for years. Every morning I make a big mocha with a double shot(of espresso on work days ) That morning, I had my big mocha, in a big travel cup, with no lid... I had just taken a sip when I got hit. That cup hit the dash, and hotchocolate/milk/espresso splattered everywhere!

The body damage was easy to fix; new side for the bed, new bumper and receiver hitch pieces. The poor detail guy though; there was chocolate goo on the headliner, seats, dash, floor, winshield, stereo... The shop did the body work first; the chocolate glued itself everywhere for over a week before they cleaned it. Did a good job though; they got it all out.

They did have to remove the stereo and send it out though. The little bristles on the CD player face; that keep dust out? They were glued shut with chocolate

 

[RayH]

You guys seem to get hit alot.

Ive gotten hit twice in 26 years of driving, once in the front, once in the back. Thats not toooo bad is it. The front hit did $1100 damage, the back did $0 because of the hitch. I was sitting still at intersections both times.
That doesnt include the hit and run I commited as a drunkin teen.

 

[deerhunterf350]

I also have always thought that if I got rear ended with that receiver in there that the impact could twist my frame more than just the naked receiver.

About getting Rear ended and twisting the Frame.

I managed to Jack Knife and Roll a 24' foot Coachmen Travel Trailer on it's side last Deer Season while driving 50 MPH in light snow. Towing with a 2004 F-350 Diesel Crew Cab Short Bed. 2 5/16 inch ball, it twisted the Hitch 95 degrees . When I got out of the Truck , the bottom of the rear tires where 2 feet off the ground, and I was looking at the axles of the trailer out the drivers window, rolled the window down and could spin one of the wheels on the trailer. The Reciever on the Frame of the Truck was not damaged, The Repair shop put the Truck on a Frame Rack and said that is was not out one bit.

Granted every situation is different, and a true rear end accident may damage the frame, I think if the Frame is going to be knocked/twisted it will happen whether the Hitch is in place or not. And I am thinking that the Hitch being in the reciever may take alot of the force from the accident , keeping the frame from getting tweaked, much like the hitch did in my accident.