Remove your hitch.

[ultrarunner]

Have you watched the video in post 88?

Yep... the same thing happened to me...

By the way... I can't remove the hitch because it is welded to the frame... the only thing removable is the ball.

Vehicle is a 1972 Plymouth and the Honda that rear ended me suffered about $2500 in damage plus the airbag... my 72 Plymouth had no damage and I credit the hitch.

 

[two_bit_score]

Have you watched the video in post 88?

I watched it...So the car that rear-ended the one with the hitch was destroyed right to left and there was no damage on the one with the stupid hitch attached?...Sorry, not buying that one. More to it than the video shows..That drawbar would have just gone though the bumper/rad and momentum would have taken care of the rest of the carnage.

I've been rear-ended numerous times with no drawbar and the hitch itself protected me just fine without me adding un-necessary protrusions.

I'm not too sure about that video being proof that having a hitch will protect your vehicle in a rear end collision.

The quality of the video does not allow for a good inspection of the vehicle which was rear ended. You can't see if there was damage to the quarter panels, roof or check the gaps at the rear door. Front end damage is also usually greater than rear end damage on almost any accident with two vehicles of equivalent size/weight. Don't know if the first vehicle was truly 'parked' or was just stopped when rear ended and may have rolled forward on impact, absorbing/deflecting some of the impact. Also, the vehicles are evidently European and therefore might not be built to the same crash standards as US vehicles. So they probably would react differently on impact.

Talk to any body shop and I bet most will tell you that if your truck has a hitch bolted or welded to the frame and gets hit from the rear the frame will sustain more damage because of the hitch that it would have without it. Especially in a low speed impact.

 

[Degolyerent]

I still can't understand why anyone would leave a drawbar in a truck that is driven and parked in public spaces.

The ones I see everyday are rusted beyond usefulness and a parking lot hazard..I just don't get it. You can justify anyway you want, it just doesn't make sense. I tow constantly nowadays and mine is removed as soon as the trailer is disconnected. Everytime, no exceptions here.

What has happened to you to make you hate it so much?

 

[Soundguy]

guy in a newer f15 rear ended my ole 99 f350 dually a couple years ago. my tounge and ball kept 99.9% of his truck from touching mine. It left a teensy mark on my bumper.. teensy. size of a quarter.

I was able to leave and go on to work after 5 minutes.

he got towed.

damaged hood, front clip, bumper, both quarter panels. I assume some sort of rad involvement too.. headlights were aimed at each other and quarter panels touched tires. hood would no longer latch.

hope he pays attention next time before he really does damage. not sure what his $$ damage was.. but i have to assume 3-4k$

I credit my tounge/hitch for saving my tail gate, rear lamp assy and rear corners of my bed

Yep... the same thing happened to me...

By the way... I can't remove the hitch because it is welded to the frame... the only thing removable is the ball.

Vehicle is a 1972 Plymouth and the Honda that rear ended me suffered about $2500 in damage plus the airbag... my 72 Plymouth had no damage and I credit the hitch.

 

[Soundguy]

What has happened to you to make you hate it so much?

yep.. usually more to the story wen you see a post like that.

 

[wawajake]

I leave mine in because .........there are two kinds of garage type people..........there are the kind that have a peg board wall with every tool having a hook (and maybe even a traced picture) for where the tool belongs , and it bothers them to no end when a tool is not put back in the correct spot right away.........then there are those like me that are not so extreme and know we are going to use that same wrench tommorrow for the next project.
I think we alll should just appreciate that we will take care of our own tools the way we want and according to the reasons and bigger picture we each have for our habits...............and unless your constantly tailgating me then you have no reason to worry about my hitch.

 

[Soundguy]

and unless your constantly tailgating me then you have no reason to worry about my hitch.

yep. as long as you don't hit the rear of my truck.. the hitch should not be a problem!

 

[J35]

Mine has been in for 14 years , salt in the winter, high dew points the rest of the year.

Never really thought about it rusting up.

I was curious after reading this thread, went out and tried to pull it, no go, pin was frozen, a few taps with a ball peen and it moved a little, used a 3/8 " pin punch to drive it out.

Tapped on the hitch for a couple minutes , it never budged. I have one of those little pump oil cans that has the spray nozzle, so i put some ED's Red in it and sprayed it good in every little opening I could find and went for my evening walk.

About 30 minutes later I tried tapping on it some more and it moved, 20 minutes later and it was out.

It looked better than I thought it would, it was dusk so tomorrow I will check it out in better light.

Thanks for the heads - up.

Life was much simpler in the Desert SW!

-----J

 

[tcartwri]

Mine has been in for 14 years , salt in the winter, high dew points the rest of the year.

Never really thought about it rusting up.

I was curious after reading this thread, went out and tried to pull it, no go, pin was frozen, a few taps with a ball peen and it moved a little, used a 3/8 " pin punch to drive it out.

Tapped on the hitch for a couple minutes , it never budged. I have one of those little pump oil cans that has the spray nozzle, so i put some ED's Red in it and sprayed it good in every little opening I could find and went for my evening walk.

About 30 minutes later I tried tapping on it some more and it moved, 20 minutes later and it was out.

It looked better than I thought it would, it was dusk so tomorrow I will check it out in better light.

Thanks for the heads - up.

Life was much simpler in the Desert SW!

-----J

Amateur.... lol

 

[mikehaugen]

I will admit, I don't remove the hitch every time I am not using them.... but since my truck doesn't move much anymore unless it is hauling or towing and spends about 75% of the time in front of a trailer, I don't worry much. The two trailer I pull most are a 20' with a pintle, and a 5'x10' dual axle with 2" hitch I do a lot of switching. I don't like the dual purpose hitches much (I don't know why, I really can't think of any reason) I have a dedicated pintle hook and a dedicated ball hitch. They are also different heights so it's just easier to switch drawbars then adjust the height. My pintle is the 4-bolt type and I have an adjustable plate and it requires unbolting the 4 bolts to adjust the height.

 

[KubotainNH]

I think one of the points trying to be made is with today's cars, having the draw bar in may not save much because it will punch through the plastics. Not so much on a truck I would think. I don't think there's any doubt a frame mounted receiver makes things stronger back there but bumper heights also play a huge role. A full size truck hitting the back of a Camry with a hitch isn't gonna stop any damage, the trunk will be a mess. You can ask me how I know this for sure if you want.....I may have pictures somewhere.

The Jeep Liberty has a recall for gas tanks possibly rupturing in a rear end collision. Chrysler's fix is adding a frame mounted receiver.

 

[JBourquin]

The Jeep Liberty has a recall for gas tanks possibly rupturing in a rear end collision. Chrysler's fix is adding a frame mounted receiver.

I just read in a F450 Owners Manual this week where Ford states that the Class V Hitch is considered structural protection for the rear of the truck and should not be removed.

 

[cqaigy2]

I just read in a F450 Owners Manual this week where Ford states that the Class V Hitch is considered structural protection for the rear of the truck and should not be removed.

I can't imagine someone would go to the trouble to remove the receiver, unless to put on another vehicle.

 

[bcp]

If you don't want to leave in your ball mount, or it is illegal, how about a hitch step?

Do a Google image search for

hitch step

for lots of variations. You could make one much heavier than some of the lightweight ones for more protection, and you would not be leaving your ball mount in place when not towing.

Bruce

 

[Degolyerent]

I can't imagine someone would go to the trouble to remove the receiver, unless to put on another vehicle.

The part I don't understand is why the people that remove them feel that everyone else should. Probably the same people that call code enforcement on other people who don't even live near them.

 

[two_bit_score]

The part I don't understand is why the people that remove them feel that everyone else should. Probably the same people that call code enforcement on other people who don't even live near them.

:thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

If you don't want to leave in your ball mount, or it is illegal, how about a hitch step?

Do a Google image search for

hitch step

for lots of variations. You could make one much heavier than some of the lightweight ones for more protection, and you would not be leaving your ball mount in place when not towing.

Bruce

i've made hitch steps for both my trucks. they are real handy.. way easier than trying to climb up on a slippery bumper pad

 

[Deere Dude]

Pulled mine off at beginning of thread cause of rust concerns as mentioned. Use to leave mine on for tailgaiters and for parking lot jerks that hit you and take off.

Generally leave my pintle hook in because it keeps cars from bumping me in a parking lot. I just put a front hitch on my truck for my bicycles and maybe I will have to get another pintle for the front also :laughing::laughing:

 

[dirt ditch]

I take the ball mount out on my truck because if I don't it will be my shinbone that hits it while throwing something in or taking something out of the bed. :yell:

 

[clemsonfor]

In the south we dont see stuff like that!!! I have a hitch that has been in my old 1980 k10 "tow vehicle" for maybe close to 4 years or more. I can pull the pin out right now and slide it out, it still will rattle around on the pin. Thats a northern and road salt issue.