Hardest thing to take apart=Removing trailer hitch draw bars

[Arnold]

I guess after my experiences..and reading about the experiences of others...this has to be it.The # of these things that have simply beaten men. The # of people in the field(trailer hitches) who say that sometimes you cannot get them apart.Crazed people who have taken the entire hitch off resorting to 50 ton presses etc in determination. Crazed people resorting to such force they tear out the rear part of the frame.
  And after..IF you get it out..the # of people who say it is WAAAAY easier and cheaper to just cut off the entire hitch and throw it away and start from scratch.
The sheer # of people knowledgeable about this who  say the "best way to remove them is to remove them right after you have used them"

 I think what must be added is that they start off as a "slip fit". Add moisture and salt.Leave be..and try and get them apart.

 Torch..ya if they are not in that bad. If they are in bad then so much heat is required it destroys the receiver.
 PB blaster etc..or whatever your favourite is..parraffin wax. Air chisel.
Tension then torch then parraffinwax then impact.
 Whatever.

  I took one out the other day and I was astonished at the bond between the receiver and the draw bar! Just rusted together. Close examination reveals transfer of material and bonding.

  I got mine out by finally having to cut the inside of the draw bar(good thing this was a hollow one!) from front to back and back to front(after cutting the draw bar off!)I cut right through draw bar and just touched the receiver. STILL it took a torch,parraffin wax,PB blaster and just some really stupid wailing to just budge this thing.How can JUST RUST keep this thing together when the square has had a slice taken out of it?

  Anyway..THIS one I did get out. Others I have just not been able to.

  Looking back on a lifetime of taking stuff apart..slip fit trailer hitch draw bars..probably the worst.

[58 Yeoman]

I always take mine out for just this reason.

[phat46]

Never had one that I couldn't get out, but i don't leave them in forever either. I do believe here in Michigan it is illegal to have them in when you're not towing. My favorite method to remove a stuck one is to use a big sledge to drive it in slightly, to break the rust bond, then use  the biggest maul I can swing against the ball, usually a three pounder, to beat it back out. I've spent several hours to remove one but I always win.

[1800guy]

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"   My grandma taught me that one - but I forgot it every so often.

[UGLY OLDS]

Mine is removed when the trailer is parked .... Otherwise I always get into a "KneeKnocker" situation ... The receiver assembly on my pickup is rusted to the point that I prolly would not trust it ... My buddy had one fold up with a car & trailer on the back ....

Another thing we see a lot of is the uni-body rails rusting apart where the receiver bolts on ...

I have actually made so many double flared brake & fuel lines that the threaded part of my S/O  flaring tool stripped the threads out of the housing ... The S/O guy could not believe it ...  He said he never saw it happen before ...
( Yes ..I lube it with every use ) ...

I am really close to needing fuel tank #4 on my truck .. ...  

 I just remembered another reason to hate winter ....SALT .. :evil:


Bob....

[wayne petty]

I am really close to needing fuel tank #4 on my truck .. ...  
 I just remembered another reason to hate winter ....SALT .. :evil:
Bob....

have you thought about precoating replacement tanks  with truck bed liner.. or even por 15 long before you install it..

head off the rust before it happens..

do you have rock guards on the impact areas of the tank.. to avoid chipping through..

where the sending unit is on the top of the tank.. perhaps some thick axle grease to protect it..  or an encasement in silicone..  over some glued down plastic  so you could knife through the silicone and plastic to have free access to the sending unit without hours of digging..

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've taken my hitch out of the receiver once in the 7 years i've owned the truck as I recall.

With my electronic ears, I now hear the rattle of the insert sometimes.

[enjenjo]

There is usually a hitch insert in my receivers, but since I have several vehicles with receivers, and several inserts with different heights, and ball sizes, which are moved from one to another, they don't get stuck.

Also, once a year or so, when I have the insert out, I sand blast them and repaint.

Iron Oxide takes up more room than iron, and can create pressures of up to 3,000,000 pounds per square inch.

[wayne petty]

one thing... that would probably become rusted in also..

i have always hated not being able to store it safely..

has anybody ever thought about using one of the short  tube sections to weld or attach to the cross tube so you can store your plug out of the range of your knees..

or even weld one of the drilled pins to the face of the cross tube...  and a pair of brackets to keep it straight.. so you can just pull the pin and slip it into place on the cross tube..

my last hitch.. the ends of the cross tube were open..i wanted to slip the removable pieces in there and bungee them in place..

[Arnold]

There is usually a hitch insert in my receivers, but since I have several vehicles with receivers, and several inserts with different heights, and ball sizes, which are moved from one to another, they don't get stuck.

Also, once a year or so, when I have the insert out, I sand blast them and repaint.

Iron Oxide takes up more room than iron, and can create pressures of up to 3,000,000 pounds per square inch.

 Thanks for that! I did not know that. I thought that rust was degradation and the "rusting together" was "bonding" /transferring..as well as some surface tension too. I did not know that there was expansion due to the iron oxide taking up more room than the iron.

[Rrumbler]

I hate shin/knee busters, so I always take mine out when I drop a trailer and am not going to use it for a while - short while or long.  Of course, rust here in the great dry is not much of a problem, but dirt accumulation and compacting might be a pain in the *.

[oj]

The next time try heating it up real good and then melt wax into the receiver - park on a hill or something so the wax runs down inside.  Whack it with a hammer and you might have to do it 2-3 times but it'll come right out.
I learned that trick from getting perchpins out.

[Arnold]

The next time try heating it up real good and then melt wax into the receiver - park on a hill or something so the wax runs down inside.  Whack it with a hammer and you might have to do it 2-3 times but it'll come right out.
I learned that trick from getting perchpins out.

  I alternated by having the rear of the truck up on some tall ramps..then the front...heating it to the point where any hotter would have wrecked the receiver..and putting the parraffin to it.

  My buddy who was helping me was having SOME :evil:  issues with his soon to be ex wife. He was in either my 1 ton van or my 'Burb..and was "gently" backing the hitch into my van..or we were tring to tug it out. He felt a LOT! better when he was trying to beat it out with the sledge hammer .He did complain about "club head speed" as I had given him too heavy a sledge..not to worry I have lots of sledges,hammers etc. ROFL..do you think he was "trying"

  This thing was just not going to come out

  Not until I sliced a piece out of it the full length of the draw bar

[Arnold]

I hate shin/knee busters, so I always take mine out when I drop a trailer and am not going to use it for a while - short while or long.  Of course, rust here in the great dry is not much of a problem, but dirt accumulation and compacting might be a pain in the *.

 Nice choice of words Rrumber "dirt accumulation and compacting might be a pain in the *"

  I had to read it twice    

[Rrumbler]

I hate shin/knee busters, so I always take mine out when I drop a trailer and am not going to use it for a while - short while or long.  Of course, rust here in the great dry is not much of a problem, but dirt accumulation and compacting might be a pain in the *.

 Nice choice of words Rrumber "dirt accumulation and compacting might be a pain in the *"

  I had to read it twice    

You got me on that one, Arnold, gave me a good belly giggle.