Loose hitch

[Pool]

At 35MPH I hit an unexpected dip in the road over the weekend and noticed the washers were loose while in hooking. I adjusted and re tightened bolts. Does this happen often?

[Airstreamer67]

OOps, Roger That.

[BarneyS]

Airstreamer67 wrote:
Quote: "I don't know about your hitch, but on mine those bolts take around 400 lbs of tourque. Unless you are using a 3/4 breaker bar you will have a hard time getting anywhere near that. Take it to a tire shop and get them to use a 1" tourqe wrench to get it to spec."


Perhaps the ball with a large nut will take 400 ft pounds of torque. But the small bolt and related adjustment washers on my hitch's tilt adjustment is quite small and would twist apart at any torque nearing that value.

I just cinch the nut down a bit and have never had a problem. If I did, I'd put a little lock tight type juice on the threads to keep them from backing off.

I believe he was talking about the two large bolts that hold the hitch head on to the shank. Those bolts, if not tight, will allow the hitch head to pivot, which, I think is what the OP was talking about. Those two bolts are usually spec'd to torque around 300-400ft/lbs.
See the typical Reese install instructions here.

Equal-i-zer intructions here.
Barney

[Airstreamer67]

Quote: "I don't know about your hitch, but on mine those bolts take around 400 lbs of tourque. Unless you are using a 3/4 breaker bar you will have a hard time getting anywhere near that. Take it to a tire shop and get them to use a 1" tourqe wrench to get it to spec."


Perhaps the ball with a large nut will take 400 ft pounds of torque. But the small bolt and related adjustment washers on my hitch's tilt adjustment is quite small and would twist apart at any torque nearing that value.

I just cinch the nut down a bit and have never had a problem. If I did, I'd put a little lock tight type juice on the threads to keep them from backing off.

[BenK]

If they continue to come loose, then either they are not tightened enough or
they have been over tightened and the fastener(s) have gone plastic
(into yield)

If the fastener hasn't gone plastic, then there is something else wrong. The
sandwich is moving to allow the fastener to back off, or some such issue

One fix is to increase the grade (if there is head room for higher
grade), bigger fastener (if there is room to drill out the hole and
leave enough meat to do the job), or both

Need to find the root cause(s) to be sure to fix. Note that there
are many (thousands and more) who have same/similar with no issues.
So 'you' the OP need to find 'your' root cause(s)

Check the head against this image showing how they are marked and what it means






Here is a generic torque vs grade chart, but only generic...your hitch OEM
manual should have 'their' calculated torque that they will stand behind

[StewB]

Pool wrote:
Yes I found the tilt washers loose. The bolts that hold it tight have teeth for grip. The truck hitch should be fine but I will get a closer look at the frame and welds before we go out again. I tightened up the bolts at our site and seem good after the ride home.

I don't know about your hitch, but on mine those bolts take around 400 lbs of tourque. Unless you are using a 3/4 breaker bar you will have a hard time getting anywhere near that. Take it to a tire shop and get them to use a 1" tourqe wrench to get it to spec.

[enblethen]

Neighbor's friend has an '04 or'06 3/4 ton. Got a new hitch from GM for free.

[TomG2]

enblethen wrote:
You need to check with your local Chev dealer. Some of their hitches are on service bulletin or recall. The hitches are not fully connected to the frame. Portions are connected to bumper.
The movement is on the truck receiver.

Any specifics as to year and model? First I have heard of it in many years.

[Pool]

Yes I found the tilt washers loose. The bolts that hold it tight have teeth for grip. The truck hitch should be fine but I will get a closer look at the frame and welds before we go out again. I tightened up the bolts at our site and seem good after the ride home.

[enblethen]

You need to check with your local Chev dealer. Some of their hitches are on service bulletin or recall. The hitches are not fully connected to the frame. Portions are connected to bumper.
The movement is on the truck receiver.

[ChooChooMan74]

Are you talking about the tilt adjustment? I remember someone else had an issue with an off name hitch. I know Reese uses a serrated washer on the trunion style and a six sided washer with an off centered hole for the round bar style. If yours is flat metal to metal, all I can do is suggest that you make sure they are tight. If you are worried, have someone put a couple of tack welds on the washers, small enough that they can be ground off if you need it to be.

Edit: Docnascar has the thread. Sorry, I deleted my images.

[docnascar]

Happened to me.
I took it to a garage and had them use an impact gun to re-tighten.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26934969.cfm