Hitch Ball Removal Tools

[RedOak]

It's a long story, but I recently made a fairly hellish trip to pick up a brand new equipment trailer from a trailer dealer. Bearing in mind that I told the dude who sold me the trailer that I have been using nothing but pintle hitches for many years - and that my truck had that type of hitch installed - I was pretty freakin upset to see the that the trailer I traveled to pickup came with a 2 - 5/16" hitch ball setup.

Needless to say, I informed the folks at the trailer lot that I had the return trip to look forward to and, more to the point, that I expected them to remove the stock ball hitch assembly and quickly replace it with a pintle ring for use with the pintle hitch on my truck ... but guess what came next ... the good ol' "supply chain" excuse. As in, they didn't have any pintle rings and, long ugly story short, that I would have to buy a new hitch and ball for the trailer.

Fast forward a couple of days and an incoming snowstorm required me to park the new trailer out of the way. Well, as my luck with this particular trailer would have it, the brand new hitch will not unlock from the hitch ball! After moving the truck back and forth, lubricating and pounding on the hitch - and anything else I could think of - I've still had zero luck getting the hitch latch to unlock from the hitch ball.

So I started researching the Draw-Tite website for information about the tools required for removing the hitch ball from the hitch itself, but had no luck with that, either. The only spec I found on their website was for a 1 - 1/2" wrench, which is the size of the nut that holds the hitch ball onto the hitch, so the point is that there's no specification provided for the open-end wrench required to hold the base of the hitch ball in place while either loosening or tightening the 1 - 1/2" hitch ball nut.

If anyone reading this has experience with 2 - 5/16" hitch balls with 1" shanks - which in our case is Draw-Tite Model Number 63847 - I'd appreciate any information I can get about the open-end wrench required for this job ... and my apologies for the eye strain, but this has been a pretty frustrating experience to say the least.

Thank you kindly for your time.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

l0

 

[mike93lx]

Did you consider grabbing a tape measure?

Maybe you need to bring this to a shop instead. Sounds like it's way outside your wheelhouse

 

[yatg]

You need a BFCW.

https://www.amazon.com/Crescent-AC224VS-24-Inch-Tapered-Adjustable/dp/B0091A4YB6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[JeepYJ]

Knipex Plierswrench.
Big pipe wrench.
Or one of the above options.
Is there an adjustable nut on spring on the bottom backside of the trailer hitch? Have you tried loosening that to take tension off the hitch ball?

 

[Badger 13]

If you have access to a good impact gun I would give that a try. Sometimes rattling of the impact can break the nut free.

 

[AreBeeBee]

Honkin' big pipe wrench, plus a cheater tube perhaps.

 

[CoogarXR]

I bought the Reese bar with the recessed hex flange that surrounds the ball so you don't need to hold it while you break the nut loose. I know that doesn't help you now, but it's something to consider for next time.

Like this:

 

[liliysdad]

Just a Crescent ..... never really been an issue.

 

[BrandonV]

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."

Adjustable wrench & cheater.

 

[speed bump]

1-1/2 1/2 drive socket and an impact is my preferred way. If the ball doesn't cooperate I wedge it with a pipe wrench against the receiver.

In my tow rig I always keep a 24" breaker bar, deep sockets in the appropriate sizes for truck and most trailer wheels, an 1-1/2 socket for the odd chance I have to use something other than my Anderson flip over drop hitch. Its like $40 for all of that and it will save your **** a lot.

 

[JeepYJ]

The problem is the ball is stuck in the trailer coupler? Not that the ball needs removed from the ball mount? Removing the ball from the mount still has it stuck in the trailer coupler? Just pull the pin on the mount and leave the whole thing there if you can’t figure out how to get the coupler to release it.

 

[ItsNemo]

The problem is the ball is stuck in the trailer coupler? Not that the ball needs removed from the ball mount? Removing the ball from the mount still has it stuck in the trailer coupler? Just pull the pin on the mount and leave the whole thing there if you can’t figure out how to get the coupler to release it.

This...and once the pressure is off the ball/coupler it should come out easily.

 

[JeepYJ]

This...and once the pressure is off the ball/coupler it should come out easily.

I think we are assuming he unlatched the coupler with all the tongue weight still on the ball before jacking the trailer up to unhitch? Maybe he jacked it up and then tried unlatching the coupler?

 

[garfunkle24]

l0

Lol wtf kind of sizes are those??? I thought maybe they were nominally metric but converted for the luddites. Nope, just weird sizes!

 

[Jeepster04]

If the trailer coupler will not come off of the ball, you can just remove the hitch pin from the ball mount, unhook the wiring and chains, then drive away. Leave the ball mount on the trailer.

The trailer coupler may be adjustable and may just be too tight.

 

[ForrestT]

I use a big flat head screw driver on stubborn to get loose ball hitches. Jimmy the hitch coupler loose from the ball with a big flat screwdriver so it pops off the ball.

 

[JeepYJ]

Lol wtf kind of sizes are those??? I thought maybe they were nominally metric but converted for the luddites. Nope, just weird sizes!

1 15/32 equals 37mm

 

[Walkers]

I just hit them with a big impact, no other tool needed.

 

[PCustoms]

Removing a ball is that confusing?

Do you own wrenches?

Why are you removing the ball anyways?

Odds are you have pressure of the tongue, either park it level or chock the wheels and drive forward/reverse to relieve the binding. Maybe pull the pin and remove the hitch woet case, but in 25 years of dealing with trailers ice.never had to resort to that.

 

[mitusa]

I have a trailer that has the bulldog jack...sometimes when I jack it up, it puts a lot of pressure on the opposite side of the ball.
Usually I can jack it up so that the weight is all off the truck and jump up and down on the bumper and it will let loose.
Good luck!!

 

[sparky 1971]

Get the 1-1/2" wrench and take the ball off, but use the closed end. If you have an impact do yourself a favor and get a 1-1/2" deep well socket. It's new enough that I doubt the ball spins, but if it does grab the base with a pipe wrench or Channellocks. Or, pull the pin on the drawbar, it might require a hammer and punch. This isn't really a dilemma worth going to the world wide web over.

 

[gahrajmahal]

When I worked at uhaul in the 80’s we had a 3/4 impact wrench and grabbed the ball with a very large pipe wrench. If it looked really rusty or stuck we would pre heat it with a rosebud tip on an acetylene torch. Or we’d just cut it off with the cutting torch.

All of these methods required the purchase of a new hitch ball, installed with never seize for the next time.

 

[Jim greengo]

A couple of big pipe wrenches.

 

[sparky 1971]

A couple of big pipe wrenches.

I think the trailer is still on the ball and that won't leave much to grab with a pipe wrench. I would think that the weight of the trailer on a new ball would hold it still while turning the nut off. Sometimes I have a hard time believing some of the questions asked on here. I kinda think this is a troll post, OP posted at 12:57 a.m. CST and hasn't been back in almost 17 hours.

 

[whateg01]

Hard to believe somebody who can't figure out how to unhook a ball hitch has ever pulled anything big enough to use a pintle hitch.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Two minutes with a cordless grinder & just replace the ball.

 

[whateg01]

It seems the trailer he supposedly has has a swappable coupler or maybe adjustable would be a better word. So he could remove the drawbar and the coupler and replace the whole shooting match with the pintle ring he wanted in the first place. Yeah this seems like a pointless thread.

 

[RedOak]

Did you consider grabbing a tape measure?

Maybe you need to bring this to a shop instead. Sounds like it's way outside your wheelhouse

I really didn't want to cry too much, but the questions were written in the middle of a white-out blizzard here in the mountains, so getting under the hitch with a "tape measure" in the dark was out. We manage timber land for the production of forest products. We own, operate, repair and maintain heavy logging equipment including a mill, so I humbly submit that we've managed to overcome issues that are much more involved than this.

As the trailer had to be removed that night, I employed our 3/4" Milwaukee impact, a 3/4" x 15/16" socket and a 15/16" Proto box-end wrench to remove the Grade 8 bolts that hold the factory hitch assembly to the trailer. Once that was accomplished, the trailer chains and the break-away cable were detached and the truck was moved forward. Finally, everything was pulled out of the truck's receiver and the whole mess was heated up in our fab shop. It took some further coaxing, but the junk hitch was eventually freed from the hitch ball.

The hitch in question was literally "stuck" to the hitch ball, so I was simply hoping that someone who's employed the Draw-Tite Model 63847 hitch ball - an extremely popular product - would know the wrench size required to hold the ball still at its base ... but, in the end, I guess the job was in our "wheelhouse" after all. I'll keep pulling a 14K equipment trailer around in white-out mountain snow and paying someone else to do this - at 2:00 in the morning - in mind the next time something like this happens. Cheers for the productive post.

 

[RedOak]

I bought the Reese bar with the recessed hex flange that surrounds the ball so you don't need to hold it while you break the nut loose. I know that doesn't help you now, but it's something to consider for next time.

Like this:

That's a very nice ball hitch you have there, sir. I can see that Reese had a good engineer involved with designing their hitch assembly.

As for next time, we'll simply order a new ring and fab together a bolt-on assembly that will work with our normal pintle hitches. Thank you sincerely for actually trying to help an old vet out.

 

[bcradio]

Glad you got it taken care of. Crazy how that can happen to a hitch ball

 

[Jim greengo]

I think the trailer is still on the ball and that won't leave much to grab with a pipe wrench. I would think that the weight of the trailer on a new ball would hold it still while turning the nut off. Sometimes I have a hard time believing some of the questions asked on here. I kinda think this is a troll post, OP posted at 12:57 a.m. CST and hasn't been back in almost 17 hours.

Ah,I didn't catch that part of the story. Hahaha
Original post was a little tough for me to follow.

 

[mrbill55]

It's a long story, but I recently made a fairly hellish trip to pick up a brand new equipment trailer from a trailer dealer. Bearing in mind that I told the dude who sold me the trailer that I have been using nothing but pintle hitches for many years - and that my truck had that type of hitch installed - I was pretty freakin upset to see the that the trailer I traveled to pickup came with a 2 - 5/16" hitch ball setup.

Needless to say, I informed the folks at the trailer lot that I had the return trip to look forward to and, more to the point, that I expected them to remove the stock ball hitch assembly and quickly replace it with a pintle ring for use with the pintle hitch on my truck ... but guess what came next ... the good ol' "supply chain" excuse. As in, they didn't have any pintle rings and, long ugly story short, that I would have to buy a new hitch and ball for the trailer.

Fast forward a couple of days and an incoming snowstorm required me to park the new trailer out of the way. Well, as my luck with this particular trailer would have it, the brand new hitch will not unlock from the hitch ball! After moving the truck back and forth, lubricating and pounding on the hitch - and anything else I could think of - I've still had zero luck getting the hitch latch to unlock from the hitch ball.

So I started researching the Draw-Tite website for information about the tools required for removing the hitch ball from the hitch itself, but had no luck with that, either. The only spec I found on their website was for a 1 - 1/2" wrench, which is the size of the nut that holds the hitch ball onto the hitch, so the point is that there's no specification provided for the open-end wrench required to hold the base of the hitch ball in place while either loosening or tightening the 1 - 1/2" hitch ball nut.

If anyone reading this has experience with 2 - 5/16" hitch balls with 1" shanks - which in our case is Draw-Tite Model Number 63847 - I'd appreciate any information I can get about the open-end wrench required for this job ... and my apologies for the eye strain, but this has been a pretty frustrating experience to say the least.

Thank you kindly for your time

In times of haste, we sometimes forget the very basic of disconnects. With safety chains and trailer wiring already removed, carefully adjust trailer height with tongue jack to remove weight/tension on hitch/ball assembly, chock wheel(s) on trailer to prevent movement, pull safety clip, pull hitch pin from hitch, pull tow vehicle forwards. Truck and trailer will now be detached from one another as the hitch is pulled out of the frame assembly attached to the truck. At that point, you can lift lock tab on hitch above ball assembly, and with no tension, the two items should be easy to disconnect from one another. If not, then a BFH may be required to give the hitch itself.

Now, with that said, with your history of using mostly pintle hook hitch assemblies, did you remember to raise the hitch latch when you were trying to remove the two assemblies from one another? Nothing to be embarrassed about, I've seen plenty who have been in the same situation at the track over the years.



Bill S.

 

[mikegt4]

The OP's rant seems to be a bit confusing. After reading it a few times I get the impression that the ball is stuck in the trailer coupler because the latch assembly won't release. I have had the same experience, usually because the trailer has been sitting awhile and the pawl hidden inside the coupler is rusted in place or jammed at it's pivot point towards the rear of the trailer. The pawl has a "C" shape at the rear that loosely pivots about a rod going side to side within the coupler. Usually raising the latch handle straight up and pushing it straight down (sometimes with hammer assist) will push the pawl down and away from under the ball. Plan B is hitting the pawl from below.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

I employed our 3/4" Milwaukee impact, a 3/4" x 15/16" socket and a 15/16" Proto box-end wrench to remove the Grade 8 bolts that hold the factory hitch assembly to the trailer. Once that was accomplished, the trailer chains and the break-away cable were detached and the truck was moved forward. Finally, everything was pulled out of the truck's receiver and the whole mess was heated up in our fab shop.

I still am confused. I get it that for some reason, you could not uncouple hitch from the hitch ball, but why could you not pull the hitch pin from the receiver tube?

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I change mine out with an impact wrench and a socket. If I didn't have that I would just use my big pipe wrench.

 

[RedOak]

I still am confused. I get it that for some reason, you could not uncouple hitch from the hitch ball, but why could you not pull the hitch pin from the receiver tube?

Sure, that was an alternative, but, at the time, we had arctic-like storm and, needless to say, it was very dark. For security reasons, we use grade 8 hardware to keep our normal pintle hitch rig in the receiver tube. The folks at the trailer lot used the same hardware when they installed the Draw-Tite ball hitch rig. Long story short, it wasn't a matter of simply pulling a pin. Under the circumstances, it was much easier to simply remove the cheap [stuck closed] junk ball hitch assembly - that the dealer sold me - from the trailer itself. No laying on the ice in the dark, which is something this old vet would much rather avoid.

 

[RedOak]

In times of haste, we sometimes forget the very basic of disconnects. With safety chains and trailer wiring already removed, carefully adjust trailer height with tongue jack to remove weight/tension on hitch/ball assembly, chock wheel(s) on trailer to prevent movement, pull safety clip, pull hitch pin from hitch, pull tow vehicle forwards. Truck and trailer will now be detached from one another as the hitch is pulled out of the frame assembly attached to the truck. At that point, you can lift lock tab on hitch above ball assembly, and with no tension, the two items should be easy to disconnect from one another. If not, then a BFH may be required to give the hitch itself.

Now, with that said, with your history of using mostly pintle hook hitch assemblies, did you remember to raise the hitch latch when you were trying to remove the two assemblies from one another? Nothing to be embarrassed about, I've seen plenty who have been in the same situation at the track over the years.



Bill S.

Nice post, but the actual hitch latch mechanism that came with the new trailer didn't come loose - despite many many attempts to pull it backwards - until it was off of the truck/trailer and in our fab shop.

By the way, we have other equipment, including a couple of smaller enclosed trailers, that employ a latch like the one in the nice drawing (above). The hitch latch that came on the new equipment trailer I originally asked about, on the other hand, doesn't look like the one in the drawing. It's much smaller/cheaper and it doesn't have the cam action that most of us are familiar with. If I get a chance, I'll take a high-res photo of the Chinese junk I've been writing about so everyone can see what "cost savings" often means to the customer.

 

[niget2002]

Nice post, but the actual hitch latch mechanism that came with the new trailer didn't come loose - despite many many attempts to pull it backwards - until it was off of the truck/trailer and in our fab shop.

By the way, we have other equipment, including a couple of smaller enclosed trailers, that employ a latch like the one in the nice drawing (above). The hitch latch that came on the new equipment trailer I originally asked about, on the other hand, doesn't look like the one in the drawing. It's much smaller/cheaper and it doesn't have the cam action that most of us are familiar with. If I get a chance, I'll take a high-res photo of the Chinese junk I've been writing about so everyone can see what "cost savings" often means to the customer.

Dad had a boat with a hitch lock like what you're describing. That thing was a PITA to get to unlatch. The stars had to align just right for it to pull up and back correctly. You had to pretty much pull the latch just about vertical before it could be pulled backwards to release the ball and the tongue height had to be just right so that there was no pull on the ball either upwards or downwards.

The magic touch for our latch was to pull upwards and apply some pressure backwards while spinning the jack and raising the tongue. The wheels on the boat had to be chocked and the E-brake on the truck had to be disengaged. As the tongue of the boat went up and as you were pulling backwards on the latch, it would suddenly just 'slip'. The truck would wiggle, the boat would wiggle, and the tongue would come loose from the ball.

 

[RedOak]

Dad had a boat with a hitch lock like what you're describing. That thing was a PITA to get to unlatch. The stars had to align just right for it to pull up and back correctly. You had to pretty much pull the latch just about vertical before it could be pulled backwards to release the ball and the tongue height had to be just right so that there was no pull on the ball either upwards or downwards.

The magic touch for our latch was to pull upwards and apply some pressure backwards while spinning the jack and raising the tongue. The wheels on the boat had to be chocked and the E-brake on the truck had to be disengaged. As the tongue of the boat went up and as you were pulling backwards on the latch, it would suddenly just 'slip'. The truck would wiggle, the boat would wiggle, and the tongue would come loose from the ball.

Yes, @niget2002 , it reads like you can understand what this type of hitch might perform like, especially in a white-out mountain blizzard. In short, there's simply no way that a hitch latch like the one being discussed in this thread should get within miles of a well-built American made equipment trailer. It's like buying a $15.00 pad lock from the box store and using it to "secure" a cargo container loaded with all of our hand tools, power tools and logging equipment.