Hitch receiver storage ?

[backupbeeper]

We have a bunch of receiver hitches or different ball sizes and different drops etc

Has someone come up with a good way to store these ?

Other than just sliding them under my toolbox ?

Searching the Google was useless since it only brings up the racks that plug into the hitch for hauling cargo.

 

[JeepYJ]

I don’t have it completed yet but I’m building a storage unit to hand on the wall between posts in my pole barn. I used some rectangular tubing and drilled holes through it. Insert long 7/16” bolts, tack weld the heads and hang the ball mounts from there. I drilled the bolts at the end to accept an R clip to keep them from sliding off.

 

[geneg]

We have a bunch of receiver hitches or different ball sizes and different drops etc

Has someone come up with a good way to store these ?

Other than just sliding them under my toolbox ?

Searching the Google was useless since it only brings up the racks that plug into the hitch for hauling cargo.

If you're talking about ball mounts with the ball installed, screw a 3/8" lag into a stud at a slight downward angle & cut the head off. Leave about 3" out. Slip the square tube hole over the lag. They hang down & you can get 4 or 5 on each stud. Mine are on the wall behind the pass door.

 

[Mike65]

We just have the one that fits my wife's Bronco Sport & my F150, it is under the work bench.

 

[Farmall450]

I am planning on making a rack w/ 5/8 dowels (same size as the hitch pin), but haven't determined where it'll go yet. I'll also need to space some of the bigger ones off the wall a little, so I might use threaded rod and add jam nuts.

 

[65ranchero]

I just store the ball & mounts in the shed on a shelf of a old entertainment center left when we moved in.

 

[metalmagpie]

In a drawer in the shop behind our carport.

 

[kbeefy]

Mine go in an old portable toolbox under a shelf in the shop. It's not ideal, but at least they are all in the same spot.

 

[Bucko]

I have a storage room in my shop and one if the walls are lined with legal size file cabinets. One of the drawers are dedicated for trailer accessories and I put the extra hitches in there.

 

[HenryAZ]

I have all my ball mounts in a milk crate.

 

[dante2]

I have just the one in an open top tool bag. Straps, bungie cords, and anything towing related is in it. Grab it and go hook up.

 

[goldtang]

Have a look at post # 55

Trailer hitch receivers - how to store Efficiently & Safely?

It's not a rumor. It's a law. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=3669&GAID=10&SessionID=76&LegID=46447 ^ ^ Think this Illinois craziness is just "suggested law" - - ie Illinois HB3669 by Elaine Nekritz (Illinois House Representative) back in 2009. It's gone...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I have two that I use in the truck. They stay in the bed in a holder like this. That one is $35 on Amazon but mine is a very similar homemade version. The car has one hitch that's almost never used but it stays in the storage compartment under the rear cargo area where the trailer wire is rolled up.

 

[Chevy72pu]

I have two of these in my pickup bed. One holds all of my hitches and pins.

 

[denis4x4]

I have one truck and three trailers. I leave the correct hitch with the trailer.

 

[JeepYJ]

I have one truck and three trailers. I leave the correct hitch with the trailer.

Only one tow vehicle? And you posted that on GJ? SMH.
Three trailers will get you some redemption.

 

[ATC]

The world works in mysterious ways. I was researching this a couple days ago too, and have started building something similar to this Amazon product out of 2.5" square tube:

https://www.amazon.com/Hitch-Mounted-Cargo-Storage-Mount/dp/B097QCNHPS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rayra]

Easy to drill some right-sized holes thru a 2x6 and socket the hitch parts into the holes. Mount the 2x6 in a stud bay. You could also orient things so the hitch pieces are vertical, set down into the holes.

I've done this with a hitch carrier with a 12k winch in it and a few creaks made me put some screws and a metal plate on the bottom of the board, it's a LOT of weight. My socket board is mounted on the end of a wood rolling shelf in my garage.

 

[tyyost]

I too do the elongated milk crate, fits on a shelf, easy to grab and go, and sturdy enough for the job. Gives the extra ones a home other than tossed in the back of the truck.

 

[Bert_]

Anything that I pull with a ball is 2 5/16. Fix the tongue on the trailer so they're all the same height.

 

[Renegade1LI]

The receivers are easy, they never come off the trucks, the ball mounts & pintles I keep in a ridgid open crate. Whithin the crate is a tool bag with the smaller stuff like extra balls, lock pins etc.

 

[ATC]

Anything that I pull with a ball is 2 5/16. Fix the tongue on the trailer so they're all the same height.

At least in my case, I have 4 vehicles and 3 trailers. I have 8 ball mounts kicking around. There are a couple that are no longer in use, but that might change in the future

 

[Bert_]

At least in my case, I have 4 vehicles and 3 trailers. I have 8 ball mounts kicking around. There are a couple that are no longer in use, but that might change in the future

My point is if all the trailer tongues are the same height you find the right hitch to match that height and it stays with that vehicle.

Drives me nuts when someone robs the hitch out of a truck and I have to go search for it.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I keep a receiver with no ball in the truck for work stuff. All my other ones get kept in a milk crate in the shop.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've been kicking the idea around for a while. I'm going to weld some 2" receiver tubing, about 6" long, to a vertical tube. Bolt it to the upright of the pallet racking and just slide them in.

 

[APEowner]

I switched to a B&W Tow and Stow, three ball, adjustable and just leave it on the truck.

 

[nadogail]

IMHO the Ball Carriers should stay with the Tow Vehicle, imagine showing up for "Tractor Duty" without your appropriate Balls.

 

[ipgenie]

Always on the Truck, always ready to go. Fits all my trailers and most of my friends.



It's pretty rural hear. Many, if not most, trucks used for towing (ie: not grocery getters) around here have the ball in the receiver all of the time. I'd never heard of removing it when not in use but I learned in another thread on GJ that there are places where that is frowned on. Kind of inconvenient but if you have a place to stow it and it's available when you need it, removing it is probably not a problem.

 

[niget2002]

Mine just sit on the floor right by the garage door. They fit perfectly in a small spat under the mill behind the welding cart. You can only get to them if the big garage door is open, which works for me.

 

[67CarGuy]

Currently mine's taking up valuable bench space, but I'm liking the ideas for bench and/or wall cavity storage already posted.
My avatar had a hitch, but it's since been removed and the trunk holes welded over... and my daily driver (VW Golf) isn't really up to the task, so...

 

[ATC]

My point is if all the trailer tongues are the same height you find the right hitch to match that height and it stays with that vehicle.

Drives me nuts when someone robs the hitch out of a truck and I have to go search for it.

Correct, but not always possible.

 

[nadogail]

Your trailer hitch should be like your Spare Tire, something you don’t leave home without.

 

[Copymutt]

Fabed & welded a storage receiver under bed. Saves my knees, saves knees of the innocent.

Not something I want flying around the cab while meeting new people. Got tired of climbing in & out of the bed to get it. I suspect most that are left sticking out of the receiver are there due to the hassle of what to do w/ it & disrespect for fellow pedestrians. The only downside I see is no damage to the tailgater's radiator.

 

[gtae07]

Fabed & welded a storage receiver under bed. Saves my knees, saves knees of the innocent.

Nice!


I only tow smaller trailers, so I get away with one bar per vehicle (either a multi-ball, or one of the convertible balls). It stays with the vehicle, in a bin in the trunk area. I've smashed my own shins enough on them just in between installing it and hooking up the trailer two minutes later, I'm never leaving one installed longer than I need to.

The three 1.25" bars from old vehicles are on a shelf in the garage somewhere...

I also put a receiver on every vehicle I've owned. Some got used for bike racks more than trailers, but still...

 

[dcg9381]

I have a "box" in the shop. I keep all the "alternate" hitch stuff in there including the gooseneck plate, all sorts of various hitches of different diameter, shanks, and capacities. I do not like them being "free" in the truck cab due as I don't want a steel missile in the cab in the event of an accident. I'm probably the odd case, as our truck requires a 24" extension if we have the camper on it, so it's two very distinct tow setups.

 

[Copymutt]

Answer to the compromised bed length. Even use it on my 8’ bed for long steel & timbers.
very basic weld up.

 

[liliysdad]

I just leave mine in the receiver. I know it’s there so I don’t knock my shins on it, and I’ve not had any complaints of others doing so.

I typically keep a 3- way in the receiver, and a hitch with a shackle in the swing-case. I have others, the 3-way handles almost all my needs.

 

[backupbeeper]

Only one tow vehicle? And you posted that on GJ? SMH.
Three trailers will get you some redemption.

We have 6 pickups and SUVs of varying sizes .
And three trailers , also of varying sizes , from a 4x8 and 6x12 to 7x 18 car hauler .



Finding the right drop to use depends on how tall the truck is and which whatever trailer is being used .

 

[mike93lx]

I just leave mine in the receiver. I know it’s there so I don’t knock my shins on it, and I’ve not had any complaints of others doing so.

I typically keep a 3- way in the receiver, and a hitch with a shackle in the swing-case. I have others, the 3-way handles almost all my needs.

Its illegal to leave it mounted when not in use in MA (where I grew up), so I always pull mine. It tends to either live with the trailer or in my garage

I thought it was similar in at least some other states, but a quick Google search says MA is on its own with this, unless it's blocking the plate

 

[Bert_]

A lot of trailers have multiple bolt holes that will move the coupler up or down about 6".

The cheap trailers that don't do this get the coupler cut off and made standard height.