The Hitch Ball From Hell !!

[Packard V8]

On the trailer hitch on my F250 I have a nice Reese 6000# stinger with a 2" ball on it. I needed to temporarily attach a winch to pull a piano up the ramp out of the basement. That began the fun.

My usually effective Blue Point impact made no impact on the 1-1/2" nut on the 1" mounting stud. "That's odd" I thought, so I broke out the heavy arn. I use a Sturdevant 300# 3/4"dr torque wrench for the big stuff. It maxed out before the stud started turning in the bore. The nut still hadn't loosened. I put a Rigid pipe wrench on the base of the ball and put the full meal deal on the torque wrench. The nut finally began to move, grudgingly. Strange thing was, it never got easier. I had to fight it off the whole way.

The piano move went well. A truck with a lift gate is a beautiful thing.

When I got ready to put the ball back on the stinger, I cleaned the threads and there was this nasty glass-like stuff in the vee of the threads. It took an hour with a sharp three-cornered file to cut that hell-spawn out of the external threads on the stud and to rake it out of the internal threads on the nut.

Anyone have an idea whatever Reese put on those threads? And what's the idea of selling a stinger where it's impossible to change balls?

jack vines

 

[ascott172]

Did they chrome the threads?

 

[firebox40dash5]

Did they gall together? Or was it some gnarly kinda threadlock... assuming you bought it as a single unit?

PS: Convert-a-ball, stainless, no more worries. Well, except never removing it and having it rust into the tube.

PPS: First thing I ever used my 3/4" 2145MAX on was a trailer ball. One of my good customers came by and said he'd been fighting it for hours. An 18" pipe wrench and a socket and it came right on off in about 2 seconds. Totally not worth the $300 I paid yet.

 

[ishiboo]

Lost interest when a torque wrench was used as a breaker bar

 

[texasfiremedic]

I came across this many times. It seems that the fine threads on the ball seem to glad up while taking them off. I have had them come off about three turns or so and just stop. The corse threaded ones never have this problem. The just break loose and you can take them off by hand after that. There is some type of thread locker that they put on them but don't know what kind. Part of it could be that they put them on by machine and that could stretch the threads and it will by a pain if not impossible after that.

 

[Packard V8]

Lost interest when a torque wrench was used as a breaker bar

Maybe you are too young to remember the P.A. Sturdevant torque wrenches are solid beam. They aren't harmed by being used as a breaker bar.

jack vines

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Maybe you are too young to remember the P.A. Sturdevant torque wrenches are solid beam. They aren't harmed by being used as a breaker bar.

jack vines

So long as you don't exceed the limit of the tool.

Charles

 

[Farmall450]

Maybe you are too young to remember the P.A. Sturdevant torque wrenches are solid beam. They aren't harmed by being used as a breaker bar.

jack vines

I guess I am as well as I found that odd.

 

[Packard V8]

So long as you don't exceed the limit of the tool. Charles

On a beam torque wrench, as long as the pointer returns to zero, all is good.

jack vines

 

[pepi]

The question is why would anyone use a torque wrench to loosen a fastener? I would love to know the logic behind such a decision.

The only reason the tool is designed to acquire measurements in both direction is for right or left handed threads. Using a torque wrench to loosen a fastener is an improper use of that tool.

 

[devoncoolman]

Lock tite was used. Thats why she faught u the whole way. A little bit of heat would of melted it and it would of spun off easily

 

[Outlawmws]

No, in some (few) cases you want to measure breaking torque.

 

[jmlcolorado]

Rust?
I've had rusty balls before. Not fun to get off.

 

[mrtoolfool]

I had one of my friends come over to help him get his hitch ball off his truck.
The ball had only been on the truck for a little over a year. NO locktite had been used.We had a heck of a time getting it off. We are both big guys so power was not a problem.


1)Started with regular wrench. NO GO
2)Tried a long 1/2" breaker bar. NO GO
3)Tried a 3/4" breaker bar. NO GO
4)Got out a 1/2" air impact. NO GO
5)Used a 3/4" electric impact. NO GO
6)Tried a 36" PIPE wrench. NO GO
7)Tried a 48" PIPE wrench. NO GO but we ACTUALLY moved the truck sideways
8)Went with a large crescent wrench and 5lb sledge. NO GO

Somewhere in there we even tried applying heat. NO GO

How did we get it off? PLASMA CUTTER !

We should have gone with the plasma to start and we would have saved a LOT of time and trouble.
I think it was one of those "MAN THINGS" that we just kept trying as we KNEW we could POWER through the problem

 

[Dahammer72]

Rust?
I've had rusty balls before. Not fun to get off.

Did it hurt so good?

 

[gayler]

Rust?
I've had rusty balls before. Not fun to get off.

I hope you had someone special help with the task!

 

[Packard V8]

Using a torque wrench to loosen a fastener is an improper use of that tool.

It seems the ratcheting click torque wrenches have become so much the norm and the caution not to use them to loosen fasteners has become so ingrained, some here will just not stop and think. There are other kinds of torque wrenches.

A round beam or flat beam torque wrench is just a breaker bar with a pointer and a scale on it. Using a beam torque wrench to loosen a fastener does it no damage.

FWIW, The flat-beam torque wrench was invented in 1918 by Conrad Bahr, improved by Walter P. Chrysler and perfected by P.A. Sturtevant. The tool has no moving parts. Torque is measured by the amount of deflection imposed on a ground alloy steel beam while under load. The tool is accurate to within 2 percent in both directions, it is maintenance-free and only requires calibration after extended use. The flat-beam torque wrench has an indefinite service life. For example, the U.S. government has only had to replace one flat-beam torque wrench used daily since World War II. They're still made today and used in industry.

jack vines

 

[A_Pmech]

From your description of "nasty glass-like stuff" they poured on the thread locker. It makes sense. If you're building hitches, the last thing you want is for a customer to lose a ball.

 

[jvitez]

It seems the ratcheting click torque wrenches have become so much the norm and the caution not to use them to loosen fasteners has become so ingrained, some here will just not stop and think. There are other kinds of torque wrenches.

A round beam or flat beam torque wrench is just a breaker bar with a pointer and a scale on it. Using a beam torque wrench to loosen a fastener does it no damage.

FWIW, The flat-beam torque wrench was invented in 1918 by Conrad Bahr, improved by Walter P. Chrysler and perfected by P.A. Sturtevant. The tool has no moving parts. Torque is measured by the amount of deflection imposed on a ground alloy steel beam while under load. The tool is accurate to within 2 percent in both directions, it is maintenance-free and only requires calibration after extended use. The flat-beam torque wrench has an indefinite service life. For example, the U.S. government has only had to replace one flat-beam torque wrench used daily since World War II. They're still made today and used in industry.

jack vines

Very interesting! Many thanks for posting.

I have a 35 year old Indestro round beam torque wrench. I rarely use it as I thought it was less accurate than the click type. Now I know better!

 

[bareass172]

Someone else mentioned galling...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galling

I've seen this before too.

 

[PCO6]

... The tool is accurate to within 2 percent in both directions ...

I often use a beam style torque wrench when loosening fasteners to get some idea as to what they were torqued to.

 

[sberry]

The threads were dry when it was installed, spray with penetrating oil before installation.

 

[carterbeauford]

From your description of "nasty glass-like stuff" they poured on the thread locker. It makes sense. If you're building hitches, the last thing you want is for a customer to lose a ball.

never seen anything other than a giant lockwasher used on hitch balls.

you can buy a whole new ball and mount for like $25 at Walmart. not worth the trouble.

 

[bcradio]

I had one of my friends come over to help him get his hitch ball off his truck.
The ball had only been on the truck for a little over a year. NO locktite had been used.We had a heck of a time getting it off. We are both big guys so power was not a problem.


1)Started with regular wrench. NO GO
2)Tried a long 1/2" breaker bar. NO GO
3)Tried a 3/4" breaker bar. NO GO
4)Got out a 1/2" air impact. NO GO
5)Used a 3/4" electric impact. NO GO
6)Tried a 36" PIPE wrench. NO GO
7)Tried a 48" PIPE wrench. NO GO but we ACTUALLY moved the truck sideways
8)Went with a large crescent wrench and 5lb sledge. NO GO

Somewhere in there we even tried applying heat. NO GO

How did we get it off? PLASMA CUTTER !

We should have gone with the plasma to start and we would have saved a LOT of time and trouble.
I think it was one of those "MAN THINGS" that we just kept trying as we KNEW we could POWER through the problem

Don't see too many of these around.

 

[er3456df]

has become so ingrained, some here will just not stop and think.

Awright Grandpa, now don't get your blood pressure up.

You can't fairly call them stupid if you're talking about tools that are effectively obsolete.

I use beam-type torque wrenches, too. You're absolutely right about them. It's still weird that you would choose one for a job that's likely to break something- I'm guessing it was the biggest wrench you had on hand? Why not just say that's the reason?

 

[drivesitfar]

I had one of my friends come over to help him get his hitch ball off his truck.
The ball had only been on the truck for a little over a year. NO locktite had been used.We had a heck of a time getting it off. We are both big guys so power was not a problem.


1)Started with regular wrench. NO GO
2)Tried a long 1/2" breaker bar. NO GO
3)Tried a 3/4" breaker bar. NO GO
4)Got out a 1/2" air impact. NO GO
5)Used a 3/4" electric impact. NO GO
6)Tried a 36" PIPE wrench. NO GO
7)Tried a 48" PIPE wrench. NO GO but we ACTUALLY moved the truck sideways
8)Went with a large crescent wrench and 5lb sledge. NO GO

Somewhere in there we even tried applying heat. NO GO

How did we get it off? PLASMA CUTTER !

We should have gone with the plasma to start and we would have saved a LOT of time and trouble.
I think it was one of those "MAN THINGS" that we just kept trying as we KNEW we could POWER through the problem

Had to laugh out loud when i read that line where you moved the truck. looks like on ordinary circumstances and any circumstances you have enough strength and a full tool box of options to get the job done. nice work and great post.

Jack thanks for the history on breaker bars and also didn't know hitch balls were so bad ***.

 

[speed bump]

How old was the ball and was it left sitting in the receiver for long periods of time? We broke the shank on one at the mine trying to get it off but that thing had seen nastier conditions than most people's pickups will ever dream of.

The question is why would anyone use a torque wrench to loosen a fastener? I would love to know the logic behind such a decision.

The only reason the tool is designed to acquire measurements in both direction is for right or left handed threads. Using a torque wrench to loosen a fastener is an improper use of that tool.

Part of my job is qa/qc auditing I use beam torque wrenches to check that the torque is close to correct while disassembling looking for defects. They are a tool and as long as you aren't abusing them they don't care which direction the fastener is going.

As far as not using it to remove the hitch ball; why does it matter? It is apparently the longest socket turning device he had at his disposal and he stopped when it maxed out.

 

[Nanashi]

The question is why would anyone use a torque wrench to loosen a fastener? I would love to know the logic behind such a decision.

The only reason the tool is designed to acquire measurements in both direction is for right or left handed threads. Using a torque wrench to loosen a fastener is an improper use of that tool.

No such thing as wrong to for the job as long as it works. Being creative is part of a mechanics job or at least it can be helpful.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Changing your tidy white's at least once a month will eliminate the problem of rusty balls. Naval jelly would not be the right choice to remove the rust either. Naval lint could be used to dry them off after cleaning. LOL

 

[greasemonkey44]

Been there done that packardv8
If the 1200k nitro cat doesn't loosen them and the 48" 3/4 starts moving the truck around just call it a day.
That sort of **** only happens when you are in a rush or really far from a store


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