Removing Trailer Hitch

O

omoore

New member
Mar 21, 2018
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New Bern, NC
My trailer hitch has rusted into the receiver. I squirted blasted front,
back and inside the hitch pin homes. Then attached a 3/4" 3-strand nylon
line off my boat to the ball to a tree. Straight pulling failed. I tried
backing up to get some slack and then jerking forward. Line snapped.
I don't think a propane torch would heat the receiver enough to get it
loose. Anbody solved this problem?

Oliver
1973 Glenbrook
129k miles-
Patterson engine
Cinnebar extensive suspension and steering rebuild.
Alcoa Wheels
Thorley Headers
 
Get a large Monkey wrench, put it on the end of the tongue and hit it with a mall hammer up and down front and back. If it doesn't move it's probably
welded in.

--
Tom McManus
1977 Royale

Chesapeake VA
 
Lots of penetrating fluid, letting it soak for a few days and wacking the receiver up, down, side to side and then fluid in the open edges as it
moves.....might take a few days of doing this and once the rust gets loosened up a bit it will come out.

PS: used penetrating fluid and not WD40
--
Rich Mondor,

Brockville, ON

77 Hughes 2600
 
Use an air hammer to push it out
________________________________
From: Tom McManus
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2021 11:41 AM
To: gmclist
Subject: [GMCnet] Re: Removing Trailer Hitch

Get a large Monkey wrench, put it on the end of the tongue and hit it with a mall hammer up and down front and back. If it doesn't move it's probably
welded in.

--
Tom McManus
1977 Royale

Chesapeake VA
_______________________________________________
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Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
 
I had a distributor that was stuck/welded in that I solved this way:
Put a steady pressure on it, and then tapped and did penetrant over time.
For the distributor I built a gantry and had a cargo tie down ratchet strap lifting straight up. On a dizzy, I erred on the side of not enough pull to
not bend stuff, certainly more room for error on solid steel receiver.

In short, put steady pull on it with a winch or come-along or something. Then rap with chonky hammers and PB blaster and such. Maybe a day, a week, an
hour who knows!

--
1975 Glenbrook, 1978 Royale rear bath
Raleigh, NC
 
A propane torch will not do much. But try to heat and spray with kroil.

You want to put a come-along to a tree with tension on it and hammer and wait. A air chisel/hammer rapping on it. It is probably going to fight
you every millimeter.

Sometimes need to dedicate a week. Tension, hammer it and let it sit overnight with pressure. Some(most you can’t). Can get behind it with air
chisel.

Good luck. For proper heat, you need a proper torch and rosebud end. The metal just sucks any heat away too fadt with a propane torch.
--
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
 
A good swing from behind onto the back of the receiver to push it in is probably more force than you can apply by pulling.

In your case, all the energy was spent stretching and then breaking the rope. A chain would work better but the tree would give a little and absorb
much of the force.

A mixture of acetone and ATF is about the best rust breaker you can get, maybe 2nd to Kroil.
--
Dave & Ellen Silva
Hertford, NC

76 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff

Currently planning the Great american Road Trip Summer 2021

It's gonna take a lot of Adderall to get this thing right.
 
A shock from a sledge hammer , no tapping, just a powerful BLOW,
Constant tension will not do.

> A good swing from behind onto the back of the receiver to push it in is
> probably more force than you can apply by pulling.
>
> In your case, all the energy was spent stretching and then breaking the
> rope. A chain would work better but the tree would give a little and absorb
> much of the force.
>
> A mixture of acetone and ATF is about the best rust breaker you can get,
> maybe 2nd to Kroil.
> --
> Dave & Ellen Silva
> Hertford, NC
>
> 76 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff
>
> Currently planning the Great american Road Trip Summer 2021
>
> It's gonna take a lot of Adderall to get this thing right.
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>

--
Jim Kanomata ASE
Applied/GMC, Newark,CA
jimk
http://www.gmcrvparts.com
1-800-752-7502
 
I second this approach. Lots of Kroil, or acetone and ATF, plus time and heating followed by shock cooling will eventually take care of the problem.
I find something like what you are doing takes daily application and about 5 days to break loose. You do not need to super heat it and it can be
done without heat. It will just take longer, meaning more days. By heating you are trying to get the two pieces of steel to expand and contact at
different rates allowing the Kroil to creep into the seams. That is why shock cooling works well.

One other thing that work, if you can get to the back side of the receiver tube, is to shock cool the draw bar with a CO2 fire extinguisher and
soaking with Kroil. If you do not have CO2 a can of freon (R-134) directed directly on the inside of the drawbar tube will also work.

Time and Kroil is your friend with all of these approaches.

Ken B.

> A good swing from behind onto the back of the receiver to push it in is probably more force than you can apply by pulling.
>
> In your case, all the energy was spent stretching and then breaking the rope. A chain would work better but the tree would give a little and
> absorb much of the force.
>
> A mixture of acetone and ATF is about the best rust breaker you can get, maybe 2nd to Kroil.

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
 
As my undergrad work was at a marine engineering school, we had a full semester course on corrosion. I bet you didn't think anybody could study RUST
for half a year, well we did.
What you need to know is that iron corrodes two ways:
The first step is FeO2. This is the black stuff you don't often see.
The next step is Fe2O3. This the brown rust you know, but it isn't done yet.
A last step is Fe2O3∙5H2O - this is the big flaky brown rust that we all know and hate. The saving grace for this case is that it is really soft
and have very little strength. So if you abuse it in the methods listed above, you may be able to crush the soft scale and make it let go.
So, you see, a hammer isn't a stupid idea.
I wish you luck. If the hitch is a Blain hitch, a chain and a tree might work.
Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
Instead of Propane try some MAP Gas it is hotter but probably not hot
enough for that thick, like Matt said the metal will suck up the heat so an
actual torch would be the best bet.

> A propane torch will not do much. But try to heat and spray with
> kroil.
>
>
> You want to put a come-along to a tree with tension on it and hammer and
> wait. A air chisel/hammer rapping on it. It is probably going to fight
> you every millimeter.
>
> Sometimes need to dedicate a week. Tension, hammer it and let it sit
> overnight with pressure. Some(most you can’t). Can get behind it with air
> chisel.
>
> Good luck. For proper heat, you need a proper torch and rosebud
> end. The metal just sucks any heat away too fadt with a propane torch.
> --
> Jon Roche
> 75 palm beach
> EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
> St. Cloud, MN
> http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>

--
Scott Campbell
AMCA
River Valley Chapter
 
Having delt with the same thing myself. I used a smallish size hammer drill with a bolt in the chuck to transfer the vibration to the tube. Used penetrating oil to start. In my case, it took a couple of hours over several days to get it done.
Once it is out, clean it out completely, and use some nickel based antiseize compound when you put it back in.

>
>
> Instead of Propane try some MAP Gas it is hotter but probably not hot
> enough for that thick, like Matt said the metal will suck up the heat so an
> actual torch would be the best bet.
>

>
> > A propane torch will not do much. But try to heat and spray with
> > kroil.
> >
> >
> > You want to put a come-along to a tree with tension on it and hammer and
> > wait. A air chisel/hammer rapping on it. It is probably going to fight
> > you every millimeter.
> >
> > Sometimes need to dedicate a week. Tension, hammer it and let it sit
> > overnight with pressure. Some(most you can’t). Can get behind it with air
> > chisel.
> >
> > Good luck. For proper heat, you need a proper torch and rosebud
> > end. The metal just sucks any heat away too fadt with a propane torch.
> > --
> > Jon Roche
> > 75 palm beach
> > EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
> > St. Cloud, MN
> > http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
> > _______________________________________________
> > GMCnet mailing list
> > Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> >
>
>
> --
> Scott Campbell
> AMCA
> River Valley Chapter
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
 
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