Receiver Hitch Pin Hole Showing Signs of Wear

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Jay25bhs

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Joined
Feb 2, 2010
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I have a 2006 Chevrolet 2500 with what I am assuming is the factory receiver hitch, we tow a 6,000 lb. travel trailer ,per the label on the trailer, recently I noticed the hole where the pin goes through to hold the hitch with the ball on it is wearing , it is now somewhat oblong on one side, we do use weight distribution bars. What would be the cause of this ? Could it be the rating of the receiver hitch is not the correct rating for this trailer ?  Could it be the distribution bars are not set up properly ? All help is greatly appreciated.

Thanx,
Jay
 
Jay, a couple of options.  First the hitches under many of the late model trucks are adequate at best.  Not my first choice for extended use and/or heavy duty towing.  The GM 6k pound round tube style hitches are a POS in my opinion.  On my 2006 Duramax one of the first mods I did was replace the OEM hitch with a 15k pound Curt hitch.  Granted the 15 Curt was probably overkill but I like things heavy duty.  They also make a OE replacement as well as a 10k pound that is a great option.  The area around the hitch pin holes are a little thicker but not much in comparison to the OEM one.

My 03 Dynasty had a similar issue when we took ownership back in 2007 so I made an improvement to the hitch.  This is also another viable option.  I have performed this modification to several other coaches for people and they have seem to like it.  The modification to our coach is showing no signs of wear and we are always towing either the Jeep four-down or our 26' enclosed trailer weighing 10-13k pounds depending on what we have it loaded with.

Here is a link to a discussion that also has a link to my modification on another forum.
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,45606.msg419422.html#msg419422

Mike.
 
Elongation of the hole in the receiver tube suggests to me that the pin used to hold the hitch device was not the right diameter, allowing the hitch to saw back & forth in the receiver. Could that be the case? The pins come in different diameters.

When the pin is in place, the hitch shaft should be locked fairly tightly in the receiver tube. They don't always fit that well, though. Differences in manufacturing tolerances, I guess. They sell anti-rattle gadgets to snug down a loose fitting hitch into the receiver. That might prevent further wear.
http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Hitch_Accessories-sf-Anti~Rattle.aspx
 
Gary, this occurs even when the correct diameter pin is used.  It depends a lot on not only the weight of the load being towed but also the thickness and quality of the metal that is used on the receiver.  I have seen this many times on farm implement equipment growing up and had to address issues with loaders, plows, etc. with very similar issues.

Granted the anti-rattle devices help but they won't totally eliminate the hole elongation issue.  The accelerating and braking slowly over time take their toll on the receivers.

Mike.
 
Another cause of this problem is not having the trl brakes set properly, Not enough trl brakes and the trl is pushing and pulling at the pin causing excess wear too.
 
Thank you all for your responses. I will be replacing the hitch prior to our next trip, I am looking at the Curt brand as suggested. The original hitch appears to be not quite up to the job I am using it for. The brakes are something I had not thought of, but makes sense when you think about it.

Thanks Again,
Jay
 
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