Why is there so much play left to right on this adjustable 2 5/16 coupler. We're talking 1/8 inch .. It's just floppy all ways about 1/4 inch on tip of coupler. Do I have to weld machinist washers in there to tighten it up? Or do I crank it tight till slops gone ? It take a wrench with 3 ft pipe ? Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Not sure exactly what you have there. Not familiar with it. My standard receiver on the truck is sloppy too. Very annoying. I plan on welding thin sheets of steel inside next summer. Would be easier in my situation to weld them to the actual ball hitch but the receiver is the weak spot. A little extra beef there couldn’t hurt.
Did you contact the manufacturer? That’s where I would start. I would share your sentiment that the coupler should mount tightly on the trailer. Seems that every time you sped up, slow down or turn you will be placing added stress on the bolts that hold the coupler in place if there is movement. Could be a manufacturing defect. Could be they threw the wrong parts in the box. Could be a engineering reason that some play is allowed.. let us know what you find out and end up doing.
One more thing. If you plan to use a 3 foot pipe to tighten the bolts, you may weaken them. You should really be using a torque wrench for something like that to make sure they are tight enough but not too tight...
That is a manufacturing or production defect. The dies that bend the pocket may have been worn? Even quick adjust hitches have very little slop. I would return it and go with a different hitch.
Ahhh, I finally figured out what I’m looking at. That’s an up and down adjustment like on my trailer. Mine had some slop to it there also. Not as much as that tho. Used an impact gun to tighten them. Slop went away Not sure you would want to crank yours that hard.
The strongest hitch is a pintle just look at how much slop that has. Clunk, bump, clank annoying yes, weak no, bolt is the strength, limiting factor.
If I can reduce slop, in a fit like that, I always whip up spacers. I like being able to tweak the spacing, a little at a time, until it's what I want.
Something I wondered about since I bought my trailer. 10,000lb hitch but it’s all held on by that 1/2” pin. Yes I’m sure it’s hardened but I’m not a fan. Weight and pressure is leveraging the hitch down creating a friction lock but I’m still not a fan. Would feel better if they designed them with two.
general safety factor is 3-5 times for this type of equipment. When I was in aircraft everything behind the cockpit is a safety factor of 6. You have to accept someone did the math and that set up is very standard and safe. I have seen where truck and trailers have rolled and are totally destroyed but the trailer is still connected just fine.
