There was a recent post on hitch removal. I have struggled with it as well. I thought this might be helpful for those that have Pullrite hitches. I remove mine annually for service and also if I need the bed of the truck.
I had installed a ceiling mount winch and dropped chains to remove the hitch. It worked but in doing so, the weight of the plate and the fact that it travels on the rails forward and aft, makes the hitch list to one side while hoisting from the pickup.
The problem is that the rails tend to catch on the pins. I have bent the pins and had to replace them. At $25 each, I want to avoid the problem. A buddy of mine is an engineer. I explained that the problem is 2 fold. First, it is almost impossible to get the winch, a fixed position, at the exact center point of the hitch. Second, the hitch is unbalanced due to the variation of the load as it travels on the rails. When lifting from the center, the hitch gets askew, catches on the top part of the pin and bends them.
He make a model for me using a cigar box and string. The main theory of his design was to have the horizontal chains drop straight from the lifting force. Moving the hitch plate somewhat towards the middle keeps the weight somewhat balanced.
A few 2x4's and some eye bolts, I tried to duplicate his model. For about $40 in parts and a few adjustments, I got the thing to work. Here are a few photos of the final result.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/110345954@N02/sets/
A few extra notes: This is all probably unnecessary unless you have a super glide hitch that is unbalanced. Also, lifting the hitch with the Montana would probably work just as well. I didn't have the travel height to lower it on to the cart and I didn't want to risk bending more pins. BTW, the center chain down from the winch, is just for alignment when backing the truck for removal.
Ken
Linear Mode
