Quote:
quote:Originally posted by greenmachine
let us know how it comes out, Happy Camping!
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OK, since you asked, here's the rest of the story. I had a brainstorm and decided to replace the rod with the largest bolt (grade 8) that would fit through the hole in the receiver. I figured the hitch was so heavy, I wouldn't be removing it from the truck very often and, when/if I did, it would not be a major deal to crawl under the truck and remove the bolt. The fun part was cutting the end off the rod in order to get clearance to instal the bolt in its place. I ended up going to a welder/fabricator guy out in the country who had a huge travel lift type crane that he hitched to the receiver hitch on the back of my truck and hoisted the rear of the truck about six feet off the ground. He then went in with a cutting torch (no safety equipment of any kind) and, with a huge fountain of sparks, had the rod cut off in about ten seconds. It was quite a show.
He also told me that the rod most likely got bent when I torqued down the draw down bolt from the fifth wheel hitch because I had failed to fully engage the rod into the receiver. In other words, the rod went through the first hole on the driver's side, but didn't go out the other one on the other side on the passenger side. I'm sure he is right. That can't happen again with my bolt arrangement and, besides, the bolt is significantly larger in diameter than the rod was.
He also told me that the B&W hitches are very well built and that he very seldom has to work on them. Lucky me. Oh yeah, he charged me $30 and the bolt cost $14 -- much cheaper than replacing the rod, I'm sure. Best wishes,
Phil
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