Tow Bar Tow Hitch Stuck

[irwazza]

Hey Guys

I need to install a adjustable toe hitch to lower the towing point for towing the speedboat.
Only problem is when I tried to remove the stock tow hitch its stuck. It looks as if the tow hitch is rusted to the tow bar.

Anyone got any advice on seperating the two?
I have tried a s#@tload of wd40 and banging it both ways with a big hammer but haven't budged it.......

[Cowboy Dave]

I recall one bloke who had this problem subsequently found his was welded in....

Do you have a hi-lift jack? You could back up to a telegraph pole, wrap a strap around the pole, put an eyebolt through the towball hole and jack it out? I'd be using chain or something non elastic though, you don't want it springing out and flying around when it finally gives.

Or, if you were a farmer, chain it to a tree and try to drive away

[pearcey]

Check there may be an anti rattle bolt in for the bottom which you loosen off

[irwazza]

Doesn't look welded in, don't have a high lift jack but have definently thought about chaining it to a tree and driving off

Yeh, I tried removing the anti rattle bolt and snapped it off, so I then drilled the bolt out but didn't allow it to budge.

I like the idea of the high lift jack, I need one to add to my tooling anyway

[hvac guy]

slege hammer side to side and up and down with tension on the tow bar hitch. i had to use a bit of chain around a tree with the wife driving forward.

ps it can take a while.

[furious]

get some penetrene, let it soak over night and you want to use a rubber mallet to whack it out.

[irwazza]

Thanks fellas, I'll try all of the above

[odie602r]

Sounds like tune 15 and a chain if all else fails!

[borngeek]

I do not support the chain method, could turn ugly that... If you are a farmer, all good, proceed as planned.

turn the towball around... (if you have a sacrificial towball, use that, as this will destroy it)

With the towball upside down you can get a good swing at it with a sledge hammer. Works every time.

[Brent1]

If you can get some where you are, I use a product called Freeze and Release. It comes in a can like WD40 but rapidly freezes the metal to slightly contract it which does the trick for me with stubborn nuts, bolts etc

[knotty5170]

mine needed a whack, the anti bolt wont come out, only able to loosen its grip.
Mine was rusted in but a good couple of whacks with a lump hammer then some wd40 got it out,
Just dont do anything herioc- or things will break!!!

Good luck.

[Chill]

Tie a hand winch around a tree and the tow ball and keep pressure on it as you tap it. Proceed with caution and don't stand in front of ball. Good luck

[Froggy]

I had the exact same problem. Previous owner had a boat and it was corroded in there solid.
I smashed it with sledge hammers and used penetrating oils to no avail.
Best advice I can give is get a 300mm offcut of 50mm square fence post from your local friendly metal supplier, take the tow bar off the vehicle and place it tongue down between something solid like say two stacks of pallets, put the off cut up the back of the tow bar and smash it with a sledgie!
Took me maybe 50 or 60 blows which totally buggered the off-cut before it even moved for me.
I would definitely NOT advise using the chain around a tree etc methods! If it takes as much effort to get it out as it did mine, you'll bend something or someone before it comes out.

[desblaze]

I found I had the same issue when I went to take out the towball hitch for a recovery hitch. Because it was the lowest point I had bottomed out on the towbar a few times filling it with sand and other muck so as you could guess it was all rusty. I ended up placing the recovery hitch at the rear and going to town with a sledge hammer. It took a while and needed a lot of force to get it going to push it all the way out. Then clear the area and keep it lubed with some WD40.

[oztri]

Had the same issue. Rusted in good. Drilled out the bolt and the bugger still wouldn't budge, even after a good drink of wd40. Following week it was in at the stealers for a service and I mentioned it to them and when I picked it up later that day, they had removed it, cleaned it up and re painted to prevent further rust. They only charged me 20 bucks for the trouble, and it saved me a whole lot of cursing!

[Calblitzen]

I had the same problem after towing the camper to Fraser. I wanted to get it out so I could have a recovery point. I took the bolt and then spent 30 mins slowly working it out with a hammer. I believe the clearances are too tight with the genuine bar, I had to file the end to create a chamfer to get it back in to tow the camper home. I've never had this issue with any other bar before. I had a look underneath and that there was a plate covering the back preventing me from tapping out that way.

[RHKTriton]

The designers had good intent with this style of tow bar, however they are flawed in the tolerances - rattle like hell, until the manufacturers installed the piddly anti rattle screw into the design.

These screws rust up and gradually get peened out wider at the end.

Ideally would be to have some teflon sheets around the hitch tube to both stop rattle and prevent seizing.

PS: We all know not to tie recovery straps to the tow ball - but I saw a scary setup at a TJM outlet - a tow
ball friendly shackle. Misuse of this could be even worse than connecting directly to the ball!

[MN GLXR]

Ha, yeh well the tension bolt saved my tow tongue when some mongrel tried to knock it off. They got the pin out but the bolt (plus plenty of caked up mud and grease) stopped it coming out .

[ChRiIiS]

Here is how I got mine out heaps of penetren some pipe from work sledge hammer took a few hits, once out wire wheel on the shaft off the tongue more out some grease around it put it in haven't had a problem since

Hope this helps

[alanc]

I had the same problem after a round Oz trip very frustrating tried hammers jacks etc ended up taking the tow bar off and putting it under a 100ton press that did it what had made it stick was a build up bulldust and road dirt by the way the guage on the press read 35 ton before the tonge moved

[Froggy]

That does not surprise me at all!

[irwazza]

Oxy and sledge hammer did the trick, the farmer trick did nothing but dig dirty big holes in the ground with the tractor

[Hummer]

Lots of wd40, Put some tension on to the towball with a hand winch to a tree and hit it in every direction with a sledgy. Takes a while but it comes out with a bit of cursing

[PBding]

Nobody has mentioned a bit of heat yet.

[Cowboy Dave]

Two posts up someone mentions oxy?