Hitch for Protection?

[zacjackson]

Leaving it in increases the chance of frame damage if you get rear-ended by someone driving quickly, but for parking lot bumps it's a nice form of insurance.

 

[fastgti]

I always keep my 2”hitch in, but lately Ive been leaving my WDH hitch in after returning from camping. That big rusty 2 1/2” ball scares drivers into backing off, lol.

I agree as well. If I have to use my auto transport I have to switch hitches but will always put the WDH back in


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[rotwiler]

I have been leaving mine in, other day was in a drive through and pretty sure a guy in a truck behind me barely bumped mine. Not enough to damage anything on my truck, but pretty sure he had a bump in his since I seen a little paint on the ball. Mine doesn't even stick out far, if your that close, deserves a nice dent.

 

[drdarrin]

I did that, left my hitch in, when I lived in Chicago. Figured it would protect my truck and possibly get me a free trailer should anyone rear end me hard enough. It worked once but no free trailer. After leaving it in for two years, it was a mother to remove! Think stout tree, 3/8 tempered chain and several hard tugs to get it out.

Oh, did I mention it hurt like #### to run a shin into it?


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[cliftonclendenen]

Built my own step and clevis for the truck. Id rather them take that out than take the whole rear end out...


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[Jstmahoney]

I’ve always left the hitch on my trucks for this reason lol


2017 RAM 1500 Laramie 4X4 Crew
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[gofishn]

I leave mine 'IN" so I know where it is, when I need to hook up the boat.

IF some cop ever pulled me over for it being in, I am going to go "Sh*t! Where's the darn boat?"

 

[cliftonclendenen]

I leave mine 'IN" so I know where it is, when I need to hook up the boat.

IF some cop ever pulled me over for it being in, I am going to go "Sh*t! Where's the darn boat?"

Wait you can get pulled over for that ****? Thats some bull


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[SYKRAMMAN]

Always leave it in, Always! There’s a lot of people now relying on technology to tell them if they are to close to **** and I don’t like it. There’s too many ******* in this world for that kind of tech. If you can’t parallel park without help from a computer then you shouldn’t drive period!!!

 

[crash68]

After leaving it in for two years, it was a mother to remove! Think stout tree, 3/8 tempered chain and several hard tugs to get it out.

You got lucky, to yank it out like that.


If you plan on leaving the hitch in all the time, use a hollow tube style one. If you do have to remove it and can't yank it out, you can cut and collapse it.

 

[gofishn]

Wait you can get pulled over for that ****? Thats some bull


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I never though so but few guys , on this forum and others, have said it is illegal in their state.

 

[cbsmith]

In my province it is a law that a removable hitch can only be installed when towing. I’ve never ever heard of anyone actually being stopped because of it though.

 

[Demon-HeMi]

Here are my two daily drivers and their ass protection, and so far they have saved my truck at least 6 times, one time the lady drove her husbands bran new chevy into it and destroyed his bumper, fog light and fender, and just wiped the scuff off, lol

Both of mine are home made from 16-ton lifting lugs from a massive generator that uses 4 of them to lift it by crane, It saved me enough time that I made one for my dad.

Very strong and great protection




On my 3/4 ton ive switched to this, that way i have any ball size i need since i have multiple trailers, also the hook is a nice feature too!



And contrary to belief, leaving the receiver in your factory hitch is no more risk to your frame than your rear bumper getting hit, the way our oem hitch and bumper is designed, it absorbs the impact and will bend before the frame does, my dad got rear ended sitting still by a suburban doing 40 that didnt hit the brakes, no frame damage what so ever, but bent the hitch

 

[Txhemirt]

Here are my two daily drivers and their ass protection, and so far they have saved my truck at least 6 times, one time the lady drove her husbands bran new chevy into it and destroyed his bumper, fog light and fender, and just wiped the scuff off, lol

Both of mine are home made from 16-ton lifting lugs from a massive generator that uses 4 of them to lift it by crane, It saved me enough time that I made one for my dad.

Very strong and great protection




On my 3/4 ton ive switched to this, that way i have any ball size i need since i have multiple trailers, also the hook is a nice feature too!



And contrary to belief, leaving the receiver in your factory hitch is no more risk to your frame than your rear bumper getting hit, the way our oem hitch and bumper is designed, it absorbs the impact and will bend before the frame does, my dad got rear ended sitting still by a suburban doing 40 that didnt hit the brakes, no frame damage what so ever, but bent the hitch

Where did you get those at ? I’d stay away from them lol

 

[Demon-HeMi]

Where did you get those at ? I’d stay away from them lol

leftovers at a job site my friend worked at, they drop in the generator and then remove the lifting lugs, he grabbed a few of them and we made them into hitches lol

 

[fastgti]

Where did you get those at ? I’d stay away from them lol

Try Home Depot, Lowe’s, tsc, any farming company should have something like that. I see them at TSC when I go there once and a while. I always walk around and look at everything they sell


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[cliftonclendenen]

On my 3/4 ton ive switched to this, that way i have any ball size i need since i have multiple trailers, also the hook is a nice feature

The hook is also great for pulling out Chevys [emoji41][emoji41][emoji41]


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[TRCM]

Here are my two daily drivers and their ass protection, and so far they have saved my truck at least 6 times, one time the lady drove her husbands bran new chevy into it and destroyed his bumper, fog light and fender, and just wiped the scuff off, lol

Both of mine are home made from 16-ton lifting lugs from a massive generator that uses 4 of them to lift it by crane, It saved me enough time that I made one for my dad.

Very strong and great protection

On my 3/4 ton ive switched to this, that way i have any ball size i need since i have multiple trailers, also the hook is a nice feature too!

And contrary to belief, leaving the receiver in your factory hitch is no more risk to your frame than your rear bumper getting hit, the way our oem hitch and bumper is designed, it absorbs the impact and will bend before the frame does, my dad got rear ended sitting still by a suburban doing 40 that didnt hit the brakes, no frame damage what so ever, but bent the hitch

Not sure on frame damage, but the 97 dually I owned had a hitch that been hit HARD.

1) The pin hole was oblong, as in 2x as long as it should be, and you could see where the metal folded over

2) BOTH side plates had cracked where they met the frame and someone had tried to weld them back (bubble gum welding)

3) Never had any indication of frame damage, but the hitch side plates and lip where they mounted to the frames were made of metal over 2x as thick as the frame material was

 

[Demon-HeMi]

Not sure on frame damage, but the 97 dually I owned had a hitch that been hit HARD.

1) The pin hole was oblong, as in 2x as long as it should be, and you could see where the metal folded over

2) BOTH side plates had cracked where they met the frame and someone had tried to weld them back (bubble gum welding)

3) Never had any indication of frame damage, but the hitch side plates and lip where they mounted to the frames were made of metal over 2x as thick as the frame material was

the add on reciever hitches on older rams and other trucks are different than the OEM 3rd gen and 4th gen ones, i was referring to those OEM ones, with the various mounts and different ways of mounting them i cant speak for all hitches but as far as the stock 3rd and 4th gen ones, you wont hurt your frame getting hit in the hitch, at least not without the rest of the truck being in a pretty rough shape...

i would honestly assume that most if not all bolt on hitches that trucks like your 97 use would have some sort of designed crumble zone to prevent the frame from bending, but even if they dont, it would take a extremely hard hit to bend the frame from being rear ended and even in that situation, the hitch wouldn't be the cause.

i guess the my point in my statement, is not that it cant happen, but if it does, whatever hit you, hit you hard enough to make the fact that it hit your hitch irrelevant, and that a small impact on the hitch alone is not going to bend your frame, lord knows ive tested that one on every truck ive owned

 

[bigred90gt]

I don’t leave mine in for the simple reason I don’t like to hear it bang around on the bumpy roads we have around here. Mine stays in the storage under the back seat until it’s needed.


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