During my 2000 mile trip to New Jersey to deliver my car to its new owner, one thing bothered the hell out of me the whole trip. My ball mount was too loose in the receiver of my truck. I measured it and it was 1/16” loose at the receiver but that made the end at the ball move over ½”. Every time I would stop or start the trailer would jerk the truck.

So I started thinking how to control this and tighten the pieces together. Simply replacing the pin with a bolt and shimming it would not be enough. I came up with this….

1- 5/8” x 6” grade 8 bolt to replace the pin.
2- ½” x 5” grade 8 bolts to pull the ball mount to the pin/bolt
1- 1 ½” x 1 ½” x 3/8” angle

I welded the 1/2" bolts to a 1/4" flat plate and welded washers on the flat plate so that it would mount on the shoulder and not the threads of the pin/bolt. Here it is laid out on the table....

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Here it is installed......

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And here I am on my way up. I stopped at the Harbor Freight warehouse/distrubtion center in South Carolina. It is right on I-95. I've passed it a few times but could never talk my wife into stopping. This time I was by myself so I stopped. I shouldn't have. Pure junk from third world countries.


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I also had the problem of pulling an empty trailer back to Florida. It's a great trailer and light as a feather but when it is empty I can’t see it in my mirrors. So I added some lights and mounted them high enough so I could see them. I needed some more lights anyway. Here is a before pic…

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And after.......

No visible wires or mounting hardware and replaced the tag light and added reflectors.

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The lights are tractor lights that are red on one side and yellow on the other. I also polished the aluminum.

The mounting "pole" is a 1" diameter piece of roll bar stock that I welded nuts in top and bottom. The lights come with a mounting stud which threads into the top nut. On the bottom I installed a bolt up from the bottom angle. The wiring exits the bar under the top angle out of sight.

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I radiused the corners of the aluminum angles so I would cut my shins on them. Working with aluminum sure is easier than steel.

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nice idea Paul, and nice execution

Anti-rattle ball mounts have been done. Several at SEMA 2007, this one is cheap and on the market now.

http://www.realtruck.com/softride_quietrid...41623P1C1T.html

I know there are several types out there. The one I saw at the local Northern Tool was about $65.00. Total cost of mine..............under $10.00.

Gotta love shade tree machanic stuff....nice work! ...i had a friend that had the same problem .what he did was drill a hole in the top of the reciever weld a nut 1/2 inch thread and then run a bolt into it to lock down the hitch ....worked great .....Lites Eric Fry PNW guy wired a plug in the car(914) so when the car was on the trailer all the car lites, breaks, blinkers and all would work off the trailer ..same guy put a home made air tank under his trailer that he would charge before race day worked great......anyway great idea`s.....P.S love the turn buckle idea...nother P.S that trailer looks hell for stout

Nice job. Looks great!

I have this and it works pretty good. I have only used it a few times for short trips, but will be able to give you a better review by the end of the summer. It was pretty cheap too, but not as cheap as what you did. Nice work!

Way to go McGyver!

Not a trailer type, but that looks great and simple. Keeps to the KISS rule!
Tom

Love it and it makes it a little harder to swipe your hitch !!!

Now I know what to do with some of that new roll of wire on my MIG.

Funny you should say that. When we moved to Miami in 1993 someone stole my hitch. I couldn't believe it. What a friggin' low life. You couldn't leave a 2x4 in the back of a pickup or it would walk.