Todays project replacing hitch tighteners

[EA37TS]

Todays project was replacing my hitch tighteners with newer ones.

[happy]

Hope you have a cool breeze blowing!
Do they well?

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by happy

Hope you have a cool breeze blowing!
Do they well?

Temp right now is 73. Last night got down to 59.

In Jersey seeing the grandkids.

[Chateau_Nomad]

What's the idea with those? Do the clamps just take the slack out (holding it tight) to prevent movement in the receiver? Is it to prevent rattling and movement, or more of a safety/performance type thing? Just curious... I have a little slop in our toad hitch, but it doesn't seem to be an issue.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

What's the idea with those? Do the clamps just take the slack out (holding it tight) to prevent movement in the receiver? Is it to prevent rattling and movement, or more of a safety/performance type thing? Just curious... I have a little slop in our toad hitch, but it doesn't seem to be an issue.

Yes, no safety involved except minimizing moving parts wear in the long run.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

What's the idea with those? Do the clamps just take the slack out (holding it tight) to prevent movement in the receiver? Is it to prevent rattling and movement, or more of a safety/performance type thing? Just curious... I have a little slop in our toad hitch, but it doesn't seem to be an issue.

Contrary to popular belief there is safety involved. They eliminate the twisting torque caused by the slop of the tow bar in the high low adapter and the high low adapter in the hitch receiver.

When your tow bar is mounted without the toad you can take the arms and twist the tow bar in the receiver. These eliminate that twist.

[ducksface]

Noise was a big problem with our offroader hitch.
The blazer is whisper quiet when running and all but entirely rattle free.
The hitch rattled noticeably and occasionally bound and would go off like a rifle shot.
You might have a rattle from the hitch ricocheting off the frame and can't be found.

A home made version fixed this for us.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Contrary to popular belief there is safety involved. They eliminate the twisting torque caused by the slop of the tow bar in the high low adapter and the high low adapter in the hitch receiver.

When your tow bar is mounted without the toad you can take the arms and twist the tow bar in the receiver. These eliminate that twist.

So how's that more of a safety issue than the hitch moving up and down or side to side due to manufacturing tolerances?

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

So how's that more of a safety issue than the hitch moving up and down or side to side due to manufacturing tolerances?

These take out all that movement (wobble and twist) caused by manufacturing slop.

For the record many manufacturers of hitch related items include tighteners in their packaging for installation and use. My mobility scooter carrier is one such item.

How many folks have reported hitch welds failing? What was the cause of those failures? Nobody that I am aware of has reported the cause of those failures.

[Chateau_Nomad]

I've seen very long hitch extensions designed for carrying multiple bikes, etc. The ones I've seen seem to torque and twist quite a bit. That would REALLY concern me. Wouldn't that eventually cause fatigue in welds, etc.? Are these carriers designed to handle that?

[JeffThor325]

I'm curious why you replaced them. Was there a need? You just had extras laying around?

I have hitches both front and rear and use tighteners on both ends but I'm hard-pressed to imagine why one would ever need to be replaced. It's not a part that gets a lot of wear.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by JeffThor325

I'm curious why you replaced them. Was there a need? You just had extras laying around?

I have hitches both front and rear and use tighteners on both ends but I'm hard-pressed to imagine why one would ever need to be replaced. It's not a part that gets a lot of wear.

Better design, Corrosion on parts and because I felt like it.