Hitch Maintenance - Dutchmen Owners
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×

Go Back   Dutchmen Owners > Dutchmen Brand RVs > General RV Related Discussions
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 11-19-2012, 03:22 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Wanderer's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Jellystone
Posts: 489
Wyoming
Hitch Maintenance

I'm cross-posting this from another post as I feel the information is important.

This month's Good Sam magazine had a great article on hitches. One of the things they talked about was age of hitches and maintenance. They indicated that if you use a hitch across multiple vehicles and it's getting older to inspect it very carefully.

What you are looking for is ovaling in the receiving hole for the spring bars. If the holes have ovaled the hitch should be replaced. It can cause your spring bars to drop out of the hole and drag along the road. I've actually seen this happen. Fortunately the people were in the campground when it dropped and not on the highway. If it happens on the highway it will cause uneven leveling (is that an oxymoron?) and could cause dangerous sway control.

The other thing to check are the welds. If there are any cracks you need to replace the hitch. I do not believe it is legal to repair welds on a hitch.
__________________

Wanderer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-19-2012, 10:27 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Bozeman
Posts: 80
Montana
Thank you for posting this. I'll put checking hole ovaling periodically.

I'm sure it's ok to weld hitches, at least in some States. I had one in Ohio that was made from scratch by welding, and we here in Montana don't have a vehicle code for it.

But welding or not, it's downright scary to find a crack in your hitch. Since mine was made in China along with those lousy tires, my list of things to check is getting longer and longer.
Vern is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dutchmen RV or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT. The time now is 03:19 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2020 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.
×