Tow Balls

No i haven't but they are only $10 if it make you feel better about it... at least the chrome will be better on the new one!!

ray if thats right i am in trouble mines been on for about 8 yrs
steve

Ray, I wonder what other bolts in the chassis are more stressed than the tow ball? It would depend on what stress - load sizes and the like you apply of course. Perhaps you should replace all the stressed bolts. I am kidding of course, but where would it end? If it was properly done up I would have thought it would be ok, as the sheer strength would be across the base of the ball, not the bolt alone. Some don't seem to worry about doing them up tight and that would be a worry

Hi Ray

My brother uses tow balls on the farm on his work ute - often towing 2 trailers at a time full of sheep (on private land only, of course). He's never broken one, but says that you MUST make sure they are tight.

I personally use a Treg hitch.

Cheers
John

My son had one on the ute - it must have been there for years, because we couldn't undo it yesterday to take it off for him to pick up a farm implement he'd purchased. Took the angle grinder to it to get it off. Well that one will need replacing now.

Is tow balls anything like tennis elbow?

Busted a towball once. Luckily I was on the verge of stopping for a cuppa and the towball snapped off at about 10km/h. The 27ft, 3.5ton Viscount rearranged the rear door of my old FJ 55. I had been told off by a Scaly some months before as the towball was only rated at 1500kgs. I took scant notice and the inevitable happened. Lesson learned. Can't hurt to change the towball every now and then.

no mate he got it wrong it should be change the vehicle every 12-18 months , towball should be fine

Towballs can break - we had a farmer coming with a trailer load of mohair a few years back, and when his wife got out to open our front gate, she pointed out that the trailer was not there. Well he called her a liar, looked, and said a few choice words i can't print here. With our towball fitted, they went back and found the trailer lodged firmly between two trees. Luckily it hadn't taken to any cars when it went on it's little ride.

I think lack of lubrication, loose coupler (incl mounting bolts), incorrect size/rated ball or loose ball can cause problems. Enemies are friction and vibration. Any movement of the tow ball would certainly cause metal fatigue in its shaft or (more likely) in the surrounding tongue.

Many do not regularly inspect or maintain their balls ;-) or the coupling and tow bar. Also many safety links and shackles are absolute *bleep* so if there is a failure the catastrophe is likely to be major.

Slightly off-thread: I remember a warning some years ago that bike carriers could weaken tow bars through vibration. Just tried to track it down but couldn't.

The other safety issue that some may not be aware of is not to use the tow ball as a hitching point for recovery - snatch straps in particular.

EV700

I reckon that a 10 year old towball (made in Australia) would be ten times as good as a 10 day old $10 one from Supercheap.

I reckon a loose coupling that allowed slap on acceleration and braking would accelerate metal fatigue as much as a loose tow ball nut. That's why I like the Treg. The only slap is in the Hayman Reece hitch.

I replace my towball every year as they do wear snd at under 15 bucks it's cheap insurance.