Stuck Reece Hitch

Been there, done that...............

It's the grit & bleep & moisture that gets in there that siezes 'em up;-)

When you say you've tried hitting it from behind, how hard did you hit it, and with what ??

Depending on how badly it's stuck, you'll need to give it a decent wallop, and with a decent 'knockometer' ;-)

When mine did the same, I positioned a lump of 4x4 hardwood (square end, resting on the ground) against the tongue and gave it a good whack with a 10lb sledge hammer.. Make sure your aim is good;-))
You may also need to give it a whack from each side as well, to loosen it..

As far as penetrating fluids go, I use (and recommend) good ol' Penetrene...

I now make a point of removing the hitch on a regular basis, thoroughly cleaning both male & female sections, and giving all contact surfaces a good spray with Molybond 122L dry lube..
I have also fitted an end cap to the open (front) end of the female section in an attempt to minimise the entry of dust / mud.. (sor far, so good;-)

:)

Hi Si have you noticed a small bolt sticking out of the bottom corner of your hitch. Some have one to take up the movement and can make it hard to pull it out, not sure if yours has it. Or maybe the head of the bolt has broke off and the rest is still in there.

Just a thought.

Lump hammer, a drift, some ear plugs (pretty lound under there eh), and a half hour of swinging from both directions is what is needed.

If you come up with an easier way - pls post it up.

I have heard of individuals attaching the unbolted hitch to a tree via a snatch strap and driving off a few times, but the idea just doesn't sit right with me somehow.

Hi Si
A mate of mine chained his to a large tree and drove off slowly in low range 4x4 and came out for him.
Cheers
Neil

I dont mean to be flippant but your problem would be welcome over here in the
east...hitch receivers are pinched all the time unless locked on. I have a lockable pin I bought off this site, but believe they are no longer available. No doubt other
solutions exist. Keep on wacking...:)))....oldbaz.

Sometimes if they protrude from the back of the receiver, the hitch gets stone damaged & burred on the leading edge.

My Brother in law had this problem with his patrol. Apparently the OEM Nissan receiver is not designed for Hayman Reese tongues. The Nissan tongue is tapered and the HR is parallel.

Was it tight when you put it in.

Nissan hitch receivers have rounded corners inside the square receiver.

If you get it out, get an angle grinder and round off the edges of the tongue till its slightly loose.

This is a well known problem and easily fixed.

I tried WD40 to free up the linkages in the transfer case. I used lots of spray and lots of brute force but got little result.
Was then told to try Wurths. Sprayed it on , left it for ten minutes and the linkages were like new.
Its obviously a lot better than WD40 for my situation and maybe for yours too.
Was given the spray by a mate so not sure of cost or where to get it, although I was assured it wasn't cheap

Might be worth a try

Gooday,
Have you thought of trying a Heat Gun, warming it up and then leave it cool will often break the Freeze. Wouldn't put a flame near it but I have a Heat Gun and it has got me out of trouble on many ocasions.
Cheers,
Borma604

i tried all of the above but couldnt get my hitch out in the end i bought a thin grinding blade and cut through the bottom of the tow bar then rewelded a plate over it. then i ground down the hitch slightly
cheers

The other thing that happens is that the edges of the hole that the locking pin goes through burr.

I have mine out from time to time and have, in addition to the application of liberal amounts of lubricant, ground down the burrs in that area.

As for getting it out.

Years ago I was replacing the shackle bushes on the old MQ. I got out my biggest hammer and lots of heat and hit it as hard as I could. It didn't move. After a couple of hours of sweating and head scratching I gave up and called a mate who is a mechanic. He works on trucks, big boats and earthmoving equipment.

When he pulled up he got out the biggest hammer I have ever seen. I reckon I would have used it to move the car sideways. I really was worried that the hammeer would do damage.Well he gave it two good whacks and in it went. He did less damage with two big hits than I was doing with my hundreds of little ones.

My father used to quote the "fitters motto."

If at first you don't succeed...buy a bigger hammer.

Duncs

Another idea, used to free taper fits like linkages on steering rods ball joints etc.

Try hitting the reciver housing, from both sides at the same time, with a couple of 4 Lb or better hammers. With taper fits, this "shocks" the tight fit in the taper loose, then try knocking it free.

Agree with the bigger "knockometer". Most people use one that is too light, and tap to softly.

Can you unbolt the whole tow bar,receiver assembly from the vehicle. If so you can set it up on some blocks of wood or whatever and then as has been said give a good whack or ten from the open end.

Cheers ob

Sometimes they aint never gunna come out by human effort!

On my son's Hilux we tried all the above then removed the whole towbar, used an oxy/acetylene heating torch on it and put it in a hydraulic press. No go, didn't budge. So he gave up and left it in. At least it won't get stolen!

In my case on the Troopy, I REALLY wanted to remove it to protect my shins but no way was it going to come out. So I used an angle grinder to cut the tongue through at both ends close to the receiver. Then threaded a hacksaw blade through what was left of the hollow tongue and attached it to the hacksaw frame. After a lot of sawing I cut through the bottom of the tube in two places about 20mm apart and removed the centre scrap. I then used a small cold-chisel to bend-in the sides enough to free the remains of the tongue. Clearly, I am a persistent bastard! A new piece of 50mm tube welded to the gooseneck completed the job.

I found that if you attach a chain (not snatch strap) to the tongue and the other end to a tree or pole and load the chain up by trying to move the car forward and lock car in gear engine off and handbrake on. This will load the chain up, then get a hammer and hit the sides of the tongue alternately it will usually wiggle out. You may need to re load the chain every now and then.

Cheers
Dave

I had the same problem a while back - it ended up coming out (slowly) by whacking it from behind on each side alternately.

I put a light film of grease on it after that and never had any further troubles.

Seems like belting the cr*p out of it is the general consensus. Will try attacking it again in the weekend. Failing that, either an oxy torch or a chain with low range might be the go.

It is not a major problem if I can't get it out but would be handy.

Thanks for the reply's and I will let you know how I get on.

Just get someone to snatch it out!

Guaranteed to shift it!

This is probably too obvious and already done... but

Have you whacked it as hard as you can from the ball end? Bashing it INTO the towbar might crack it and allow it to come back out.

This works with nuts, bolts and star posts...

Part of the problem could be with those anti rattle bolts. They hold the hitch receiver in place so it doesn't move, and therefore doesn't rattle.
Because it doesn't move, dust and moisture get in there and 'rust weld' the components together, making it damned hard to remove.
I was initialy critical of Kaymar with my new rear bar for the Rodeo didn't have a anti rattle bolt in it. But now I know that if it's rattling, it's going to come out when I want it to come out.
Interesting slight digression, the collection of receiver hitches kept at the Pink Roadhouse in Oodna that have fallen out of vehicles in that neck of the woods.

Cheers,
Dion.