How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Nice. Thanks ezmob. Those would seem to solve my problem but not sure if i need the round straight or round tubular. How do these attach to the frame? Still wondering if the square coupler bolted on the tubular frame would be a problem. Im trying to get out of this cheap because i only have $50 into the trailer. Its a 14ft trailer with a light load so I was hoping the square coupler on round tube would be ok. I only tow 2mi to the ramp no faster than 30mph.
 

Home Cookin'

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

now that I know what you are towing, and how far, i'd just get the small parts and rebuild. You r safety chains will be your back-up.

Another example of why context (information) is essential for advice around here.

But while we're at it--take a good hard look at the trailer frame. Round tubes = old steel trailer--they rust out from the inside. Especially if you are around salt water.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Im on lake erie so no salt but the coupler is getting pretty rusted so I would be more comfortable replacing it. It looks like the tubular couplers are weld ons so Im not sure about that route. My main question at this point would be whether or not the square coupler on a tubular frame is safe just bolted on? thx home cookin
 

LippCJ7

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

No it is not, either way you do this it involves getting it welded, unless you get a round tube coupler then I can see it being bolted safely.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

wow ok thanks. That puts me right back at the start. Does anyone have a safety conscious suggestion that doesnt involve me having my trailer towed or finding someone to come to the trailer and weld without spending a lot? Whats a ballpark figure that someone would ask for to come to a location and do that work? Is there anything I could do to prep or get started that would help (ie getting an angle grinder and taking off the old coupler)?
 

lncoop

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Is the trailer road worthy with the exception of the gimpy coupler? If, and only if, so, I would find a way to remove whatever is sitting on it and slowly and carefully tow the thing to a weld shop. It's not an ideal situation, but as long as your safety chains are 100% you can get away with southern engineering something to help hold the coupler down onto the tongue long enough to get there. Call around to local weld shops and I bet you'll find the cost is minimal to have this taken care of. Sometimes it's better to pay da man.
 

LippCJ7

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Mobile welders are about twice the cost of a normal you bring the work to the welder,so your looking at $200 per hour plus so lets just throw that idea right out the window.

In my not so expert opinion with the amount of weight you have I would purchase a coupler similar to what ezmobee posted bulldog is an excellent product so if you decide to go with them you will have no worries.

Use your angle grinder and remove the weld, try not to remove much of the base metal but there is only so much you can do, but remember its ok to remove steel from the old coupler instead of the tongue since the old coupler is being discarded anyway so lean on the old coupler heavily instead of the tongue, don't lose hope once you see the metal through the grind flake off, STOP(trust me when you see it this will make complete sense) and move to a new spot to grind once you have . Your going to need a decent sledge hammer to start beating the old coupler off the tongue and you may want to think about using a short piece of angle iron or flat stock to lean on the old coupler, I don't like using a chisel or anything sharp in this specific application since it can go into the base metal(tongue). Once the old coupler is removed you need to change discs on your grinder to a flap disc(very common and can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot) and us this to clean the tongue up once the old coupler is removed when you have pretty shiney steel then put some rustoleum primer on it and slide the new coupler in place. Now I would want the new coupler to be welded about an inch behind (towards the boat) the old weld so if that means you need to cut a bit off the tongue so be it and if you can go ahead and cut some off but the new coupler may have a longer sleeve then the old one so we will have to see. Use a marker to ring around the tongue where the sleeve ends, and use the flap disc to remove all paint and debris a half inch on either side of the mark(all around the tongue), also use your flap disc to clean paint from the end of the coupler and put the coupler back onto the trailer.

Now what I would do as a temporary solution to your situation is once you have your new coupler ready to be welded is drill a 3/8" hole midway between the ball lock and the end of the sleeve, install a 3/8" grade 5 bolt and a nut with a lock washer and tighten one turn past the complete collapse of the lock washer only this is important because you do not want to crush the tongue and overtightening this bolt will do that pretty effectively. take the rig to your welder and have him go to town, I think your looking at about $100 total depending on minimums for the setup with all prep work done by you, once he is done take it home and repaint it.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Thanks for that suggestion. It sounds well within my range of capabilities. If the coupler is going to be welded regardless, could I then go cheaper on the coupler and get a square one like what was previously on my trailer? I took a look at the bulldog products, and while thats ideal for my trailer, Im kind of weighing that $70 against the $10 coupler from harbor freight. Also, is there a certain brand or model disc that would be best for doing the grinding?
 

ezmobee

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

A $15 grinder from Harbor Freight and their cutting discs will easily get the job done.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

thanks for all the help everyone. This site is great. Locally we have a fishing and boating forum that receives a good amount of traffic from around the region, but this is awesome. My only remaining question would be whether or not I can use the harbor freight square channel coupler and save some $. The frame is tubular and the old coupler was square. It seemed perfectly fine to me being welded on but I want to make sure that is acceptable. Following the suggestion of Lippcj, I would bolt the square coupler on the tubular frame for transport to a welder to finish the job.
 

90stingray

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

You got it... bolt on the square cheapy. Then take it to have it welded on. You're good to go!
 

LippCJ7

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

With all due respect to 90stingray I would not use a square coupler on a round tongue, I would unfortunately pay the extra money and get a round coupler for a round tongue, if you do go with a square coupler I would expect any certified welder to charge you at least another hours labor to modify either the tongue or the coupler to hold your load, it can be done but your going to pay for it since its the welders work you will be relying on, all the prep work I told you to do was for a round coupler on a round tongue, going with a square coupler on a round tongue I don't know what to tell you since I would not do it, its a waste of money in my eyes, pay more for the proper coupler or pay less for the wrong coupler then more for the welder to make it right.

Your choice, Good luck though which ever way you decide!!
 

Mi duckdown

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

What jeeperman posted 2nd post.
Talk about over thinking sht.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

My main concern is having it roadworthy with the least cost. I can only find two brands of round tubular couplers. Neither of which I can find in a 2 1/2" diameter tounge. The Bulldog website does not specify the diameter of the round straight mount coupler in 5000lb. Does that mean its universal? How could that be? If I cant find one in the right diameter anywhere, Im stuck with the square channel coupler, which means I guess my question for Lipp would be: If the cost of welding labor was not an issue, can the square be welded on and perform as well as the round or sufficient enough?
 

jeeperman

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

If you really want a new coupler, I would consider the square body coupler on the round tube.
If the horizontal bolt holes were lined up with the centerline of the round tube and the round tube filled the coupler body.
Slap it on and cross drill thru and throw in the bolts.
No different than when bolted to a square tube.

Per above post get a square coupler made to go over a 2.5" wide tube.
Bolt it on, no welding needed.

If you were to weld the square coupler to the round tube, you would have about an inch of weld in about five spots.
Unless you mangled the couple to conform to the round tube so you could lay in more weld.
Oops, you could have lots of weld on the under side of sides.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Lipp's advice has made me question the risk of using the square on round tubing. The old coupler is square on round with no bolts, just welded. Have I been trailering this unsafely or am I being paranoid? Obviously if nobody makes a round tubular in the correct diameter I only have one option but how much of an issue is this?
 

ezmobee

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Can we have some pictures of your current setup please?
 

LippCJ7

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

I think if I had to do what you want, place a square coupler on a round tube,I would make the round tube square at the coupler, what I think that the guys are not taking into consideration is the amount of flex the bolts will have to handle since the mating surfaces of the coupler/tongue are not there so all the forces applied to the coupler and tongue will be firmly planted on the bolts that are holding the whole thing together and well I just don't trust bolts that much.

So If you brought this situation to me and told me this coupler has to go on that tongue'

I would use small angle iron to make the round tongue square at the coupler and weld it together, then weld the coupler to the tongue. You could bolt it at that point and I don't think it make a difference if you have a solid mating surface for the coupler to deal with instead of transfering those forces to the bolts.

You have to understand that the bolts really are not there to handle these forces by themselves, the mating surface of the coupler combined with the bolts holding it together is where you get your strength from, welding it makes it one piece almost like it was forged that way.

Another idea would be to simply sleeve the tongue to the round coupler that you can purchase, this would be the single strongest idea to resolve your situation. You buy the right size tube for your coupler, the gauge depends on the OD (outside diameter) of your existing tongue just ask your supplier what the OD and ID (inside diameter) are, once you find the appropriate Tube then you drill a couple 1/2 holes in your sleeve and weld it on then grind the welds flush and slide the coupler on and weld it on. You could do everything but the welding at home bolt it together and take it to a welder and be done with it, you could even go to your local scrap yard and get the tube there for weight in steel which I think is about $2.00 a LB and you would need 6" to 8" at most.
 

achrisk

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

Looks like Ive got a couple things to think about. Ill start by getting the old coupler off and posting a pic asap like ezmobee suggested. Lipps idea about adding a larger sleeve to fit the round tubular coupler make a lot of sense, but Im wondering if that will be more $ in welding than just welding the square on round tube like the old coupler was. I certainly respect Lipps concern for the integrity of the coupler but I just dont have that much weight in tow and the old coupler welded on in that fashion seemed plently strong enough in my humble opinion (I whailed on it with a sledgehammer for awhile yesterday just to see if I could compromise it in any way). The old coupler was welded horizontally across the bottom lip of the coupler across the centerline of the tubing and also at all three touching points at the open end of the coupler. There were no bolts used. Basically Im looking for sufficient, and if that is not my best option but its economical and safe enough I would like to go that way. I suppose my question for Lipp would be: If you were crossing out the round tube coupler as an option, what is your next favorite option? The angle iron welds? How much more welding is this compared to the square straight on round tube?
 

LippCJ7

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Re: How do I fix my broken trailer hitch???

yeah the angle iron option would be next, if you did the cleaning of the material and cutting the angle iron down to size it will be a full hour or maybe 1.5 hours welding time to weld the angle to the round member and weld the coupler to the tongue, this option would be pretty solid too.
 
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