Stuck tow hitch

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Originally Posted by LandyAndy

Stuart.I put mine in the vice,pulled and turned the green knob as far as it would turn then put the blade of a small screwdiver behind the green knob to hold it open.Then laid into it with a teflon spray.It eventually freed up.
Andrew

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Brutal. I like it!

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Was getting to desperate measures.Was 9pm at nite,had put new LED lights on the garden trailer and re-wired the trailer,lights to plug.Needed the trailer on the D4 for a 6.30am depart the next morning.
It was more of a headache fitting the tow hitch than wiring the trailer!!!!
Andrew

The latching mechanism has to be kept lubed up well, or it will seize up. just keep the CRC/WD40 etc flowing to flush it out after a dirty trip.

What Admiral said X 2!

I wonder how many disasters we haven't heard about, hitches falling off (into the path of following traffic), or worse, detaching while towing.

Not everybody maintains this woefully designed hitch as it requires.
Many do little or no maintainance on anything full stop.
The designers / engineers / car producers should take this latter group of consumers into consideration before releasing such a crucial component.

Hitches should be made as fool-proof as possible (I speak from experience as an ex-fool who luckily found the seized unit on a just-purchased vehicle.)

Hi Stuart,
I have found that if you use any type of what is referred to as normal lubricant it works great at the time of use, after any length of time the lubricant attracts road grim and grit ad you end up sometimes in a worse place.

I now use a motor bike chain lubricant which dries dry, isn't sticky, comes with a small tube that allows me to inject directly into the key slot. Seems to have worked now for quite a while. Might be something to consider when you eventually get your hitch off.

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Originally Posted by sniegy

Lube the key slot & also spray into the chassis where the hitch goes in.
Get the key to work as best as possible then hit the hitch side to side, not hard, but firm enough to loosen from the dirt & grime that is holding it in place.
It will eventually work loose.

Cheers

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Victory is mine, thanks Sniegy et al. When I finally got it off, I could see there's a surprising amount of tolerance, allowing the WD40 (actually RP7 in my case) with the thin tube attached, to be 'injected' into the interface. I'd actually managed to get almost total coverage.

The amount of crud around and in the pin and tapered tongue was disturbing. This is clearly an over-engineered item requiring regular maintenance. Thanks again all.

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Originally Posted by Wasa57

What Admiral said X 2!

I wonder how many disasters we haven't heard about, hitches falling off (into the path of following traffic), or worse, detaching while towing.

Not everybody maintains this woefully designed hitch as it requires.
Many do little or no maintainance on anything full stop.
The designers / engineers / car producers should take this latter group of consumers into consideration before releasing such a crucial component.

Hitches should be made as fool-proof as possible (I speak from experience as an ex-fool who luckily found the seized unit on a just-purchased vehicle.)

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I've just left my tonque on the vehicle ... not maintaining it at all ... I use my trailer maybe once a month though ... what maintenance should I be doing then???

The atual tongue isn't the problem, it's the hitch that the tongue fits in to.
I remove, degrease, and lube mine with spray lube (Nomad suggests motorcycle type dry lube - good idea) after prolonged dusty trips. If you are a city-slicker, you would only have to do it 6-12 monthly (unless you drive on the beach.)

I find it a annoying job to remove even when it is not seized!

The default position is that it will fall down / off if the pin doesn't lock properly - go figure.

It would pay to remove your hitch to check its condition, as a starting point. Any seizing probs will soon become evident!

If the hitch is seized in fully-locked position, good, much safer than being seized partially locked (and this does happen.)

Yeah what I'm calling the tongue is the stainless steel tapered bolt that extends from the hitch to lock it in place. Nothing to do with the insert. My terminology bad.

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Hmm ... I'll have to then get some teflon spray (which doesn't leave much residue IMO) and spray into it ... I am a city slicker, but the van behind is an off road one, and there's lots of dust everywhere after each drip. So it will be full of stuff ...

I must say, the design is not as good as the I think its a Mitch connection tonque (the bent metal that secures the trailer to the Disco), as I've seen a Mitch product and although evidently its tough to remove, it sits very close to the vehicle and sits further off the ground than my one, which is all Land Rover, although its the newist version of their's. I would have liked a tongue a bit higher from the ground actually - another 30 mm from the ground would be a better connection for my van.