Off-road coupler play, fix?

toymaster

Explorer
I have a max coupler on my adventure trailer, the coupler itself is great but there is inherent play in the receivers. Since there are two, one on the trailer and one on the tow vic, the play is multiplied and noisy when going over rocks and what-not. Literally, with the play and length between the points the trailer tongue can move vertically ~3/4".


Check out from :19 to :30 on our very own Hilldweller's video and you can see what I'm talking about (if you look for it)....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7XqK6OYDaI

I wanted to ask if anybody has cared about this and fixed it, if so how?? I was going through ways to remove the play in my head tonight, mostly involving adding shims and how to fasten them, when it occurred to me I could drill and tap a 3/8" hole and wedge each receiver in the position wanted with a short bolt. This would do the trick by still allowing a slip fit, no worries and the time needed to make a custom fit, and allow removal of any play.

The slight amount of play in the pieces that are slip fitted together is not even noticeable on a normal hitch setup and a smooth road. Given this 99.99998% of the population doesn't care and our universal 'merican hitch system works in a grand fashion. However, the clucking sound irritates me when I am trying to avoid trail damage....
 

Bobby6319

New member
I have seen people drill a hole in it and weld a nut to it and use a bolt. I think it's whould work better so if you bolt flatend on the end it whould be easy to grind off and replace
 

toymaster

Explorer
Wow, I guess this annoys more of the population than I thought. There are a variety of "solutions" from $10 to +$60 including one that looks suspiciously like a re-marketed unistrut clamp. Also, found a u-tube video where a guy tacked on a couple of nuts, extremely poor welds and placed them in a bad position really close to the hitch pin but still a solid concept.


http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ox-BX882...+BX88224+Immobilizer+II+for+2"+Receiver+Hitch

http://www.amazon.com/StowAway-Carg..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1NEVG9DZK3PPW32HR93Z

http://www.amazon.com/Roadmaster-06..._UL320_SR320,320_&refRID=0CMJ5B495K0PJG0ZZ42E

http://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Acces...5QJ3nR4x_Olgao16g8qeO7ebaxF5PocWgFxoCN47w_wcB


I think I'll drill and tap 3/8" first and if the internal threads fail I'll move up to a 1/2" bolt and finally an external nut if I have to. I'll use a grade 8 bolt, short as possible, with the first couple of threads removed so any mushrooming wont cause any problems.

update:
Did the deed...

jeep side
IMG_20160530_193805-M.jpg


trailer side
IMG_20160530_193644-M.jpg
 
Last edited:

/dev/m416

/dev/yj tow vehicle
I've almost always got the opposite problem and end up using a grinder to make the hitch fit at all. Chinese crap. I'd rather have a little play than the other way round.


Sent from my HP-41C during a flashback to 1978.
 

toymaster

Explorer
I bought a hitch cargo carrier,the wobble is so bad I haven't used it. I was searching for solutions when I saw this thread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJZdZEsfFvg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kZct9iJhrg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr0QJD8DXlI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ni5bFbTGeo

Here is a quick lightweight unit that is not to bad on concept. A little off topic but this type stuff makes me appreciate my goose neck trailers and hitches....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds6arGX2Xls
 

sunnybean

Observer
I've welded beads onto the slide in hitch to fill the gaps. Not sure if that is the recommended way but it seems to work.
 

REasley

Adventurer
I used brass shim stock to take up the slack and that worked great, but now I have a problem that I did not anticipate. My Max-Coupler is worn out. The bushing on the trailer end has failed and now has a lot of slop. It has somewhere between 4000 and 5000 miles on and has been kept lubed and clean per the instructions. I spoke with Kilby at SEMA a couple of years ago when I first began to notice the problem and his advice was to replace the coupler. It cannot be serviced. Very disappointing.
 
Last edited:

verdesardog

Explorer
trailer spring U bolts from tractor supply and some steel. I made two, one for the trailer connection and one for the truck connection:

anti rattle.jpg
 

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