Tow Ball Removal

[phrothy]

New to the scene and trying out my first camper trailer in a couple of weeks.

Question for you experts:

I need to remove my tow ball from the tow bar and haven't had any luck with my trusty wrench and a good spray of wd-40...it's on dam tight!
Is there a magic trick to it?

I see Supercheap sell a tow ball spanner - will this do the job?

Cheers...

[achjimmy]

Is it a Toyota?  Toyota seem to put towballs on that will never come off. I think those pressed metal spanners will be useless if it's that tight. Is it on a hitch receiver? If so take it out and grip the shank in a vice and use a big shifter.  If not try holding the shank with a pair of stilsons  while you undo it. But note if the thread is damaged you need to clean that up first or the not wont spin past the end.

[Malcolm Tugless]

Pop into a mechanics workshop and get them to use the rattle-gun on it ... sorted.

[cheif carlos]

Bigger spanner

[D4D]

If you have a tow hitch rather than a tow bar, rotate the hitch 90 degrees, put a length of pipe on your shifter and push down.

[chester ver2.0]

Pop into a mechanics workshop and get them to use the rattle-gun on it ... sorted.

Worked a treat for me

[2010banditsa]

If you have a tow hitch rather than a tow bar, rotate the hitch 90 degrees, put a length of pipe on your shifter and push down.

good idea to rotate it.. make it easier with the pipe hanging off the shifter..

[Goose]

I see Supercheap sell a tow ball spanner - will this do the job?

If your ball doesn't rotate when you turn the nut, then the spanner may help but ultimately its just a spanner. Try D4D's trick.

If the ball does rotate (or starts to rotate) when you turn the nut then you need a stilton wrench or plumbers wrench to hold the ball tight whilst turning the nut. If the ball rotates you will never get it off without something holding the ball tight.

Another idea is to just buy a second tongue and have the old tongue with a standard tow ball and the new tongue with whatever attachment your new camper will take. This way you can easily hire/borrow garden trailers in the future.

[HKB Electronics]

Just removed my one, stillsons on the ball to stop it turning, large shiftable
on the nut, gentle persuasion with a small metal mallet on the shifter did
the trick.

[baldheadedgit]

Use a FBH,, works every time. 

[Garfish]

Use a FBH,, works every time. 

And if that doesn't work get a BFBH and swing harder.... 

But If convenient drop into your friendly mechanic....

[Aaron Schubert]

A rattle gun will be the easiest. However, you can use a small length of pipe on a decent spanner (providing the ball doesn't turn).

That, or heat the nut up quickly and try

Aaron

[Pete_R]

Is it a Toyota?  Toyota seem to put towballs on that will never come off.

You aren't wrong there. Pick up a new Cruiser the other week & I spent a good 30 minutes yanking on a big shifter to remove the towball. Eventually managed to remove it.
I complained to my dealer the next day & he said they use rattle guns to put them on

[seven]

Had this problem the other day. Sprayed with RP7, then was able to undo a day later

[xcvator]

Better still, get a hitch without a towball 

[lino6]

Surprised someone hasn't suggested a gas axe yet!

[Black-Pig]

Could have just invested in another tongue, have one with ball and one with camper hitch on it, and just pulled the pin out and change that out. Saves having to use too much muscle all the time to undo nuts if the thread is damaged...

[Jasman]

If it won't budge then stillsons on the ball and my purpose bought 18" shifter on the nut.  I do put a bit of rag on the ball to stop the chrome from getting carved up, not sure if a few scratches impede the motion but better safe than sorry I figure.

[phrothy]

thanks for the tips.

Went the easy route and took the car to my Jeep dealership to take advantage of their rattle gun for 2 seconds and job done.

One handy thing about getting so many recall notices from Jeep is that I get to know the service guys really well! 

[scarps]

One handy thing about getting so many recall notices from Jeep is that I get to know the service guys really well! 

yep agree. Nice group of people at my old dealership too.

[CRW]

My 200 series came with the tongue and ball all in a case so I could install if if I wanted to.  There is a special tow ball spanner that fits the nut perfectly and if your nut is too tight then you can slide a pipe on the spanner to give you more purchase, or belt the crapper out of it with a hammer


Cheers
Carl
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[prodigyrf]

And don't forget a stitch in time-
http://www.gotstock.com.au/anti-seize-compound-regular-spray-brushtop-175gm-76756-loctiter.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw5NihBRCZmdLkuuTHyWYSJACtCY0Jmi1b5bOKc07D2qckG0RglvJdtXTic-yVbsVXCh_CERoC04jw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Wheel nuts and their cone surfaces, manifold and exhaust bolts, suspension fixings, etc, etc and they'll all come undone easily whenever you want them to, particularly on the road 

In fact if my towball was rusted on and needed an impact wrench or large bar and spanner with stillsons to remove it I'd junk it for a new one with an application of nickel anti-seize upon replacement.