R6 Outboard Ordered

[Snowman8]

I stray away from aluminum ball mounts after seeing one break right in front of me while in Idaho on a snowmobile trip. The truck lost control on ice with a 4 place snowmobile trailer and jack knifed in the ditch right in front of my truck. We were maybe going 20-25mph but when the truck went into the truck the trailer jack knifed into the RR corner of the pickup and blocked the road. There was only one way out as they only plow the road a few miles off the main road due to snow depths so we were forced to help them out of the ditch because they were blocking the entire road. I was shocked to see that the 2” receiver style ball mount broke right in two right at the drop of the hitch. The truck and trailer were hardly moving when it jack knifed but the hitch was in 2 pieces and unusable. Once we got his trailer pulled back and his truck out of the ditch he had no way to hookup to his trailer again. I ended up selling him a spare 3 way ball mount of mine so they could continue on their way.

I myself have a GenY mega duty 6” drop hitch and really like it. The 2” shank version is rated for a 16,000lb trailer and also works with my pintle hitches. If I had to make another choice of hitches I would buy a Bulletproof hitch. I will never own an aluminum ball mount after watching a relatively small trailer break an aluminum ball mount in two!

There have been a few instances of them breaking, but I’m almost ever case they had bottomed out badly and weakened the hitch. Steel is obviously stronger, but I like that I can switch mine out with one hand. My 2.5” shank with a 2 5/8” ball is rated for 12k I believe.

I’m not going to put my $100k Cobalt on an aluminum hitch that has a few instances of them breaking... Aluminum is a great material for building things but it has places that it works and it has places it doesn’t work as well. I will gladly use 2 hands to switch out the hitch if I trust it won’t break.

[shrfdeputy]

I stray away from aluminum ball mounts after seeing one break right in front of me while in Idaho on a snowmobile trip. The truck lost control on ice with a 4 place snowmobile trailer and jack knifed in the ditch right in front of my truck. We were maybe going 20-25mph but when the truck went into the truck the trailer jack knifed into the RR corner of the pickup and blocked the road. There was only one way out as they only plow the road a few miles off the main road due to snow depths so we were forced to help them out of the ditch because they were blocking the entire road. I was shocked to see that the 2” receiver style ball mount broke right in two right at the drop of the hitch. The truck and trailer were hardly moving when it jack knifed but the hitch was in 2 pieces and unusable. Once we got his trailer pulled back and his truck out of the ditch he had no way to hookup to his trailer again. I ended up selling him a spare 3 way ball mount of mine so they could continue on their way.

I myself have a GenY mega duty 6” drop hitch and really like it. The 2” shank version is rated for a 16,000lb trailer and also works with my pintle hitches. If I had to make another choice of hitches I would buy a Bulletproof hitch. I will never own an aluminum ball mount after watching a relatively small trailer break an aluminum ball mount in two!

There have been a few instances of them breaking, but I’m almost ever case they had bottomed out badly and weakened the hitch. Steel is obviously stronger, but I like that I can switch mine out with one hand. My 2.5” shank with a 2 5/8” ball is rated for 12k I believe.

I’m not going to put my $100k Cobalt on an aluminum hitch that has a few instances of them breaking... Aluminum is a great material for building things but it has places that it works and it has places it doesn’t work as well. I will gladly use 2 hands to switch out the hitch if I trust it won’t break.

To each their own. I’ve had an incredible experience with mine in over 100k miles of towing. BTW, steel hitches break too sometimes.

[jhnmdahl]

I am a huge fan of the Andersen Rapid Hitch.

Web site at https://andersenhitches.com/collections/rapid-hitch

[dustinm]

To each their own. I’ve had an incredible experience with mine in over 100k miles of towing. BTW, steel hitches break too sometimes.

Is it the same hitch for all 100k miles? If so I would suggest retiring it for a new one. While aluminum is strong it has a much shorter fatigue life than steel and it will break off without out any signs or warnings if that magic fatigue cycle number is hit.

When I was still snowmobiling I was a member of a large snowmobile site and they had a photo thread dedicated to all the aluminum SB trailers that the tongues broke off (always happened on a highway) due to fatigue. Before that thread I didnt even know this could be a thing or problem.

[shrfdeputy]

To each their own. I’ve had an incredible experience with mine in over 100k miles of towing. BTW, steel hitches break too sometimes.

Is it the same hitch for all 100k miles? If so I would suggest retiring it for a new one. While aluminum is strong it has a much shorter fatigue life than steel and it will break off without out any signs or warnings if that magic fatigue cycle number is hit.

When I was still snowmobiling I was a member of a large snowmobile site and they had a photo thread dedicated to all the aluminum SB trailers that the tongues broke off (always happened on a highway) due to fatigue. Before that thread I didnt even know this could be a thing or problem.

I run a fencing business where I routinely tow trailers that weigh between 5k-7k lbs. I used the same hitch for the 7 years I owned my Ram 1500. I recently upgraded to a 2500 that has a Class V hitch with a 2.5" hitch. I had to upgrade to a bigger hitch with an 8" drop.

[Big Block Power]

To each their own. I’ve had an incredible experience with mine in over 100k miles of towing. BTW, steel hitches break too sometimes.

Is it the same hitch for all 100k miles? If so I would suggest retiring it for a new one. While aluminum is strong it has a much shorter fatigue life than steel and it will break off without out any signs or warnings if that magic fatigue cycle number is hit.

When I was still snowmobiling I was a member of a large snowmobile site and they had a photo thread dedicated to all the aluminum SB trailers that the tongues broke off (always happened on a highway) due to fatigue. Before that thread I didnt even know this could be a thing or problem.

I run a fencing business where I routinely tow trailers that weigh between 5k-7k lbs. I used the same hitch for the 7 years I owned my Ram 1500. I recently upgraded to a 2500 that has a Class V hitch with a 2.5" hitch. I had to upgrade to a bigger hitch with an 8" drop.

Thank God! Because I would hate to see that receiver break and your pants now poop themselves

[shrfdeputy]

Is it the same hitch for all 100k miles? If so I would suggest retiring it for a new one. While aluminum is strong it has a much shorter fatigue life than steel and it will break off without out any signs or warnings if that magic fatigue cycle number is hit.

When I was still snowmobiling I was a member of a large snowmobile site and they had a photo thread dedicated to all the aluminum SB trailers that the tongues broke off (always happened on a highway) due to fatigue. Before that thread I didnt even know this could be a thing or problem.

I run a fencing business where I routinely tow trailers that weigh between 5k-7k lbs. I used the same hitch for the 7 years I owned my Ram 1500. I recently upgraded to a 2500 that has a Class V hitch with a 2.5" hitch. I had to upgrade to a bigger hitch with an 8" drop.

Thank God! Because I would hate to see that receiver break and your pants now poop themselves

[ajcampen]

I run a fencing business where I routinely tow trailers that weigh between 5k-7k lbs. I used the same hitch for the 7 years I owned my Ram 1500. I recently upgraded to a 2500 that has a Class V hitch with a 2.5" hitch. I had to upgrade to a bigger hitch with an 8" drop.

Thank God! Because I would hate to see that receiver break and your pants now poop themselves

Did you ever pull the trigger on a new boat? I can’t recall if you did or still have the same boat from last year.

Andy

[Big Block Power]

Thank God! Because I would hate to see that receiver break and your pants now poop themselves

Did you ever pull the trigger on a new boat? I can’t recall if you did or still have the same boat from last year.

Andy

Same boat same bilge princess=new truck!

[shrfdeputy]

Thank God! Because I would hate to see that receiver break and your pants now poop themselves

Did you ever pull the trigger on a new boat? I can’t recall if you did or still have the same boat from last year.

Andy

Yeah, sorry. I didn't see that you were asking me that. We ended up keeping our boat. I had a ton of interest right at the first of the year, and I have no doubt we could have gotten full asking price, but we were scared to death of trying to upgrade in this current market. We are just going to keep enjoying the old girl and see what happens when all the Covid buyers decide to sell. Oh, and I did get a nice new truck!