Time for a new hitch I guess

[the MfM]

Noticed the receiver was a little crusty. Started poking around and decided to pull it off to give it a coat of paint.


Couldn’t see all the rot on the topside until it was off the truck.

 

[Julian]

Holy crap.....you live up north with salt?

 

[suke]

holy shat! Dodged a bullet with that.

 

[Dave burke]

Wow, that’s scary. How old is it?

 

[the MfM]

2004 Chevy 2500hd in Maine It’s whole life... It has two bolts right above the receiver that go up into the bumper that was taking all the weight so it’s not quite as scary as it looks.

Class v Curt hitch is on the weigh.

 

[Matt Phillips]

That's scary...but still better than this one I saw on a car back in 2018 in San Francisco...

 

[Cambo]

Road salt melts ice and steel

 

[the MfM]

Road salt melts ice and steel

They’ve started spraying calcium chloride on the roads before a storm. They mix beet juice with it to increase the “stickiness”

It leaves a fine white mist in the nooks and crannies of anything that drives over it. Perfect for dissolving hitches apparently.

Not uncommon here to see 5-7 year old trucks with rust above the rear wheels and along the rockers.

 

[Brad_Ct]

We have the same problem in Connecticut

 

[dgfreeze]

I’ve replaced quite a few Chevy hitches that rusted out. That generation of Chevy truck hitches are a bit more susceptible to rust than other makes/models/years. I’ve never seen one drop a trailer, because as OP mentioned, there are two bolts right beside the receiver tube, that go up into the bumper. Those two bolts are pretty much all that holds a lot of trailers going down the road today. At any rate, anyone who’s got a Chevy truck, I’d suggest checking your hitch if you’re in salt/snow country.

 

[ZGhost]

Make sure you spray several coats of rustoleum on your next one. This is what I do with every hitch that was ever installled on any of my cars even if the dealer is installing it, I would pick it up, spray it, then bring it back to be installed.

 

[GTBRMC]

They’ve started spraying calcium chloride on the roads before a storm. They mix beet juice with it to increase the “stickiness”

It leaves a fine white mist in the nooks and crannies of anything that drives over it. Perfect for dissolving hitches apparently.

Not uncommon here to see 5-7 year old trucks with rust above the rear wheels and along the rockers.

It certain areas of Wisconsin, where there are actually a concentration of dairy cows and cheese production plants, some of the road commissions spray waste liquid byproducts from cheese production onto the roads to prevent icing. This works on a number of levels:

1) it is an environmentally friendly method to dispose of these byproducts
2) the salt content and other chemical characteristics of these liquids work to prevent icing much like purpose-made saline or calcium chloride solutions
3) it has a side effect of leaving a distinct, but not overpowering, whiff of cheese in the air

This process is called, of course, "cheesing the roads."

 

[the MfM]

The new curt hitch is impressive compared to the OEM one. It doesn’t use the rear bumper for support. But the receiver is 3” higher for better or worse.

 

[2kwik4u]

Whats the frame look like on that truck?

 

[the MfM]

Whats the frame look like on that truck?

This was two years ago. Probably going to take the bed off again soon and coat the frame again.

Even with the bed off I couldn’t see the rot in the hitch. It was tucked up under the bumper and hidden pretty well.

 

[2kwik4u]

@the MfM What a giant PIA to have to deal with that kind of thing.

I'm guessing Joe Average doesn't do that level of maintenance, and just trades out for a no rust vehicle every few years?