tomdrobin
Perry, MI
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Joined: 06/20/2003
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My son just bought a new TT. And, bought the Reese dual cam WD setup. A couple of weeks ago I helped him install the dual cam and WD setup. Everything went ok, except he couldn't get his ball height low enough even in the lowest position. So, he returned the shank, and had them send one with more drop adjustment (etrailer). He got the new shank and installed it yesterday. The setup went well accept for one thing I question. When he torques the 2 through bolts & nuts that hold the WD head to the shank to the specified 150 lbs. It doesn't clamp down securely on the shank. And, there is a little movement similar to what you get between the shank and the reciever. I had never seen this before and was concerned about it. We could put some washer or shims in between the shank and the head so that it would clamp it tightly. It just seems to me all the clamp load of the through bolts would be stressing the ears on the head. Kind of like torqing them tight with no shank installed. The first shank he had did not exhibit this condition. Also, his WD head is the kind that uses the serations to set ball angle. Anyone familiar with this? Is it a problem?
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BarneyS
S.E. Lower Michigan
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There should be NO movement between the head and the shank. I would put some washers or shims in there to eliminate that problem. The serrated adjustment for head tilt is the best design out there in my opinion. It gives you more adjustment and finer gradations of adjustment.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook 30FKS TT
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2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD
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dodge guy
Bartlett IL
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I agree with Barney. install a couple of washers or shims and you should be good to go!
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Son Brandon 8yrs
Daughter Marissa 7yrs
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07 Cherokee 32B
02 Excursion 4X4 V-10 4.30 gear, Hellwig sway bar
Reese HP dualcam,Prodigy brake controller.
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JBarca
Dublin, Ohio, USA
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Hi Tomdrobin
To your first question, no the shank should not be loose on the shank. That is a problem and you will need to overcome that. I fully 110% agree with Barney and Dodge Guy it is not to be loose. Is it loose by hand? If so, WOW that is a real problem.
You also said torqued to 150 lb. Actually if you have the Reese HP head that is 300 ft lb. for the hitch head bolts. 150 may or may not do it.
I do not know what Reese hitch you have. First thought is a Reese HP trunnion hitch head. They have the Reese serrated washer and use the trunnion WD bars that work with the DC. See here: http://www.reeseprod.com/fitguides/pdf/N66022.pdf The Reese HP trunnion hitch head is part number 58167. However they now make 58167 two different ways.
Unless you really look close your may be suffering from a few new things to the Reese market place and how dealers add up the parts and changes in Reese manufacturing or just plan low torque.
Pictures of the actual hitch head would go a long way here so we can see what you have.
Here are some things to sort thru.
1. Reese now makes a Pro series hitch. It came on the scene around 2007 time frame. It too is a trunnion bar hitch head and it uses a serrated washer for adjusting. However that hitch head was all cast steel 1 piece. I tried tracking down that head part number and can came up with also 58167. But it is made different.
2. The prior Reese 58167 was made from 3 pieces and welded together. The top was forged, the bottom was forged and a soft mild steel U or C was added in the middle to wrap around the shank. That creation came from some issues they had in the approx year 2000 time frame when the all cast prior version trunnion head had some issues and it involved shims.
Well now Reese is shipping the all cast 58167 even on the HP Trunnion style heads along with the Pro series. Depending on the stock left at a dealer, they may have both the 3 piece and the 1 all cast steel head, same PN. Dealers also sometimes do not stock a hitch as a complete hitch, they stock separate parts and then just go grab the parts and make up a hitch.
OK what’s all this mean. Well first is to verify what exact hitch head you have and what generation.
1. Did you get an actual Reese shank from Etrailer? If so and it has a Reese label on it, then that should work with the Reese head regardless of 1 piece or 3 piece.
2. If you can put 300 ft lbs on it and it still slips then you may have rediscovered an old issue. IF you have a Reese shank. By the way, I just helped a buddy that had a 3 piece head and his was slipping. I put a hand wrench on it and gave it a yank and it tighten up. There was no way I was at 300 ft lb so even the 3 piece one can slip if not tight.
IF you have to add shims to get that head to be tight, that is something we really need to realize and a call to Reese should be made. The problem in the late 90’s was some heads needed shims and some did not. The instructions never said anything about the shims and some used them on non Reese shanks and the head split. We could never get the straight story if there was a bad batch of heads or what, but the 3 piece design in 2000 time frame was born and took care of the problem. Making a 3 piece head I’m sure cost more then the 1 piece all cast steel. Reese also makes a 1 piece all cast steel round bar head. It did not seem to have the issues of cracking so again we never got the straight story on the trunnion bar head. But they did redesign the head to the 3 piece welded.
See here for the Reese 58167 3 piece head.
Here is a top view. You can see how far the ball mount area boss is from the shank slot and you can see weld of the C part to the top of the head. Also look how close the C is to the hitch shank with no air gaps.
Here you can see the side of it
And here you can see the bottom. Again welded to the C shank strap
Now to the new generation Reese 58167 all cast head. It can be seen by these differences. See the C shape how far above the top of the head it sticks up
Here is a top view. I do not have a pic of one on a shank, do you see any air space between the shank and the hitch head?
And here is a real tell tale. A sticker of 58167 next to cast in patent numbers. There are no cast in patent numbers on the prior 3 piece head as it was not a casting.
Reese is a stand up company. They will help you. If you have a known Reese shank fitting up to the all cast 58167, using 300 ft lb of torque on the bolts and it still slips, then call Reese and explain what you have. I myself would not add the shims until Reese declared you need them and then they would even supply them or give you a new head.
If the have to use shims to get this head to work an old problem may have returned, Reese needs to know about it.
Good luck and please report back. And a pic would go a real long way here.
Hope this helps
John
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
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Bob/Olallawa
West of Seattle
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Joined: 11/12/2008
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Be sure not to use that setup before you get things good and tight. If the head slips on the washers it will tear up the teeth on the head and washers.
07 Chevy 2500 4x4 gas
07 32ft Holiday Rambler TT
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JBarca
Dublin, Ohio, USA
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Joined: 12/16/2004
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Hi tomdrobin
Did you get a chance to find out the issue with the loose hitch head?
Bolts not torqued enough or hitch head problem?
Thanks
John
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