Rusty Hitch - Replace?

[jbenoit28]

Over the weekend I noticed a few rust flakes on the ground near the back of my 05 Excursion. I looked around under the truck and the bottom of the hitch (receiver) was showing moderate rust in several places. So was the skid plate on the bottom of the fuel tank. When I bought the truck used it already had 90K on the clock and was from PA, and very clean. I inspected the truck and the hitch didn't look very bad. In about a year since we got the truck the hitch I'd say is showing more aggressive rust.

My question is this:
Should I remove the hitch and sandblast it, then repaint and reinstall it?

Should I use this as a good excuse to replace it with something better? If so who makes an upgraded receiver for this truck?

We are going to be towing around 10K to 11K with our truck and I'd hate to have a failure on this part.

Thanks,

Joe

[TandW]

???

[wa8yxm]

IF it is moderate rust, Wirebrush it and shoot it with a good rust control paint such as ACME or Better yet use one of the Rust converters like Navel Jelly on it.

I'd not remove it unless it is easy to remove.

[jbenoit28]

Wa8yxm,

It appears to have 3 large bolts on each side. It also has what looks like a round head bolt on each side as well. I'm guessing that might just be a guide pin. I forgot about those converters, that might be much easier than my original plan. The ends of the main square tube structure on the receiver are open on the Excursion. I was afraid the rust my have gotten in there. I'll have to check it out tonight with a flashlight. Thanks for the idea.

Joe

[Paul R. Haller]

Use POR-15. See here: POR15, Inc. - Stop Rust Permanently - Repair Gas & Fuel Tanks
-Paul r. haller-