Updating Old Reese 20K Hitch

[rockintom]

Starting to do some sprucing up of the rig, getting ready for travel in about 3 weeks. Took the hitch apart to do a clean and lube and noticed that I've got a little slack side to side and front to rear. To minimize noise on take off and stop, and on turns I'd decide to do a little shimming. The side to side has never been hard to reduce. I simply use some fender washers and use them as shims as they come in different thickness. I've been doing this since day one. The front to rear slack takes a bit more thought. The pix show what I did on that. I use a shim just like I did on the side to side setup. The only problem is that the shim/washer would fall out into the bed of the truck as it has nothing to retain it. I drilled a 5/16" hole in the plate, tapped it with a 3/8"-16 thread. Then put a short 3/8" bolt and lock nut so I could adjust it to get the right depth to retain the shim. Worked like a champ. I've got .001-.002 clearance on both front to rear and side to side. Should make the hitch a little less noisy. We'll see on our first trip out on May 4th. rockin'

[Ray,IN]

I shimmed mine exactly like you except no retainer screws. The washers have stayed there for about 8 years. I did leave about .062" clearance. I phoned Reese, explained I was re-newing my 20K classic and wanted to buy new decals. The man said he would send me all new ones-at no cost to me. This is a robust hitch that, with proper care, should never wear out when not used commercially.

[rockintom]

Ray,


I think you may be referring to the side to side shims as they sit in a pocket and need no retention, the one I'm referring to is the front to rear (which gives the head a way to pivot) and the pocket is upside down and has nothing to retain the shim. There's no way that shim would stay in there unless it was under an interference fit and you wouldn't want that. rockin'

[rockintom]

Well we made about a 260 mile jaunt today and I'm happy to report the old Reese update works fine. No noise front to rear or side to side. Very quiet. rockin'

[Rob17]

Another job well done Tom.