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DoneWorkin · 10-07-2024, 03:22 PM

TL;DR - This thing has been working fantastic!

I thought I would pass on some information on the current anti-rattle device I am using with my ProPride hitch to keep it from moving around in my receiver (and stop it from wallowing out the receiver pin hole).

I have tried several flavors of hitch clamp in the past, each one looking more sturdy than the last. All of them have basically been of the design which pulls the hitch down against the bottom of the receiver and did not do a good job of holding it against side to side movement. Once I was done towing the hitch pin was locked in place until I removed the hitch clamp. I could also see that the receiver hitch pin hole continued to get wallowed out.

I have now towed several times with the Hitch-Vise and can confidently say that it is the best clamp yet and works perfectly for my use. The only downside was that I could not buy it on Amazon and have it delivered to an amazon box. I had to wait to purchase it until I had a fixed address long enough for the shipping.
https://www.hitchrider.com/hitch-vise-fit-guide-25.htm

Picture of my installation is at the bottom of this post . . .

The device uses two bolts with nylon nuts for tightening when I put the hitch on. They get plenty tight and the bolts don't feel like they have any stretch to them when I tighten them pretty tight. The bolt can not rotate so only one wrench is required.
I am not worried about crushing the hitch as it is a solid metal post. I am a little concerned that it holds against the flange welded on the receiver - I am not sure how strong that is but currently mine is holding up fine.

When I finish towing the hitch pin still slides out freely so I don't think the hitch is moving at all once this is tightened down.

Ranger164 · 10-10-2024, 12:02 PM

I need one of these.
Thanks for sharing.

Flyer15015 · 10-10-2024, 12:24 PM

OP,
Nice wright up on this new way of hitch tightening. Only thing I would change is to use grd 8 bolts, to connect those 2 investment castings.
Seems it, like the others uses the hitch receiver collar as a locking point, and boy did I discover mine to be the weak link, with only a couple of "tack" welds holding it on. I rewelded mine on all 4 sides after finding it dangling on our last trip.

Mike in Colorado

mokurt · 10-20-2024, 04:37 AM

Found this in my garage yesterday.
Was thinking of using it.

Anyone tried this?

twinboat · 10-20-2024, 06:07 AM

Never heard of, or found a use for, a hitch tightener over the last 50 years of towing. Now in the last 7 or so years it seems to be a needed item, or is it just something else to sell us.

PS89 · 10-20-2024, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Never heard of, or found a use for, a hitch tightener over the last 50 years of towing. Now in the last 7 or so years it seems to be a needed item, or is it just something else to sell us.

Depends a lot on your tow vehcile.

We bought a '15 Ford Explorer back in '17 to be able to pull our boat occasionally. First time I towed the boat, the wife thought the thing was hooked up wrong because of all the noise coming from the receiver knocking about inside the unibody-mounted factory hitch receiver. Added a clamp-style tightener to solve that noisy problem.

I don't bother with it on frame-mounted receivers like my truck and the RV. Any noise generated by the hitch just doesn't get transmitted into the cabin area.

RaeDawg · 10-20-2024, 09:55 PM

We had a similar experience with anti-rattlle hitch devices. Bent bolts, stripped nuts and not doing what was promised. We found success with the Blue Ox model that uses 2 U-bolts that put tension in both horizontal and vertical directions. https://www.blueox.com/product/bx882...u-bolt-design/ This is an interesting design I would like to see in person.

DoneWorkin · 10-22-2024, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaeDawg

We had a similar experience with anti-rattlle hitch devices. Bent bolts, stripped nuts and not doing what was promised. We found success with the Blue Ox model that uses 2 U-bolts that put tension in both horizontal and vertical directions. https://www.blueox.com/product/bx882...u-bolt-design/ This is an interesting design I would like to see in person.

Thanks for the link!
I like the design of the Blue Ox with two U-bolts although it looks like two more bolts to tighten and loosen each time I remove the receiver.
I have never seen the Blue Ox one before, if the Hitch-Vise ends up failing for some reason then I may try that one next.

mike5511 · 01-13-2025, 05:50 PM

That Blue Ox one looks good but is way over priced! IMHO

CharlesinGA · Yesterday, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Never heard of, or found a use for, a hitch tightener over the last 50 years of towing. Now in the last 7 or so years it seems to be a needed item, or is it just something else to sell us.

Follow the link the OP posted for good pics of the installation. Shanks and receivers can, on many occasions, be a very loose fit, causing wear to the pin, and the pin holes in the receiver. This is especially a problem when reducer sleeves are used in the larger size receivers.

I have the Blue Ox hitch tightener but am yet to use it.

Charles

DoneWorkin · Today, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Never heard of, or found a use for, a hitch tightener over the last 50 years of towing. Now in the last 7 or so years it seems to be a needed item, or is it just something else to sell us.

That is an excellent question!
I looked into that a bit and only found one answer which satisfied me and seemed to fit with my experience.

From what I found on the internet (take that as you wish) - receivers on trucks used to be a tighter fit, but people would leave the hitches in their trucks for years and they would get rusted in place. This came back to the manufacturers as warranty issues as people complained about stuck hitches. The manufacturers solution to this was to make them looser so things could not get rusted into place. That looseness now allows things to move around and wallow out the pin hole (which is what was happening on my recent F250). So now I ended up with a hitch clamp to solve the problem that didn't used to exist but got caused by lazy people not taking their hitches out.

Not sure if that is true - but seems to make some sense to me . . . .

US1 · Today, 01:11 PM

Only sure way to know if you benefit from the use of a tightener, is to install the components on the vehicle you will be towing with. If it has more play and noise than you'd care for, the tightener will eliminate it. If you dont have much play or noise, no need for it. You can move your hitch to another vehicle and have different results.