hitch mount bolts

[duckcarvr]

when i sold my ford i took the 5er hitch rails off to put on my dodge. the rv shop said they had to order a bolt kit to put it on. i asked if i just couldnt get the bolts at a hardware store. he said we have to order the brackets anyway and the bolts he thought were an #8. he also said any time i took the rails off to use new bolts to put it back on. i asked the torque and he did not know... ... just real tight. when the bolts came in they were #3's. do i have to buy new bolts each time i take it off and put it on? and does anyone know the torque lbs?. robert

 

[Ram4Sam]

when i sold my ford i took the 5er hitch rails off to put on my dodge. the rv shop said they had to order a bolt kit to put it on. i asked if i just couldnt get the bolts at a hardware store. he said we have to order the brackets anyway and the bolts he thought were an #8. he also said any time i took the rails off to use new bolts to put it back on. i asked the torque and he did not know... ... just real tight. when the bolts came in they were #3's. do i have to buy new bolts each time i take it off and put it on? and does anyone know the torque lbs?. robert

I'd say no. I don't know what flavor your hitch is, this is for a RBW. The rail bolts are 1/2" grade 5(three has marks) I can't remeber exactly but the torque spec was in the 60 to 80 lb. range, which is not much for 1/2" bolt.

I see no reason to change them, maybe the dealer changes them every time because of the liability issue. Grade 8 bolts are stronger but more brittle than a grade 5 bolt.



From personal experience, grade 5 appear to be up to the job. Last year, I got caught in a bad wind, my 5er was blown over on the freeway. The hitch was bent up beyond recognition, broke into several pieces. The only thing that didn't bend/break were the bed rail bolts, they were fine.



Sam

 

[MMerlino]

Ram4Sam



What kind of hitch were you running in your aforementioned incident with the trailer blowing over and your hitch disintegrating?

 

[Ram4Sam]

Ram4Sam



What kind of hitch were you running in your aforementioned incident with the trailer blowing over and your hitch disintegrating?

It was a RBW lil' Rocker. Disintergrate is not the right word, don't misunderstand, the hitch didn't fail in any way. I bought another one to replace it. I got hit by a huge gust of wing from the side and the trailer went on it's side, just that fast. It pulled truck about a third of the way over, rode on two wheels a bit, and the hitch head broke out of the saddle(stayed on the king pin), letting the trailer go over and let the truck back down. Had the hitch head not broke out, it would have turned both the truck and trailer over, like the big rigs that blow over. The slide bar in the hitch head didn't fail and the main part of the hitch was bent to the side.



Sam#ad

 

[Jim W]

In my humble opinion yes you should replace the bolts. Remember every time that the bolts are torqued they are stretch. That's how you achieve the clamp load (holding torque). Since you do not know who manufactured these bolts they may fail the next time they are used. Then the clamp load is reduced by the failure of that bolt. So if you have 6 bolts holding each rail and if one fails then you now have 5/6 of the clamp load left to hold the rail to the truck frame against the pulling and twisting loading that the trailer is putting on the rail and truck frame. The last 5 bolts are then subject to a higher input load then designed for and these bolts then may fail in turn.

Another point to remember is nobody but the manufacture knows where these bolts were made. They may have been made in China, Japan, Europe or the US, if they were made in China I would not even install them if they were new.

 

[WestTN]

Jim W, you are talking about 'torque-to-yield' tightening. In that case, the bolts must be replaced, but nost times they are just torqued to some value below the yield point. and in that case, they can be used again. Most times grade 8 bolts are not torqued to yield. Grade 5 may or may not be. The T-T-Y procedure is to torque to some high value specific to the particular bolts used and then turning a specific additional turn or turns. This stretches the bolts and produces the maximum clamping force. After this procedure the bolts are not re-usable.

 

[WILLD420]

I torque grade 8 1/2" bolts to 110 lb/ft on engines all the time. I wouldn't go over 110.

1/2" lug nuts are specified to 80 lb/ft? if I remember right. They are grade 8 fine thread and made to be re-used a LOT.

1/2" u-bolts are specified to 80 lb/ft and they are pretty soft, I'd think grade 5 or so, especially the aftermarket ones.

You can use new bolts every time if it makes you feel better, but bolts actually get a better match with the nut after being run on once or twice. They do have a life expectancy in high stress applications, but a 5th wheel hitch is more a combined shear/tension load than either one in particular and it's not exactly stressed to failure very often. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to believe you will kill 4 or 6 1/2" grade 5 bolts with a hitch unless you were doing something bad to it.

 

[NVR FNSH]

The bolts are probably grade 5 Carriage head - generally not something you would find at the corner hardware store.



Brian

 

[Jim W]

I would agree with most of you in what you say, if you knew were the bolts were manufactured in what country. But with the world wide market and the drive to make a profit must companies are buying from the lowest cost source. With that being said I would not use my past experience in determining how often a bolt could be used. If the Hitch with the mounting hardware is less then 3 years old, the hardware could have come from China.

I do know that several large corporations are buying fittings and hardware from China today and are still charging market price as if they were made in the USA.

I check all my hardware now and I do not buy any hardware from large big box stores. I have broken bollts and screws when they were torqued to SAE specs and later have found out they are from China.

 

[duckcarvr]

thanks to all,a lot of sound advice. i will take it off the hitch rails ( its a reese #15,000-4 way swivel) and when i install it i iwill put back #5 bolts. in the long run its cheap insurance. thanks again robert

 

[MLee]

Get hold of the hitch manufacturer or distributer and get the right bolts for it. You want to be safe.

 

[RVTRKN]

duckcarvr, that is what I was about to recommend. It is way cheaper to replace the bolts then to replace a wrecked 5ver. But the most important issue is that passengers are allowed while towing and there lives are worth more than any bolt ever could be. If you contact a reputable hardware distributor in your area they will not only have the better quality bolts but they will give the proper torque for the bolts.



Ram4Sam, Its good to know that the "Lil Rocker" performed the way it should. The forces involved in your accident were extremely high and it gave way before it turned over your truck which could have been more dangerous. My 2500 has the "Lil Rocker" in the bed and I've been happy with it. I was thinking of replacing it with the B&W Champion hitch, I may have to reconsider this.

 

[Ram4Sam]

For a simple and inexpensive hitch, I was surprised how well it held up. The hitch frame wasn't tore up that bad, just bent to the side a couple of inches, no broken welds at all. The bed rails were pulled up toward the center, where the hitch frame is pinned into the rails, but no more than a half inch or so. When I went to the tow yard to empty out the trailer, the hitch head was still connected to the king pin. For fun, I yanked the slide bar handle to see if it still operated and although a bit stubborn, the head dropped to the ground. The slide bar was bearly bent at all.



Sam