I would like to know how this man has so much knowledge about all the things he does. It always amazes me when he is able to explain the things he is talking about. I hope to be as knowledgeable as he is one day.
Decide what you want to do. Then do 1% more than anybody else. Anytime you have a question, write it down and research it; e.g. "why do some bearings use oil and some grease?" In a few years you'll be so far ahead of the guys who are just collecting a paycheque that the universe will open itself up to you.
Wow thank you for your advice. I was not expecting a reply from the man himself haha. I don’t have the words to explain how much I needed to hear this. Thank you again.
I had one frozen on an r/v. We oiled it, beat on it, torched it, pulled on it, hooked it to a tree and tried to rip it out and NOTHING, it was in there forever!!!! About a year later I pulled the pin and it came right out!
hmm those words ring close to home, I got hit on the freeway end of january driving my 2000 Buick LeSabre Custom my late Grandpa bought new, bumper was an inch into the rear tire, my keepsake was the cigarrette lighter.
I found myself 1000+ miles away from the action, sitting at my desk watching this operation when I realized I was slowly backing away from my monitor in fear the thing would bust loose and come right out of the screen at me. Suspense at it's very best. Well done!
As is the mystery of traer wiring. No matter how recently the wiring has been fixed or perfected, the last time the trailer lights will work is for the single trip wherein the lights were found faulty. Schrodingers trailer, if you will. Worked perfect when last used, and until the array function collapses the wiring is both perfect and fucked in the same time space. Until the lights are checked. The cats always dead, or always alive. Twas our fault for making certain by actually confirming. Lmao
Before jamming it in again, just take off a thou or two from all sides and slather em up in cosmoline. If the US mil trusts the stuff for long-term metal storage and rustproofing, should be more than enough for hitch square service life.
The next best way to get it out is to hook a trailer to it and drag it down the freeway. Just as you get mid stream of a funeral precession on one side and a school bus full of old people and kids on the other, it’ll let go.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 Then I here by bequeef you the title "Duke Bumblefuck the First, Tapper of taps." By the authority of absolutely no one for the intent of making random shit on the interwebs!
AvE is one of the only people on the planet that can make me safety squint at a computer monitor. Vids like these, the jack-all vid with the shipping container, and the milling machine coming down the flat bed with strap wrenches got me puckered long distance. Well done man.
Easy way in three steps; 1 hook up the most expensive thing you have that will fit the hitch. 2 DO NOT attach safety chains. 3 tow expensive item at any speed above 20mph. Hitch is guaranteed to pop loose.
As a married man, let me tell you how it really goes, after the 10 hours of misery you get the thing out THEN she changes her mind and wants it put back!
When you apply heat, you'd want to heat the receiver around the outside, so that it expands out and away from the hitch shaft. Looked like you were applying the heat to the shaft thus making the shaft expand and tightening the grip the receiver had on it.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 On the one hand, I don't believe you've done enough clean living for fate to be that kind. On the other, since you didn't spend a few hours fabricobling a custom jig to the right height instead of just letting some air out of the tires to drop the hitch height... well, it must have.
“Because it’s constrained within this socket- this is a trailer hitch”. Idk why you explained that to the astute among us, but there’s probably people who didn’t actually know that and that makes me happy and mad at the same time.
Been there and I can honestly say I'm impressed at your dedication to get the dang thing out. In the past I had access to dry ice and it worked well to remove hitches jamb enough into the center of the tube and heat the outer tube and it popped out with a few good blows from a 20 pound sledge hammer
I would have just tied the hitch to a tree and drove towards a cliff. The hitch would immediately release to give me the best chance possible of driving off the cliff. The trick is to get close enough to the cliff to trick the hitch into letting go but not close enough to go off the actual cliff.
Folks who don't live in areas that are inundated with rust will NEVER truly understand these simple joys in life. The absolute joy of a simple five minute job turning into two and a half afternoons of busted knuckles, three packs of cut-off wheels, and the most creative frothing at the mouth vocabulary that children probably shouldn't witness. Ah yes, I wouldn't trade it for anything. These times of trial and torment make us stronger men.
As a younger man, I recall chaining the ball to a big red pine and driving away as fast as I could in 4bye as long as the chain would let me. That didn’t work either. Tried kroil every day for over a month. Put the porta power on much like your setup. Ended up putting the pin back in and using it as a permanent fixture as long as I owned the truck
@@EitriBrokkr . Water and a strong air hammer. What little water gets in the crevices will turn into a hydraulic shockwave with the air hammer blasting away at the parts.
What would also work is grab a sawzall, cut the square tube an inch from the end of the receiver - then insert the blade straight in and make linear cuts on the top and bottom. The kerf opens up room for the tube to move once you pound in a chisel and the 1” tongue you left gives something to grab onto. Worst case 4 cuts will do it - so have some spare blades on hand…
I've battled this before at work, I've found that hitting it in deeper first to break the rusty bond a little and start the crust to powder reaction can really aid. Once it moves a little the wrong way it'll move a little the right way, works for bolts too. Sometimes you gotta tighten a little to loosen a lot. I know it sounds very counterintuitive but trust me it does work some of the time. A big pneumatic hammer with the force of a gun shot 1800 times a minute really aids in getting rust to pass back into the earth from whence it came. Turns out Copco makes something good besides that strap, 7X and up air rivet hammer guns. You want the .498 shank stuff, it'll turn steel into playdough, ears into mush, and fingers...lets not talk about that. Honest, it grew back just fine!
Managed an RV Park for a time. Bought and sold several RV's and it seems to be standard to have a rust frozen hitch. After many variations to remove the hitch I fell on the formula of lots of oil and a pneumatic needle gun for removing paint from metal. Never took more than 30 minutes after stumbling on that. As far as I can figure the hundreds of rapid hits from the needle gun pulverized the rust and let's the oil penetrate with the aid of an air nozzle to blow the oil into the hitch Cheers!
@@louiswolf4810 I retired from the Navy and as a young sailor used a pneumatic needle gun many times to remove paint and heavy rust. A couple times I broke a weld with one. When messing around with an RV hitch I could see lots of dings where the previous owner tried to remove it along with the hitch and receiver being covered with rust. That made me think of the needle gun
All my limited experience with rust and stuck things is that driving it both ways, whether in-out or forward-reverse, and some hefty percussive vibration is an immense help. Aside from the standard cocktail of heat, penetrating oil, and a prayer to Saint Eligius.
On the west coast of Scotland anything metal to metal gets covered in copper grease, if you or your off spring ever want the pieces apart. Fucking rust
Thanks for showing both what worked and what didn't work this time. Another entry for the "Everyone who isn't a fucking danger to themself should learn to weld. Badly."
I can hear the encouragement "you have a youtube show showing off all your skills and tools and you cant take the hitch off my car" the wife can talk us into anything!
Watching this video was like watching the movie “The Wages of Fear” where every little bump and sound increases the suspense, knowing that this thing could blow any second. I halfway wondered if you were even pumping, or just playing the sound over and over to to tighten thousands of sphincters across youtube-dom….
been there... my method was very similar, however, I didn't have hydraulics to bring into it, so I put the truck on a steep down slope in neutral with a tow strap around a tree to stop it rolling more than 3 feet, and used another tow strap on the ball to put it under tension and just wailed on it with a 10 lbs sledge till it popped out, it took an entire afternoon.
This happened to me once. I tried everything I could think of to get it out. I got desperate and chained it to a tree. As soon as the chain lifted off the ground the damn thing fell out. I spent all day trying to get it out and it just fell out without a fight. I didnt know if I should of been pissed or relieved.
Been in this situation myself once. Tied to tree and yank, come along, heat and beat all for nothing. 15 years of Florida sun and salt had done me in. That’s when pops said go get me some chain. Had about 12’ of heavy chain from the farm. Wrapped it around the draw bar and ball a couple times. Dad said put some slack in the chain and give it a good flip. Did this twice and darn thing just popped right out like nothing was wrong. The kinetic energy of 12’ of chain being flipped or flicked or whatever you want to call it is unbelievable. Dad said he saw a guy yank the rear end out of old car doing this trick. Definitely one for the ol mental tool box. Giver a shot. You may be surprised!!
Had the same problem a month ago. I spent two weeks soaking it with pb blaster morning, lunch break, after work. Used my biggest come-along and sledgehammer,... tied to a tree, and was able to finally pull it out. Those suckers weld fast.
Auto mechanic here. Those hitches are indeed held on with usually 4-6 bolts through the frame. Some of them are a bitch to put on, for the engineers (specifically the GM ones) legitimately seem to hate us technicians.
I like some of this rear leaf spring bolts that get installed from inside out....never any room to pull it out.....if it were outside in....bolt would slide right out....seems like assembly guys at factory do it that way on purpose as dick move..lol
@@Conservator. No, General Junk inganerds really do hate technicians... ever seen that meme about stupid inganerds putting a starter motor under an intake manifold? That's on a Cadillac Northstar V8. Replacing that starter is a job that pays for about 2 1/2 hours and can be done in 2 1/2 hours if you've never done it before, but have air/power tools. I know because I've done it before. That's EASY work on a Northstar... having to drop the whole engine and transmission on the subframe for a couple of oil seals? Not so much...
They don't hate you. Your (in) ability to fix something a couple of years down the line simply isn't their top priority when the drawings for the prototype were due yesterday.
Had one stuck like this on one of those OSHA approved forklift contraptions that lets you legally tow something with a forklift. The guys were banging on it with a sledge and even tried pushing it out from the backside with a 20-ton bottle jack and a piece of pipe that slid into the back of the reciever. It wouldn't move and just snapped the 4x6 that we were using to push against. As almost an afterthought I tried my IR 119 max with the bottle jack pushing on it and that got her out in less than 2 minutes. Rust is one hell of a drug but vibration is its kryptonite. Works on semi truck brake drums too. Use a porta power to the frame to apply some pressure to the side of the stuck drum and then start banging on the outside with the air hammer and she'll pop off in no time.
I’m an electromechanic who works for a company in Belgium that revises, repairs and maintains industrial equipment. If its electric and it rotates? We got u. Specialized in drives and motors, even re-winding them by hand. We often have to deal with seized, rusted bolts. They sometimes suffer a engine fire (often not possible to recover) or just lived a hard unforgiving life at Arcelor Mittal. Air Impact guns are our best friend. Spray some WD-40 on that sucker and let er rip. If its won’t go, get the 3/4 drive impact gun. It shakes the fuck out of em and rattles em loose.
Thanks for that tip. I have a electric trailer brake drum that refuses the budge. I’ve tried hammering but not the air hammer. I just bought new parts in case I end up cutting it all off.
@@AndrewMoizer before I owned a port a power and an air hammer I used to use a scissor jack and a small half pound hammer and then just hammer really fast to get the vibrations going. People think bigger hammer is better but when you need vibrations you need fast hitting and you can't do that with a 10 lb sledge it's usually a lot easier to get things going with just a small hammer hammering really fast.
I once worked for a automotive/machine shop over a summer The guys over at automotive had a massive ultrasonic clearner filled with something like evaporust. Nothing was more than hand tight after 24 hours down in that thing.
Timing is great. Just yesterday I took a couple rags soaked in Evap-o-Rust, wrapped them around a similar (but more delicate) kind of winter seize-up, and then used a generous amount of Saranwrap to isolate the science experiment from the rest of the world. After seeing this effort by you, I think I will wait an extra day before I peel back all my wishful thinking.
I had a similar situation where a freshly installed wheel hub on my bmw had made an almost unbreakable connection to the steel rim. Applied heat, cold, all sorts of shmoo and raw force. I even drove the car without any bolts on that particular wheel doing sharp turns and it refused to let go still. At the end of the day the rim was completely fubar'd so i was down 1 rim and since then bought a new set of alloy wheels because they wouldn't stick that hard under any circumstances. It turned out that the center of the hub was absolutely bone dry. no fluid had any chance to pass inside. It was truly welded together. Lessons learned: 1) Never swap a wheel hub before winter and if necessary cut down the hub a few mils 2) you can safely drive around without bolts if properly rust-welded. saves weight! 3) just drive alloys. duh. 4) german engineering and the obsession with tight tolerances isn't always great...
If this were in a real manufacturing environment there would be at least 10 guys behind you telling you what you are doing is not going to work, and at least one of them is on the phone with the trailer hitch OEM to send out a technician in 5-10 business days.
@@redrider7730 problem is then fixed internally, someone forgets to call the service company, and 45 days later a service tech costing more per hour than the entire maintenance team combined end up doing PM work for a day
I find that just heating a nice cherry line across the receiver tube works good. That technique works really good with any type of socket. Especially when dealing with alot of steel and don't want the heat to spread. The line allows even expansion across the length of the tube
I had the same problem, ended up cutting it off flush with a sawsall equipped with a carbide blade, then a couple diagonal cuts on the inside to remove the remaining parts. It wasn't coming out any other way.
Had the same welded hitch, but on an old 3/4 ton. Chained the hitch to a tree, and did the o' back and forth. Didn't lose my back window, but I did ruin the bolts holding the bed on, and ended up having to weld that back on afterwards.
I've been right there. Not having hydraulic jacks in my repertoire, I cut off the offending protrusion close to the receiver. Then used a reciprocating saw to make a relief cut inside the tube. It only took one and I was able to pry it out
I had to deal with that once. Spent hours toiling away with a torch and hammer. I eventually drilled a hole that allowed me to get a pry bar behind it. Ridiculous amount of work for so little reward.
Far be it from me to judge a Canadian in his natural habitat, but it seems with the torch, it might have been more effective to apply it to the outer sleeve since the heat should expand fitting. That said, your best bet was to get someone else to do it.
A lot of those receiver hitches have a keeper bolt on the underside so once the towball part is fitted it can be tightened to stop it rattling , check for that bolt first if the insert doesn't want to come out easily , might save a lot of grief .
Nice job AvE!! I know exactly how that job goes. I only had W-D 40 and a sledge hammer. But.. The determination of a Missouri mule and the persistence of an angry swarm of bees.. she finally gave up and let me have my way with her! LOL!!
Once again you've done it Chris ! Bumble fixed And broke the glue toob Algo ?😲 As I type the vijaeo has 792 views And .. 2600 likes . 🤔👍. You Sir have boggled my mind.
I find that by heating the outer part, then I sprayed the contact area with liquid ranch, heat up the outside again, then using liquid CO2 by inverting the bottle on the inside part, then pull it apart. Method also has worked well for me with galled stainless steel threads
We had an old Chevy pickup that had a hitch receiver that basically lived in it. For some reason, we decided to take it out. We bashed on it, drug a Jeep with all 4 wheels locked up, and even tied it to a motorhome and dragged the pickup with the motorhome, but it was in there for good! If I remember, it was sold with the hitch still in there.
I used a pressure washer once. Goddamned thing just smoothed out like an eel in snot. Now my first go to when rusty things are stuck in rusty things. We pray to Lord PSI.
A La the dewalt (or other tool? I seem to recall it being yellow) battery cover that ol' bumblefuck mangled to bits not thinking about using the forking release mechanism button on the battery itself. 😅😝
I assembled train wheels to axles for quite a few years. Heat em to 750 degrees before dropping the axle. When the white collars forget their place and want to watch you at work, slip a cat turd from the oil dry bin on the wheel before dousing with 10 gallons of water. Its a steam you will never forget. Cleared the shop many times that way.
I remember reading about a ww2 trick on field changing spark plugs: get the engine nice and warm, then funnel the carbon snow from a co2 fire extinguisher into a makeshift cone over the plugs, and then they twist out without too much resistance...
Probably worked great, but that material fatigue and rapid temperature change scares me, but well, it was ww2, Patton died ridding one of those machines.
I was watching this with safety squint engaged, waiting for something to go plop really fast into an unknown direction. Probably a shin, the camera or the baby maker. If you’re lucky, all three in rapid succession. Happy that that did not happen. Well done with sticking to it Uncle B o7
Always entertaining to say the least. This reminds me of just about everything i leave outside that is meant to come apart and learnt not to do the drive and pull who would think honda's are only spot welded together haha
Last week we had some trouble onsite with a drain grate rusted on all four sides. Gatic lifters didn't work. The small cracker helped until it reached the end of its travel. We ended up ratchet strapping my come along to the back of the service truck and putting a bottle jack under the tow hitch to stop the suspension compressing. Up she came and after a de-scale and some grease, she went back in like butter.
Looked like the flimsy chain loops to me, the ones i see people try to use as a recovery anchor point, whe a vehicle is vertical on its nose in a deep ditch, buried in 4 feet of snow, and they think it will hold... I cant believe they didnt fold back as easily as a beagles ears.
The last stuck one I tried to remove I finally ended up cutting off. Once it was sawed off, I saw that the receiver bar was down to maybe 1/16" wall at the bottom and the hitch wasn't far behind it. So after many, many, days hammering and various oils and probably $20 of MAP gas, none of it was safe to use anyhow. The next stuck one I encounter is going to get a new hitch. Faster and cheaper. I suspect that receiver bar was inserted when the vehicle was new, in 1997, and never removed until 2021 when I cut it off.
Been there, done that. I chained my truck to a tree and then used one of those tie down chain ratchets to make the chain TIGHT. Then, I wacked the hitch with a sledge until it made an awful SNAP and then the hitch finally came out of the receiver. Funny thing is, I hit that hitch with a grinder until it slid in an out of the receiver with no problem, but It STILL got stuck being in there only for a few months. Just the curse of rusty New York.
I would like to know how this man has so much knowledge about all the things he does. It always amazes me when he is able to explain the things he is talking about. I hope to be as knowledgeable as he is one day.
Decide what you want to do. Then do 1% more than anybody else. Anytime you have a question, write it down and research it; e.g. "why do some bearings use oil and some grease?" In a few years you'll be so far ahead of the guys who are just collecting a paycheque that the universe will open itself up to you.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 true. And don't forget about all the 'learned experience' aka goofing it up. Those two combine
Wow thank you for your advice. I was not expecting a reply from the man himself haha. I don’t have the words to explain how much I needed to hear this. Thank you again.
It probably takes a childhood of close calls and fuckup and recoverys to amass this much dont do it yourself knowledges.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 We have a saying in my garage. "This is how not to do it."
I had one frozen on an r/v.
We oiled it, beat on it, torched it, pulled on it, hooked it to a tree and tried to rip it out and NOTHING, it was in there forever!!!!
About a year later I pulled the pin and it came right out!
That’s just scary black magic… sell that truck
Shoulda pulled the pin in the first place. 😂😂😂
can't stop laughing
worst part is his wife asked him if he tried pulling the pin.
@@Davidautofull lmao and he rolls his eyes at her while continuing to beat with hammer.
"...the car is totaled, but we saved the cigarette lighter..." Steve Martin, 1978
hmm those words ring close to home, I got hit on the freeway end of january driving my 2000 Buick LeSabre Custom my late Grandpa bought new, bumper was an inch into the rear tire, my keepsake was the cigarrette lighter.
-I just want my fucking car, right fucking now.
I found myself 1000+ miles away from the action, sitting at my desk watching this operation when I realized I was slowly backing away from my monitor in fear the thing would bust loose and come right out of the screen at me. Suspense at it's very best. Well done!
The "I'm potentially in trouble" chuckle he let out backing away, when he realized the amount of hydraulic pressure he was applying 😁
We must never repeat the error of forgetting this experience, until after next winter when we leave it in the reciever for another fucking go around.
Some mistakes are meant to be repeated. Otherwise humanity would never procreate
@Karl with a K true. I didn't understand the resistance to switching sides
@Karl with a K I perceived it as a fresh and exciting take on a shotgun. Beautiful!
As is the mystery of traer wiring.
No matter how recently the wiring has been fixed or perfected, the last time the trailer lights will work is for the single trip wherein the lights were found faulty.
Schrodingers trailer, if you will. Worked perfect when last used, and until the array function collapses the wiring is both perfect and fucked in the same time space.
Until the lights are checked.
The cats always dead, or always alive. Twas our fault for making certain by actually confirming.
Lmao
Before jamming it in again, just take off a thou or two from all sides and slather em up in cosmoline. If the US mil trusts the stuff for long-term metal storage and rustproofing, should be more than enough for hitch square service life.
The next best way to get it out is to hook a trailer to it and drag it down the freeway. Just as you get mid stream of a funeral precession on one side and a school bus full of old people and kids on the other, it’ll let go.
I was thinking large boat trailer, loaded as you get to that criticalpoint half our of the ocean. She slips out.
Murphy's law seems to be the only universal constant. Mebbe entropy?
The only man I've ever known to have won the battle with a rusted in hitch. You fill my life with hopes and dreams.
And thus he was crowned king of Canada.
My previously bequeefed title of "King Shit of Turd Island" superseeds any claims to this shitshow.
although, a set of red hands on the back of the toonie would be preferable to the future king-jug-eared-diddler.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 Then I here by bequeef you the title "Duke Bumblefuck the First, Tapper of taps." By the authority of absolutely no one for the intent of making random shit on the interwebs!
@@arduinoversusevil2025 You wont find any jug-eared people in Tornado Alley USA.
Next time try welding the hitch on - it'll come right off when you don't expect it to!
Too true man! Funny enough running a bead or 3 around the outside of the hitch probably would have made it easier to remove!
"Train wheels don't ever fly off" *HEAVY FORESHADOWING*
AvE is one of the only people on the planet that can make me safety squint at a computer monitor. Vids like these, the jack-all vid with the shipping container, and the milling machine coming down the flat bed with strap wrenches got me puckered long distance. Well done man.
What’s more impressive is the safety chain loop
Easy way in three steps;
1 hook up the most expensive thing you have that will fit the hitch.
2 DO NOT attach safety chains.
3 tow expensive item at any speed above 20mph.
Hitch is guaranteed to pop loose.
"Honey can you take the hitch thing off the car?"
"Sure honey"
10 hours later
"I sold the car"
True story
As a married man, let me tell you how it really goes, after the 10 hours of misery you get the thing out THEN she changes her mind and wants it put back!
10 hours and $3000 of new porta-power kit later. "Any time, hon''!
I swear after the ring goes on they all turn into the same women I thought you guys were talking about my wife lol.
@@DrewskisBrews Never let a good excuse to buy that tool you've been wanting for years go to waste
Well, that was exciting 😁 Much more fun watching someone else's sketchy hydraulic set ups than squinting in shear terror at my own.
When you apply heat, you'd want to heat the receiver around the outside, so that it expands out and away from the hitch shaft. Looked like you were applying the heat to the shaft thus making the shaft expand and tightening the grip the receiver had on it.
Maybe the strategy was to expand the hitch to assist pulverizing the iron oxide layers into the receiver, not sure.
The most intriguing part of this whole fiasco is, how did the Depot bucket come in at the perfect height?
I said the magic words and the universe just opened up to it.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 On the one hand, I don't believe you've done enough clean living for fate to be that kind. On the other, since you didn't spend a few hours fabricobling a custom jig to the right height instead of just letting some air out of the tires to drop the hitch height... well, it must have.
Something something survivorship bias.
@AvE What are those words? I might need them tomorrow.
@@Wingman4508 or just maybe adjustable air shocks but who knows AvE is a sneaky man
It's not about success or failure. It's about reframing your goals. You almost had a mobile hydraulic cylinder test bench.
“Because it’s constrained within this socket- this is a trailer hitch”. Idk why you explained that to the astute among us, but there’s probably people who didn’t actually know that and that makes me happy and mad at the same time.
I get people urging me to warn them before striking an arc... on a vjo.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard!!!
@@arduinoversusevil2025 "War Of The Worlds" - 1938 Orson Welles Radio Show. . . . neighbors shooting at each other to get to the cars first.
Been there and I can honestly say I'm impressed at your dedication to get the dang thing out. In the past I had access to dry ice and it worked well to remove hitches jamb enough into the center of the tube and heat the outer tube and it popped out with a few good blows from a 20 pound sledge hammer
The creaking of the pump handle sounds exactly like danger.
That's why you use your safety squints
I would have just tied the hitch to a tree and drove towards a cliff. The hitch would immediately release to give me the best chance possible of driving off the cliff. The trick is to get close enough to the cliff to trick the hitch into letting go but not close enough to go off the actual cliff.
Lol
The Red Green method. ;)
If the hitch is in the back, how does it know?
@@darrenmclellan6712 No one has a clue how it knows, but it knows...
Folks who don't live in areas that are inundated with rust will NEVER truly understand these simple joys in life. The absolute joy of a simple five minute job turning into two and a half afternoons of busted knuckles, three packs of cut-off wheels, and the most creative frothing at the mouth vocabulary that children probably shouldn't witness. Ah yes, I wouldn't trade it for anything. These times of trial and torment make us stronger men.
I’ve never squinted whilst watching a TH-cam video before! Thanks AvE.
As a younger man, I recall chaining the ball to a big red pine and driving away as fast as I could in 4bye as long as the chain would let me. That didn’t work either. Tried kroil every day for over a month. Put the porta power on much like your setup. Ended up putting the pin back in and using it as a permanent fixture as long as I owned the truck
If it ain't broke, don't fuckin fix it!!
It ain't never getting stolen either.
Kroil isn't a good penetrating oil. Try Liquid Wrench.
@@buillioncubes How did they make erections last before Viagra? They didn't fuck with it...
once you learn to step around instead of fucking your shins on it every day, then it's just a bumper to protect your bumper.
use pneumatic hammer hitting rusty elements with water pouring on a rusty place. works perfect in Polish coal mines. Greetings from Poland.
Yep, works on stuck rotors and drums as well.
Just water?
@@EitriBrokkr Eastern europe water so probably plenty of microplastics and heavy metals in it for seasoning.
@@brunos6599 We have the best stuff. :D
@@EitriBrokkr . Water and a strong air hammer. What little water gets in the crevices will turn into a hydraulic shockwave with the air hammer blasting away at the parts.
The heat you put into it with the welding is what helped release it the most 🙌
What would also work is grab a sawzall, cut the square tube an inch from the end of the receiver - then insert the blade straight in and make linear cuts on the top and bottom. The kerf opens up room for the tube to move once you pound in a chisel and the 1” tongue you left gives something to grab onto. Worst case 4 cuts will do it - so have some spare blades on hand…
I've battled this before at work, I've found that hitting it in deeper first to break the rusty bond a little and start the crust to powder reaction can really aid. Once it moves a little the wrong way it'll move a little the right way, works for bolts too. Sometimes you gotta tighten a little to loosen a lot. I know it sounds very counterintuitive but trust me it does work some of the time. A big pneumatic hammer with the force of a gun shot 1800 times a minute really aids in getting rust to pass back into the earth from whence it came. Turns out Copco makes something good besides that strap, 7X and up air rivet hammer guns. You want the .498 shank stuff, it'll turn steel into playdough, ears into mush, and fingers...lets not talk about that. Honest, it grew back just fine!
You sir are correct
sometimes it's righty Losey with bolts
i agree but this might not be a through hitch and was already bottomed out, look at the end he already tried smashing it in
@@davidlabossiere1905 I just assumed he was using it as a back up warning device, when you feel the bump it's time to stop.
Yeah that's not a bad a piece of advice, but you could tell from the video he already had tried that and didn't help. The end was all bent up.
Works with truck driving sometimes connecting to a trailer that’s been sitting a bit. Story checks out.
Managed an RV Park for a time. Bought and sold several RV's and it seems to be standard to have a rust frozen hitch. After many variations to remove the hitch I fell on the formula of lots of oil and a pneumatic needle gun for removing paint from metal. Never took more than 30 minutes after stumbling on that.
As far as I can figure the hundreds of rapid hits from the needle gun pulverized the rust and let's the oil penetrate with the aid of an air nozzle to blow the oil into the hitch
Cheers!
That is a completely random and fantastic solution. Were you just chipping off the rust and it came loose?
@@louiswolf4810 I retired from the Navy and as a young sailor used a pneumatic needle gun many times to remove paint and heavy rust. A couple times I broke a weld with one.
When messing around with an RV hitch I could see lots of dings where the previous owner tried to remove it along with the hitch and receiver being covered with rust. That made me think of the needle gun
I love it! AvE, you are truly fond of the "Accident waiting to happen" crowd! 😁🙃 I liked looking at all the carnage on the ground, made my day.
All my limited experience with rust and stuck things is that driving it both ways, whether in-out or forward-reverse, and some hefty percussive vibration is an immense help. Aside from the standard cocktail of heat, penetrating oil, and a prayer to Saint Eligius.
I had my safety squints on the entire duration of that film
Yeah every time he gave it a smack I thought I was moments away from seeing the end of AVE.
Wait, how is your comment 11 days old? How can I see videos in the future as well?
Patreon!
Holy crap, there's a lesson in there, but I'm darned if I know what it is.
Don't ever stop not giving up!
take the tow hitch out every once in a while
On the west coast of Scotland anything metal to metal gets covered in copper grease, if you or your off spring ever want the pieces apart. Fucking rust
Grease your shaft before putting it in a tight hole
the lesson is.... many times people have more time than money... and they luv a challenge.
Thanks for showing both what worked and what didn't work this time. Another entry for the "Everyone who isn't a fucking danger to themself should learn to weld. Badly."
I can hear the encouragement "you have a youtube show showing off all your skills and tools and you cant take the hitch off my car" the wife can talk us into anything!
All you need to do is put something of great value hooked on to it and drive a few miles. Works every time.
Watching this video was like watching the movie “The Wages of Fear” where every little bump and sound increases the suspense, knowing that this thing could blow any second. I halfway wondered if you were even pumping, or just playing the sound over and over to to tighten thousands of sphincters across youtube-dom….
One of the funniest things I have seen in a while. Thank you @AvE!!!
I've been watching this guy for years and every video I watch never ceases to amaze me, you are my hero.... DAD
I dub thee King Arthur
I'm mostly impressed with those little chain hookup ears on the receiver not bending all that much under so much load!
I love how he gets closer when it gets more dangerous. I can tell you I was using my safety squint while watching the video.
That was *HILARIOUS!!!* Thank you so much for brightening up my day!
I don't know, I'm a little disappointed you didn't skip strait to the backhoe after a few taps.
The hoe was the default except it was down waiting on a DRM approval from the factory for supported repair.
Hydraulic force and a hammer! Genius! Perhaps next summer maybe
Thats Idocars and Crank Bolts
been there... my method was very similar, however, I didn't have hydraulics to bring into it, so I put the truck on a steep down slope in neutral with a tow strap around a tree to stop it rolling more than 3 feet, and used another tow strap on the ball to put it under tension and just wailed on it with a 10 lbs sledge till it popped out, it took an entire afternoon.
It's nice when you get an easy job.
@@arduinoversusevil2025 lesson learned, now I always grease up the shaft if I'm going to keep it in there a while.
@@lukerediger8431 What are you, Superman?
@@lukerediger8431 I use anti seize
@@Daniel-Weaver 😂
This happened to me once. I tried everything I could think of to get it out. I got desperate and chained it to a tree. As soon as the chain lifted off the ground the damn thing fell out. I spent all day trying to get it out and it just fell out without a fight. I didnt know if I should of been pissed or relieved.
Half the time I’m not even sure what you’re saying but the way you talk/think rarely fails to make me smile
There's few things more exhilarating than the potential for catastrophic failure. 😳
Been in this situation myself once. Tied to tree and yank, come along, heat and beat all for nothing. 15 years of Florida sun and salt had done me in. That’s when pops said go get me some chain. Had about 12’ of heavy chain from the farm. Wrapped it around the draw bar and ball a couple times. Dad said put some slack in the chain and give it a good flip. Did this twice and darn thing just popped right out like nothing was wrong. The kinetic energy of 12’ of chain being flipped or flicked or whatever you want to call it is unbelievable. Dad said he saw a guy yank the rear end out of old car doing this trick. Definitely one for the ol mental tool box. Giver a shot. You may be surprised!!
Like, pop the chain like a wet towel on an ass?
@@dethmaul more like a slinky slide hammer.
Anyone got a video?
@@dethmaul almost made a mess with the spit coming out of my mouth lol
@@dethmaul yup. That is actually the proper terminology I was looking for!
You know it’s sketchy as frig when you’re drawing away from your phone so you don’t get hurt when it finally gives.
The more ridged your setup got the more I found myself backing away from the screen! Entertaining as always.
5 mins with the sawzall, cut it flush then cut down the length inside the socket, split it in two
Well shit, that's a good idea
Yep. This worked for me. Carbide blade makes quick work of it. Still needed a cold chisel to break the halves loose.
Christ on a bike, midway through the video I started thinking maybe Dewclaw welded it as a joke
I think the most impressive part for me, is the weld's held strong even with the pounding. Good work man.
Had the same problem a month ago. I spent two weeks soaking it with pb blaster morning, lunch break, after work. Used my biggest come-along and sledgehammer,... tied to a tree, and was able to finally pull it out. Those suckers weld fast.
Auto mechanic here. Those hitches are indeed held on with usually 4-6 bolts through the frame. Some of them are a bitch to put on, for the engineers (specifically the GM ones) legitimately seem to hate us technicians.
They don’t hate you, they’re just ignorant. Makes you wonder though…
I like some of this rear leaf spring bolts that get installed from inside out....never any room to pull it out.....if it were outside in....bolt would slide right out....seems like assembly guys at factory do it that way on purpose as dick move..lol
@@Conservator. No, General Junk inganerds really do hate technicians... ever seen that meme about stupid inganerds putting a starter motor under an intake manifold? That's on a Cadillac Northstar V8. Replacing that starter is a job that pays for about 2 1/2 hours and can be done in 2 1/2 hours if you've never done it before, but have air/power tools. I know because I've done it before. That's EASY work on a Northstar... having to drop the whole engine and transmission on the subframe for a couple of oil seals? Not so much...
They don't hate you. Your (in)
ability to fix something a couple of years down the line simply isn't their top priority when the drawings for the prototype were due yesterday.
GM hates everyone.
Had one stuck like this on one of those OSHA approved forklift contraptions that lets you legally tow something with a forklift. The guys were banging on it with a sledge and even tried pushing it out from the backside with a 20-ton bottle jack and a piece of pipe that slid into the back of the reciever. It wouldn't move and just snapped the 4x6 that we were using to push against. As almost an afterthought I tried my IR 119 max with the bottle jack pushing on it and that got her out in less than 2 minutes. Rust is one hell of a drug but vibration is its kryptonite. Works on semi truck brake drums too. Use a porta power to the frame to apply some pressure to the side of the stuck drum and then start banging on the outside with the air hammer and she'll pop off in no time.
I’m an electromechanic who works for a company in Belgium that revises, repairs and maintains industrial equipment. If its electric and it rotates? We got u. Specialized in drives and motors, even re-winding them by hand.
We often have to deal with seized, rusted bolts. They sometimes suffer a engine fire (often not possible to recover) or just lived a hard unforgiving life at Arcelor Mittal.
Air Impact guns are our best friend. Spray some WD-40 on that sucker and let er rip. If its won’t go, get the 3/4 drive impact gun. It shakes the fuck out of em and rattles em loose.
Thanks for that tip. I have a electric trailer brake drum that refuses the budge. I’ve tried hammering but not the air hammer. I just bought new parts in case I end up cutting it all off.
@@AndrewMoizer before I owned a port a power and an air hammer I used to use a scissor jack and a small half pound hammer and then just hammer really fast to get the vibrations going. People think bigger hammer is better but when you need vibrations you need fast hitting and you can't do that with a 10 lb sledge it's usually a lot easier to get things going with just a small hammer hammering really fast.
I once worked for a automotive/machine shop over a summer
The guys over at automotive had a massive ultrasonic clearner filled with something like evaporust. Nothing was more than hand tight after 24 hours down in that thing.
Your an inspiration to one handed men everywhere 😊.
I don't know how or even why this landed on my front page, but I enjoyed watching this.
Timing is great.
Just yesterday I took a couple rags soaked in Evap-o-Rust, wrapped them around a similar (but more delicate) kind of winter seize-up, and then used a generous amount of Saranwrap to isolate the science experiment from the rest of the world.
After seeing this effort by you, I think I will wait an extra day before I peel back all my wishful thinking.
a weekend is about right if you have the right chem
I’m from Mn the only time those bastards come out is at a boat landing even when installed by backing into a tree, I tell you it’s magic.
Great vid.
Just admire your sense of determination.
I'd be just the same same, the longer it goes on the more determined one gets not to take defeat!!
I had a similar situation where a freshly installed wheel hub on my bmw had made an almost unbreakable connection to the steel rim. Applied heat, cold, all sorts of shmoo and raw force. I even drove the car without any bolts on that particular wheel doing sharp turns and it refused to let go still. At the end of the day the rim was completely fubar'd so i was down 1 rim and since then bought a new set of alloy wheels because they wouldn't stick that hard under any circumstances. It turned out that the center of the hub was absolutely bone dry. no fluid had any chance to pass inside. It was truly welded together.
Lessons learned: 1) Never swap a wheel hub before winter and if necessary cut down the hub a few mils
2) you can safely drive around without bolts if properly rust-welded. saves weight!
3) just drive alloys. duh.
4) german engineering and the obsession with tight tolerances isn't always great...
I was pretty sure we were going to see the remnants of the hitch-pin you forgot to remove... Lolz!
Crossed my mind as well. Comedy gold there.
If this were in a real manufacturing environment there would be at least 10 guys behind you telling you what you are doing is not going to work, and at least one of them is on the phone with the trailer hitch OEM to send out a technician in 5-10 business days.
Too real Noah, too real...
@@redrider7730 problem is then fixed internally, someone forgets to call the service company, and 45 days later a service tech costing more per hour than the entire maintenance team combined end up doing PM work for a day
I find that just heating a nice cherry line across the receiver tube works good. That technique works really good with any type of socket. Especially when dealing with alot of steel and don't want the heat to spread. The line allows even expansion across the length of the tube
Great job. And had that failed I'm sure you were ready to try the next thing.
As long as you can THINK of the next thing to try you have not failed.
This will be my example from here on out when anyone questions why I keep my hitch under the back seat of my truck when it is not in use.
And I thought it was to keep the skin on your shin
Download and keep a copy of this video under your seat, too, for quick retrieval
I had the same problem, ended up cutting it off flush with a sawsall equipped with a carbide blade, then a couple diagonal cuts on the inside to remove the remaining parts. It wasn't coming out any other way.
Good idea, but IMO don't cut it flush - leave about 1/2-1" out for something to put some vice grips to grip and pull out the cut pieces.
I had to do the same thing on my last truck. I make sure the hitch is good and oiled since then, lol. Don't want to go thru that again.
“Do some of my best work single handed”
Ok you earned your like for this video
Ave is so used to shaking hands with danger, he just fist bumps now.
Had the same welded hitch, but on an old 3/4 ton. Chained the hitch to a tree, and did the o' back and forth. Didn't lose my back window, but I did ruin the bolts holding the bed on, and ended up having to weld that back on afterwards.
I've been right there. Not having hydraulic jacks in my repertoire, I cut off the offending protrusion close to the receiver. Then used a reciprocating saw to make a relief cut inside the tube. It only took one and I was able to pry it out
The pucker factor in the video was most excellent 👌
Stoked to see the atlas copco strap! A staple and lifesaver in underground mining
I had to deal with that once. Spent hours toiling away with a torch and hammer. I eventually drilled a hole that allowed me to get a pry bar behind it. Ridiculous amount of work for so little reward.
Far be it from me to judge a Canadian in his natural habitat, but it seems with the torch, it might have been more effective to apply it to the outer sleeve since the heat should expand fitting. That said, your best bet was to get someone else to do it.
Shoulda told him before he did it!
less mass in the receiver chunk= more heat in more quickly= more thermal expansion= more rust broken free for less time/ gas
and as a second thought, you don't wanna ruin any heat treat done to that hitch although i doubt there is any
A lot of those receiver hitches have a keeper bolt on the underside so once the towball part is fitted it can be tightened to stop it rattling , check for that bolt first if the insert doesn't want to come out easily , might save a lot of grief .
Yep, I found that out when I got a new tow bar on my car. Luckily dad spotted it before I busted out the big hammer 🤣
Nice job AvE!! I know exactly how that job goes. I only had W-D 40 and a sledge hammer. But.. The determination of a Missouri mule and the persistence of an angry swarm of bees.. she finally gave up and let me have my way with her! LOL!!
Once again you've done it Chris ! Bumble fixed And broke the glue toob Algo ?😲 As I type the vijaeo has 792 views And .. 2600 likes . 🤔👍. You Sir have boggled my mind.
I find that by heating the outer part, then I sprayed the contact area with liquid ranch, heat up the outside again, then using liquid CO2 by inverting the bottle on the inside part, then pull it apart.
Method also has worked well for me with galled stainless steel threads
Definitely one of the best episodes!
We had an old Chevy pickup that had a hitch receiver that basically lived in it. For some reason, we decided to take it out. We bashed on it, drug a Jeep with all 4 wheels locked up, and even tied it to a motorhome and dragged the pickup with the motorhome, but it was in there for good! If I remember, it was sold with the hitch still in there.
I used a pressure washer once. Goddamned thing just smoothed out like an eel in snot. Now my first go to when rusty things are stuck in rusty things. We pray to Lord PSI.
What he didn’t show us was that the hitch pin was in for the first 3/4 of the video
He is a content creator.....and we want more content.
A La the dewalt (or other tool? I seem to recall it being yellow) battery cover that ol' bumblefuck mangled to bits not thinking about using the forking release mechanism button on the battery itself. 😅😝
I assembled train wheels to axles for quite a few years. Heat em to 750 degrees before dropping the axle. When the white collars forget their place and want to watch you at work, slip a cat turd from the oil dry bin on the wheel before dousing with 10 gallons of water. Its a steam you will never forget. Cleared the shop many times that way.
Brings back memories. I learned from that event not to leave the hitch in the receiver. Had to remove entire assembly and replace.
I remember reading about a ww2 trick on field changing spark plugs: get the engine nice and warm, then funnel the carbon snow from a co2 fire extinguisher into a makeshift cone over the plugs, and then they twist out without too much resistance...
Probably worked great, but that material fatigue and rapid temperature change scares me, but well, it was ww2, Patton died ridding one of those machines.
I was watching this with safety squint engaged, waiting for something to go plop really fast into an unknown direction. Probably a shin, the camera or the baby maker. If you’re lucky, all three in rapid succession. Happy that that did not happen.
Well done with sticking to it Uncle B o7
That was the most suspenseful, nail-biting AvE vijayo I've watched in quite a while.
Always entertaining to say the least. This reminds me of just about everything i leave outside that is meant to come apart and learnt not to do the drive and pull who would think honda's are only spot welded together haha
Reminds me when my detachable towing hook used to be detachable
Wife; how’s it going?
Husband; yeah, I got it out.
Wife; oh, well done.
Husband; unrelated but the housing is cracked.
Last week we had some trouble onsite with a drain grate rusted on all four sides. Gatic lifters didn't work. The small cracker helped until it reached the end of its travel. We ended up ratchet strapping my come along to the back of the service truck and putting a bottle jack under the tow hitch to stop the suspension compressing. Up she came and after a de-scale and some grease, she went back in like butter.
Whoever did the welding on those safety chain anchors is the real hero of this story!
Dude, I can't believe you didn't deform that outside steel tube... this whole time I was like what in hell are you pushing against.
I thought he was pushing against the safety chain loops lol
Asking the real questions over here.
Looked like the flimsy chain loops to me, the ones i see people try to use as a recovery anchor point, whe a vehicle is vertical on its nose in a deep ditch, buried in 4 feet of snow, and they think it will hold...
I cant believe they didnt fold back as easily as a beagles ears.
The last stuck one I tried to remove I finally ended up cutting off. Once it was sawed off, I saw that the receiver bar was down to maybe 1/16" wall at the bottom and the hitch wasn't far behind it. So after many, many, days hammering and various oils and probably $20 of MAP gas, none of it was safe to use anyhow. The next stuck one I encounter is going to get a new hitch. Faster and cheaper.
I suspect that receiver bar was inserted when the vehicle was new, in 1997, and never removed until 2021 when I cut it off.
But then you let it win. lol
@@lexwaldez Nature always wins...
Been there, done that. I chained my truck to a tree and then used one of those tie down chain ratchets to make the chain TIGHT. Then, I wacked the hitch with a sledge until it made an awful SNAP and then the hitch finally came out of the receiver. Funny thing is, I hit that hitch with a grinder until it slid in an out of the receiver with no problem, but It STILL got stuck being in there only for a few months. Just the curse of rusty New York.
All I can say is you def earned that win