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Has anyone had experience with interchangeable trailer hitch balls? It seems convienient to be able to switch between 1 7/8 and 2 inch sizes by just changing the ball and not the whole threaded shank but mentally it brings to mind images of the ball popping off. Any pros or cons?
I agree that individual hitches seem more reliable.
On a slightly different track, does anyone have any experience with the hitches that have the polyurethane inserts to lessen bangs and clunks on start up?
I have used them. One is on the tractor. One is on a truck for very short, light weight boat moves. The other I think I lost. They work OK. I would not however use them for larger trailers and boats with fair amounts of weight. It is only a 5/16 dowel pin holding the ball in place. The chrome ones rust, then it's a bitch to get the ball off. This of course can be resolved with a little grease but then it gets all over the place sooner or later. The stainless set does not have this problem but it carries a price tag. Buy two draw bars with the ball sizes you need and be done with it.
There are also single draw bars with 2 and sometimes 3 ball sizes on it. These will only work if you do not need any sort of offset in your hitch hight.
__________________ 2003 Boston Whaler 255 Conquest w/ twin 200 HPDI's
I've never been a racist. I don't like the white half either.
I have had the convert a ball from Cabella's now for a couple of years and love it. My old boat was around 6,800 lbs. (new one heavier). When I first got it I compared them back to back and I could tell a difference. I was worried over time that the poly insert would wear but it has nowhere to elongate to. When I have one of my fishing buddies riding with me they do often comment that the boat trailers well and does not jerk the truck around (some of this can be attributed to tow vehicle being an F-350, but not all of it as like I stated earlier, I did back to back comparisons).
Now to reply to the post at hand, I have three seperate ball mounts I utilize also. My brother in law uses the straight ball mount with three different balls mounted to it (just does not look as strong).
We use these on our dually and I use it on my Suburban. Both trucks tow all the time with weights over 10000 pounds on occasion and sometimes long distance with the dually. We have never had a problem with the converta-ball trailer ball. Once the trailer coupler is on top of the ball, there is no way for the pin to come out as the coupler covers it.
We use these on our dually and I use it on my Suburban. Both trucks tow all the time with weights over 10000 pounds on occasion and sometimes long distance with the dually. We have never had a problem with the converta-ball trailer ball. Once the trailer coupler is on top of the ball, there is no way for the pin to come out as the coupler covers it.
My hitch and lock rusted in my receiver too bad to remove, so I installed the ball hitch for 1 7/8 and 2 inches. I needed a 1 7/8 for a Hobie Cat trailer. The ball base is rated for 10,000 lb, and have not had any problems to date. I bought mine as a kit at AutoZone for $29.95 last summer. So far, so good.
The chrome plated ball on mine slips over a chrome plated shaft that has "ears", then rotates 90 degrees and locks with a flip tab. It's not the dowel pin kind. Even if the flip tab were to break, I would have to pivot the trailer 90 degrees from the hitch to allow a bump to disengage it. It's really quite a convenient design, and two balls in my truck take up much less space than two hitches for the receiver!
Including my Dad's who started me off on it, we've used the interchangeable Balls for about 20 years without any problems whatsoever. My dad started using them in the early trucking business for some reason around the truck yards. They've never had a failure from the ball coming off. I have a 1" shank and can switch between 1 7/8, 2", and 2 5/8" in about 30 seconds. Best thing since sliced bread. I've never worried about the ball coming off or the shank breaking and we have pulled in excess of 11K on more than one occassion. For me, it's a better option than having three balls on one hitch or whatever. Plus it just looks better. I believe you will like it.
I checked your link out 606. Looks neat but I've never had one with a "twist" interchangeable ball. And I wonder why just two sizes of balls? (Man, that sounds perverted) and so does this. Mine has three balls which is very convenient for me.
I have the Convert-a-ball hitch with polyurethane slot, rated for 2000 lb tongue weight and 10000 lb. I have 3 internchangable balls - 2" 2 5/16" 1 7/8". I tow a 7000lb+ boat, and can strongly recommend the system. Beats carrying around different hitches, wrenches, etc. Works well.
Given that my truck is a 1/2 ton the odds of me towing something with a 2 5/16" receiver was unlikely and in the past 7 years this has proven true. If I need to tow something that big I will borrow my brothers dually diesel.
But actually I was referring to the poly insert setups. Sorry I really should have been more specific. But now that I've looked over and read you link, why wouldn't you guys just have one tongue with two or three balls attached? Just put the tongue in with the ball size that you need upright. One tongue, three balls.
"why wouldn't you guys just have one tongue with two or three balls attached? Just put the tongue in with the ball size that you need upright. One tongue, three balls."
Because of the offset I need, a permanent three ball system would look like a tripod.
I've been using the interchangeable type that works like the fitting on an air compressor coupling- with 4 ball bearings to hold the ball in place. It allows the ball to spin freely. 10,000lb cap,all three balls. I wouldn't go back.
Interchangeable Trailer Hitch Ball 
