Tow Hitch pin not long enough

I have a combination locking hitch pin that has a plastic cover, I keep the lock covered with bearing grease and then put the plastic cover back on it; been using it for years without problems.

 

If you are in the NE don't use a lock! I use a stainless pin with the drop down latch and a rubber plug at the end of the receiver. The rubber hitch plug really does help keep the crap out. The draw bar lives in the garage. I have seen draw bars so rusted up they had to be cut out with a torch.

 

That's very possible. All our rigs are are older with regular keys, and our 3rd gen TRD OR is a Manual trans which still gets a regular key/no push button start

 

i took a belt sander to my locking pin (non lock side) and shaved it down just enough the lock engages.

i tried multiple different locks with no success.

 

I got a pin from Harbor Freight fits very nicely

 

they might have a style that fits that wasnt in the store when i was looking but i bought 2 different kinds and walked out to the truck and tried getting them to fit with no luck.

 

No worries in southern Arizona - dry - arid - 2-3 inches of rain per year....

 

I got the haul-master 95831

 

I just figured everyone took it out and only used it with a locking pin along with a padlock on the tounge to keep the trailer from getting stolen . The people that have trucks and need to tow already have one .

 

This would be the best way.

The necked-down area of the pin that the lock grabs onto is weak. A thief can usually slip a pipe over the lock body and break the pin at that neck. This video is a Bolt advertisement. Their selling feature is it took 2 minutes to break their lock vs 7 seconds for the competition...

 

SWEET! Free D-Ring Shackle!!

 

We leave our hitch in at all times. Saved our rear bumper several times from rear end taps by others.

 

Can’t recall what brand I purchased but it was locking, and was also slightly too short. I brought it to work one day and machined off around 1/8-3/16” of material. Still has more than enough metal to be structurally sound, and now works with my Taco.

I personally keep the key on my keychain with my other keys, so the odds of losing it are slim. I also don’t keep the tri-ball in the hitch receiver unless I’m towing, so it getting rusted and stuck in place won’t happen to me.

I used to keep it installed in the hitch, but over bumps it rattles around a lot, I got sick of the noise.

 

I used a cheap locking hitch pin for years and left it in pretty much all the time. I'm in rainy WA state. It's a little clunky now, but still works. Just gotta jiggle that key.

I no longer can use the lock though, my HC bumper doesn't have space for it. You have to get all the way under the truck to pull the pin now, though, so I'm feeling pretty good that no one will bother stealing my hitch.

 

What he said! Keep it next to your truck key.