Do we have tools for installing Trailer Hitch Balls?

it would be great to see it in the documentation called a “Jesus nut” just to see the look on the training technicians face or new pilots going thru orientation.

Tim,

I was looking for the manual where is shows the 6000 pound feet of torque required for the “jesus” nut on the Chinook - the last army airframe I worked on. That required a torque multiplier. The CH47 Chinook is a big pain in the arse to maintain.

The procedure for Jesus nuts (there are 2) Starts on page 5-68 and ends on 5-73. Only 5 pages, but too often the retaining ring tangs would not line up correctly and you’d have to start over again. Fastest helicopter in the free world tho.

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Largest Torque nut I’ve dealt with to date was 2 1/4”- 2 1/2”. We would use a hydraulic torque wrench and indicators to check for strain.

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I’ll be darned. That’s true… I though you were joking that this leviathan would be fast. I mean, I know it can carry a crap-ton of stuff, but I didn’t know they are fast…

Max speed, per Boeing, 302kmh (that’s 187.xx mph for us 'Mercuns), though there might be variants the other lists take into account.


(note, #2, not #1, but since #1 is French, that whole “free world” thing is debatable :wink: )


(#10 on this list, but 3 of the other top 10 are experimental, if they still exist at all, while 3 others are Russian, and 2 more are French, making 8 of those outranking it highly questionable in this bout).

Thank you for an enlightening discussion; too loop it back to the original question, I’m pretty sure we don’t have the necessary equipment to properly torque the Jesus Nut on a trailer hitch to 430lb-ft.
I was wondering if some of the old VW tricks would work, like the axle nut tool


(also useful for the gland nut) but those are only producing ~240lb-ft…

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Is this without cargo or with?

Yes

The CH47F model is faster than the D models.
I’m surprised the largest helicopter in the free world wasn’t on Jast’'s list.
The CH53E with it’s 3 engines and 7 blades is larger and lifts more than the Chinnook and is very fast.

Uh. Yes with cargo? :smiley:

The replacement CH53 “K” models are being fielded for Marines as of last May

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Getting back to the original topic: I have purchased a 1-7/8” thinwall 12 point socket and plan to borrow a 3/4” drive torque wrench from my local AutoZone for the install.

Side note: if anyone else is looking to attach a hitch ball or tighten the one they already have to spec ( or at least something like the 430 ft lbs spec that came with my ball) let me know and I’d be glad to loan you the socket.

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I was just curious what other folks do, so I searched “proper torque trailer hitch ball”.
Firstly, draw-tite says exactly what you posted, 450lb-ft for a 1-1/4" shank ball

But I found this post interesting, and it makes me think “Trailer ball manufacturers should really augment their specifications to include this method. In addition to being more attainable for most casual towers, it is generally accepted as more accurate, or at least more likely to be accurately applied, in engine builder circles, and, short of publishing fastener stretch specifications, is about as good as it gets for all parties”.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f72/tightening-the-tow-ball-an-alternate-method-15234.html
The short version: torque to easily attainable specification (100lb-ft in this example) and then rotate a specified number of degrees (although this example uses a linear measurement of distance, I think this is more easily stated as degrees of rotation, and is usually how “angular torque” specs are written).

I plan to use a big enough torque wrench to measure the torque directly: assuming it has a 2+ foot handle, I’m a big enough guy that I should be able to apply the torque myself.

I did see one useful idea in the photos in the thread: temporarily installing the hitch bar 90 degrees off of “normal” I can apply up-down torque while on the vehicle rather than trying to clamp it into a large vice for the torquing.

FWIW, I have a few issues with the approach proposed in that thread:

  • I think his “100 ft-lbs plus X partial turns” is probably vendor specific, dependent on the mechanical properties of the ball shank
  • Different vendors means different specs: Draw-tite specifies 450 ft-lbs, whereas my ball’s manufacturer (Equal-iz-er, who makes the load-balancing hitch, too) specifies a lower 430 ft-lbs.
  • Similarly, the smaller hitch Grade ??? bolts might also be dependent upon the OEM manufacturer for the supplied bolts at a given point in time.
  • He mentioned worry about whether a large torquing wrench was in spec: he’s basically trading the suspect (in his mind) accuracy of a 3/4" drive torque wrench at 450 ft-lbs for the (just as suspicious, IMHO) accuracy of a 1/2" drive torque wrench at 100 ft-lbs.

That being said, I think the majority of home installers use:

  1. 2 monkey wrenches,
  2. a cheater bar, and
  3. as much torque as they can muster using #1 and #2.
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Oh, absolutely! Now that you’ve found this, I would not recommend anything else (though you’re using a borrowed torque wrench, so…).

And please don’t think I meant YOU should follow this guy’s procedure. Not at all. I just though his post raised a good point: wouldn’t it be nice if trailer ball manufacturers publish fastener specifications like this, which, in my opinion, are more easily within the reach of “standard issue farm hands”? Most of us have a 1/2" torque wrench that we think highly of. Most of us can handle “plus 35°”. Many of us do NOT have access to means of reliably measuring >250 lb-ft of torque. As for our physical prowess and being able generate that kind of torque…well…no escaping you’ll need to find wrenches cheater bars and/or big enough friends to git’rdone no matter the method…

I hope these horses appreciate your effort…the things we do for our animals! :smile:

PS I have very nice Snap-On combo wrenches in the popular trailer ball nut sizes that I acquired in a mass purchase and I’ve always used. I think they’re about 24" long or so. But never once did I think to measure the torque with which I applied the fastener. I just tugged on it good and called it a day. I feel a bit foolish, if I’m honest, that I never even considered that manufacturers might publish this, let did I even consider doing it. I like to think I’m more fastidious than that…

I’m curious how this went.
Also, don’t know why “torque multipliers” didn’t really come up (unless you count the more specific versions I posted visavis the VW specialty tools for flywheels and glandnuts)…
https://www.norbar.com/en-us/products/view/ncategory/categoryname/ht3/category_multid/91
https://www.protorquetools.com/torque-multipliers/torque-multipliers/

then again, even the cheap ones aren’t really very cheap
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200623947_200623947

I purchased a large enough socket to match both the wrench and the nut I was tightening.

I used the torque wrenches loaned for free (after deposit) from AutoZone. FWIW, the larger one looked brand new (still had all papers, no grease/scratches/ etc.). The target torque was at the very top of the wrench’s range.

I took the tip from the video and rotated the hitch in the sleeve to be able to tighten while pulling UP rather than sideways.

Since installing, I’ve hauled my two horse trailer over 2,000 miles (half mostly empty and half with a 1,200 lb horse in tow): a recheck showed no loosening of the torqued bolt or the smaller bolts.

I consider this a success.

I still have the large socket if anyone at DMS would like to use it - though you’ll have to acquire the torque wrench yourself… just let me know.

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Last and only time I had to do this, I mounted the hitch in the receiver sideways and used a floor jack on the end of the wrench. The weight of the vehicle did the rest…

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A 3 foot cheater bar and a 143 lb person standing on the end of it would work, too, assuming you don’t break the socket wrench in the process.

3 feet X 143 lbs = 429 ft-lbs

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No cheater bar… but between my strong legs and arms that ball hitch has been around for years. It was installed in a receiver on a Jeep and towed a 5x8 enclosed trailer and a U-Haul car dolly to Tennessee (bouncing all over the road!!!) and a Miata back. After that it was on my 2005 F-150 and it towed an RV multiple times and a 5x10 enclosed trailer to California and back. Now it’s on my F-250 and it has hauled that 5x10 enclosed trailer to California and back twice.

I’d say it’s good. :slight_smile:

or one 420+ person standing on a 1’ wrench. I’ve had to do that to break free a few lugnuts over the years

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