Reducer Sleeve for Receiver

[Drathaar]

I did a search, but didn't find any threads on this.

Has anyone spot welded in the reducer sleeve that brings a 2.5 inch receiver down to 2 inch? With an Airsafe hitch, and Rock Tamers, it's a real (royal) pain to get the stinger in, and keep the holes lined up for the locking pin. I am thinking about just a couple of spots to keep the sleeve from slipping.

Is there any downside that you have encountered or can think of?

Thanks in advance.

[slowmover]

On WOODALLS.

[ROBERT CROSS]

The sleeve on our class V Reese is welded, never been a problem.
Plus the extra thickness at the pin hole helps prevent elongation.

Bob

[Drathaar]

Originally Posted by slowmover

On WOODALLS.

Ok, I'm the slow one here. Woodalls?

[Drathaar]

Thanks Bob! Your post came in while I was typing.

[AWCHIEF]

There is a recent thread here somewhere that addresses in great detail this subject. Look in this section, might be a page or two down.

[jfowler218]

I put a spot weld on mine. It broke on first use which was fine because now the weld spot acts as a stopper to align the sleeve. I can use either size receiver

[TomKirk]

Go the other way with it, Bro. Don't reduce. Get a 2.5" stinger.

When there's a choice, there's nothing wring with overkill (aka, over-engineering).

Tom

[DoublTrouble]

I welded also, Propride

[The Cralls]

I have a Equqlizer hitch and I'm planning on getting the 2 1/2" hitch. I'm leery about modifying any part of a hitch since welding can alter the properties of the metal in ways it was not intended. I'm seeing more and more 2 1/2 ball mounts and such on the market, so I'm also planning on a new general use ball mount. The 2 1/2" mounts are rated for a much higher load than the 2".

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by TomKirk

Go the other way with it, Bro. Don't reduce. Get a 2.5" stinger.

When there's a choice, there's nothing wring with overkill (aka, over-engineering).

Tom

I like the extra margin of safety that a class 5 receiver affords, a welded sleeve is the only safe way to go.

OEM IV.....


Reese V Tow Beast...


Bob

[hshovic]

I lost my receiver reducer when I got my new pickup. So I went with a 2.5 inch hitch. Other than being heavier to lift, I don't have the problem of the movable reducer. But then again I can't put small stinger on the truck.

[Kilo3]

Bought an Equalizer with my 2015 AS 27FB since that's all the dealer sold. They ordered a 2" and supplied a reducer sleeve. It had a lot of wiggle room, so I ordered a new $50 sleeve "Made in America". It arrived with a stamp on the side that said "Made in China". It's slightly tighter, so I will go with it. Still some play, however, and the dealer says it's ok since when fully hooked up it can't wiggle. Anyone know?

[cwf]

Originally Posted by rfosterjr

Bought an Equalizer with my 2015 AS 27FB since that's all the dealer sold. They ordered a 2" and supplied a reducer sleeve. It had a lot of wiggle room, so I ordered a new $50 sleeve "Made in America". It arrived with a stamp on the side that said "Made in China". It's slightly tighter, so I will go with it. Still some play, however, and the dealer says it's ok since when fully hooked up it can't wiggle. Anyone know?

There is some motion/slack. Things have to have enough room to fit together even when there is road debris or dirt embedded.

[Alphonse]

Originally Posted by cwf

There is some motion/slack. Things have to have enough room to fit together even when there is road debris or dirt embedded.

Here is the recent thread on the issue of loose fits
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ay-136126.html

[bwoodtx]

A friend of mine and I welded my sleeve solid in my 2500HD. Then I ran a 5/8" drill bit through it to make sure I had a smooth fit. No slop and it works great.

[TWeatherford]

Spot weld or three should work. A tiny spot weld is not going to change the metallurgy in any way that matters. I haven't seen a hitch that isn't welded anyway and I'm confident that they don't heat treat after welding. Unless you have a hitch that was CNC milled out of a solid block of steel.

[Adiredneck]

My two upgrades for this year were a new '15 Ram 3500 and an Airsafe Class VI hitch, which came with a 12" bracket to mount my E-quil-izer WD hitch. The Airsafe has a 2" shank and the Ram came with a Class V hitch with a 2.5" receiver and 2' sleeve. The combination AirSafe/E-quil-izer bolted together is 18" long, not counting shank, and about 60 lbs. I found that, when inserted in the sleeve/receiver and pinned, I could grab the back of the hitch combo and move it 3-4" up-down and left-right. Very sloppy tolerances. As we were leaving for a 3000 mile trip I shivved it with some aluminum sheet metal and duct tape (of course!). It helped some, but still sloppy in my opinion. When my engineer son-in-law looked at it, he seemed to think that most of the slack was between the 2" (solid) hitch shank on the AirSafe and the Ram-supplied reducer sleeve. His proposed solution was a 1/4" bead weld front and back affixing the sleeve to the shank. It really is not load-bearing, so might be a bit of over engineering - but I'm always good with that. Besides the additional wear-and-tear caused by the sloppy fit, I also wonder if it negated the WD effect of the E-qual-izer by taking up so much of its forward torque in the slack, rather than transferring it (and the tongue weight) forward to the TV front axle.

Any thoughts? As always, I learn much from the expertise on this forum...

Tim

[slowmover]

A better hitch receiver would be my choice. The TITAN #45299. See etrailer. A full crossmember replacement.

And then diagonal bracing from the receiver tube that clears the spare to well forward on the frame rails.

Or move spare to bed and extend receiver tube to near axle. Several reinforcements as well as cross bars.

I'm going to use above receiver and cut up the cheap CURT Class V I have now to serve as forward portion.

Controlling flex differences on frame rail ends is goal.

A schematic from the 1960s will show how we once did it with custom receivers. Use those as template. I've posted link here before from 1968 Plymouth full size.

Andrew_T knows this stuff backwards and forwards.