I've seen multiple trucks lately that have the hitch turned upside down in the receiver. I suppose it's a ground clearance issue. The big hitch could drag entering or exiting a driveway. So that kinda makes sense. But why not just take it out????

That's not the one that really confuses me though.

I've also seen several trucks that have the ball mounted upside down on the bumper. What the hell could that possibly be about? What use does the ball serve being bolted on upside down?!?!?

 

I can understand flipping it upside down in the receiver for clearance as you said. I always just take mine out if I'm not going to use it for a while. I do this for several reasons:
1 - Save my shins, I have only done this once, but that is enough.
2 - I install a 3rd brake light in the receiver.
3 - Less damage to a car that may rear end me, not that I care about their car, but folks have been sued over damage caused by a ball when not towing. I've even heard of some people getting tickets.
4 - During a rear end collision the ball will cause more of an impulse on my truck doubling the likelihood of whiplash, which insurance companies will deny paying as their would be little damage to the rear of my truck making the argument that you can't have whiplash based on the minimal damage to the truck. Win/win for the insurance company, but huge loss for me paying medical bills that they refuse to pay.

I kind of make a habit out of removing them as soon as I drop my trailer though as I have two different trailers that take completely different drops and ball sizes so I usually just pull it out right away and hitch it back to the trailer leaving it hanging on the tongue. No one can steal the trailer as it's locked to the ball and it has a receiver pin locked to it as well. I always know where they are and they aren't floating around behind the seats in my truck.

Now flipping it in the bumper makes absolutely no sense to me....anyone else have any idea?

 

People sue for all kinds of stuff. Don't see how a trailer hitch is gonna fly. Stop following so close, won't be a problem.

 

Do you have a source either one of these? I'd like to learn more about this because I usually leave my hitch in the receiver.

This seems pretty easy to defeat then. It's not like you can't argue that a receiver hitch impacts the severity of a rear-end collision.

Edit: There's even a study: http://www.justinian.us/whiplash-22-...ch-rear-ended/

 

I've heard it too. Although I don't think it's common at all.

 

After some research it appears that it has been proposed by law in several states, but common sense prevailed and it was thrown out.

As far as the safety goes I have found this...

The National Safety Commission Alerts: How Receiver Hitches Affect Rear End Collision Injuries

But what you posted states almost the same thing. One would hope that a decent insurance company (or lawyer if necessary) would realize that the amount of damage is not directly tied to injury.

 

I bought this several years ago for my F250.
SUPERBUMPER Hitch Step - Stops Rear End Collision Damage.
I saw it as one of the popup ads on FTE.
I thought it to be a great idea, and its also a great step.
When I'm towing I put it on the front since my front bumper has a receiver.

 

I don't normally get involved in forums but the discussion on this thread is exactly what we've been studying for the past 13 years in development of our impact attenuators.

Taken from Tacoma World Forum:





The culprit for each of you with frame damage after being hit in the rear is your ball mount. If you take a look at the Jeep Grand Cherokee above you'll see what I mean. This vehicle was hit by a small Ford Focus at less then 10 mph and although it has little rear end damage it was a total loss.

The problems start because passenger cars sit lower then pickup trucks or SUVs and when they hit the rear of your vehicle they don't hit the bumper they hit your receiver hitch and they start to dive (because of their soft suspensions). This downward force or wedge effect is really accentuated if the driver of the bullet vehicle applies the brakes right before impact.

If your ball mount or any other fixed or static receiver hitch product is in your receiver hitch it acts like a can opener forcing the receiver hitch down in the rear and upward in the front. Notice the Jeep's ball mount is bent downward and the roof was raised. This ruined the frame and the vehicle was a total loss.

It only takes an impact around 10 mph to wreck the frame of a uni-body vehicle like the Jeep above and a 15 - 20 mph impact to wreck a frame railed vehicle like most pickup trucks and SUVs. Plus the more the ball mount is dropped (like a 4" drop type or 6" drop type) the easier it is for the bullet vehicle to apply the force.

That's why driving around with any non-energy absorbing receiver hitch product is not a good idea.

A receiver hitch completely changes the crash dynamics in the rear of a vehicle by creating a stiffer "crash pulse" because of it's rigidity. Receiver hitches actually increase your risk of whiplash by 22% so leaving anything in the receiver hitch only moves this problem toward the bullet vehicle. Now that 22% may not seem like much but your wife and kids are already two times more likely to suffer from whiplash then men because they're necks are not as strong.

That's the main reason we developed our attenuators - the Superbumper and Sparebumper...to absorb some of this crash energy, soften the crash pulse and reduce the whiplash risk.

Some of our customers have been involved in impacts to 45 mph and have not lost their vehicle due to frame damage. Part of the reason is that the absorbers crush 2.125 inches which shortens the length of the lever and because they're tubes, there's little for the bullet vehicle to grab. Plus at impacts over 12 mph the actual tubes start to crush so that the lever ends up to be just over 2" in length. The typical ball mount is basically an 8-10" lever. See crushed Sparebumper photo below.

Most people think you need something bigger in the rear but the fact is 6 out of 10 rear end collisions are direct hits and another 3 out of 10 are 2/3 rds over-lap. In other words at least 2/3 rds of the vehicle will hit yours.

If you add a stronger bumper you will protect the rear of the vehicle but you will also increase the rigidity consequently increasing the risk of whiplash to the passengers. That's the main reason OEM's went with flimsy bumpers.

But keep in mind only passenger cars have 2.5 mph energy absorbing bumpers. Pickup trucks, SUVs and mini-vans fall under the category of "trucks" according to the Federal Bumper Standard so they do not have energy absorbing bumpers. But, as I mentioned earlier, passenger cars won't hit them anyway.

My first 17 years were spent as a teacher and a coach so sometimes I feel compelled to educate as many people as I can about the hazards of a receiver hitch. So this may sound like a pitch for our products but forgive me if it sounds that way.

If you feel the need to drive with your ball mount in for protection then turn it so that it's in the "rise" position and not the "drop" position even if the hitch ball is upside down. This will prevent the bullet vehicle from grabbing it and using it as a lever. Like Archemedies: "Give me a lever long enough and I'll move the earth."

You want to get the bend of your ball mount above 15-16" if you can because the Federal Bumper Standard for passenger cars is set at 16". This will allow them to under-ride your pickup truck and although you may think under-ride is a bad thing, it actually dissipates the crash energy over a longer time period resulting in lesser chance of whiplash.

Sincerely,

Jeff Mohr
CEO
Mohr Mfg
sparebumper.com

 

Jeff, you mention a pic of a crushed sparebumper but you did not include it.
I would like to see it.
Thanks.
Steve.

 

Here you go...sorry I forgot that. It's posted on our facebook site.
https://www.facebook.com/76381907960...type=3&theater

 

The link doesn't work. It gives me a page not found.
So I just went to your FB page and found some of the pics including the one I posted back in June of 2012.

 

simple.

makes it easier to get the nut tight.

 

This is the picture.



This was a 12 to 15 mph impact.

 

I'm Batman.

 

Interesting how the horizontal tube is deformed across the central shaft.
It sure must have made an impression on the 'bullet' driver.

A year or so ago I was stopped at the fuel pumps and because they had the diesel in the middle of the 2 gas pumps, I wound up completely blocking one of the gas pumps and partially blocking the other gas pump. The guy behind me was in too big a hurry and thought if he could get just a little bit closer then he could reach the gas hose on the one pump. Well, he inched too close and just kind of nudged my truck while I was fueling. He realized his error and backed off.

I walked back ready to chew him out, but on my way I saw that even this small nudge did a job on his front bumper. He's going to remember this for quite a while now. All I could do was give him an 'are you really that dumb' look and say 'really'?

Hah. 8-)