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Those hammerlocks remind me of the plastic bull ******** that were popular a few years ago. The majority of those seemed to be attached to Dodge pickups.
I grabbed those hitch pictures as examples...obviously the safety chain loops would be more substantial for a hitch capable of 15k+. It would be nothing to increase the thickness of these plates to 3/8" or so. Weight is negligent...maybe a few ounces. Same goes for material cost per unit. It's not much, per hitch, to go from 3/16 to 3/8. Fab costs? Turn up the welder a little bit. I would argue that the Ford hitch far surpasses these other hitches in manufacturing cost and complexity. And reducing tow capacity? Huh?
At some point, the truck becomes the "towed vehicle" as trailer weight increases. In the event of an "un-coupling", once you overcome the initial shock load, the 8k truck is controlled by the 15k trailer. So I could argue that the capacities could be matched to the weigh of the truck, and not the max of the hitch.
I think that what you may be seeing here (without actually looking at the hitch) is the result of stress corrosion cracking. Lots of corrosion which could have contributed to the failure. With the additional gusset on the Ford hitch, that may lend itself to capturing moisture and promoting corrosion...lots of variables here.
Any issues running 5/8" shackles installed as shown in the photos below, with chain hooked around pin? Bell of shackle rotates freely in receiver hole as shown. I carry these in case I need to pull a trailer with chains that don't fit the holes. If I were to ever use them, would probably insert 180 degrees out from what is shown in photos so pin-head faces front of truck. 2017 F-250 6.2L and 2.5" receiver.
In my younger days I was a boilermaker working in shipyards as a high rigger. Your photos show the proper way to connect a shackle. The rated load carry capacity of a shackle is in line, not from the side.
I also wire tie the pin as an extra safety precaution and always have my shackles attached to my truck.
Anyways, I ended up installing some USA made 1/2" hammerlocks. They weren't too bad to install. I liked them for the rating, theft proof, no worries about orientation, and no worries about the screw backing out.
A bit of practice and you won't need to buy anything.
A couple minutes installing something relatively inexpensive and eliminating the fiddling forever VS practice and having the wife hate the hitch (and me) as well...I'm not that cheap and happy wife happy life . Also, not all hooks are created equal.
Takes a moment to add and a punch and hammer to remove.
I rarely ever tow a trailer but needed to tow one a few weeks back. Chains on the trailer that I was using didn't really like the Ford hitch. They will next time.
Ram and GM both use the planar safety hook attachment. If there was an issue with the safety factor of these loops Ram and GM would have long ago changed the design driven by lawsuits most certainly. Its a poor design (Ford) that forces many owners to adopt the use shackles (sometimes oriented incorrectly), hammerlocks or replace their safety clips with a larger size (min 7/16") to not bind in the hitch interface. If 2020 is larger they missed the mark...again. Ford may get an A for safety factor for their design but get a D for usability.
FWIW, I have 3/8" G70 hooks and they go into my '19's hitch safety hook holes like they were made to, not even any "technique" needed and they rotate to put the pin towards the trailer.
FWIW, I have 3/8" G70 hooks and they go into my '19's hitch safety hook holes like they were made to, not even any "technique" needed and they rotate to put the pin towards the trailer.
If you have a chance, can you please post a photo of your 3/8" Grade 70 chain hooks engaged in your 2019 hitch. It is highly probably that some readers might benefit from seeing photos from a fellow FTE member who they can converse directly with if they have questions.
FWIW, I have 3/8" G70 hooks and they go into my '19's hitch safety hook holes like they were made to, not even any "technique" needed and they rotate to put the pin towards the trailer.
Originally Posted by Y2KW57
If you have a chance, can you please post a photo of your 3/8" Grade 70 chain hooks engaged in your 2019 hitch. It is highly probably that some readers might benefit from seeing photos from a fellow FTE member who they can converse directly with if they have questions.
The hooks on my trailer do fit my hitch...but it's a PITA compared to my D-rings.
I could get the chain hooks on my boat trailer to fit the opening on the hitch but the latch clips would not close. I used my tin snips and took about a quarter inch off the clips and now they work. The clips still function normally to keep the hooks from coming off. No problem getting them on and off. My brake away break cable was just a hook, no snap. I changed it to a large enough stainless steel carabiner to fit the opening.
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