Towing

[McClare]

2001 XJ, 4x4, 4.0L, Auto

I recently towed a uhaul trailer when I moved and it was the first time that I had ever done it. I bought the ball mount, ball, and pin at princess auto for like $7 and saw the same one at uhaul for $45. Anyway, when I put the ball mount inside my receiver it seems to have a lot of play to it and you can jiggle it up/down/left/right. Is this normal? When I was towing it made loud clunking noises when the trailer would balance itself front to back. Also just having the hitch on without having a trailer hooked up to it, it'll make clunks over bumps but I see other people that leave them in there all the time.

Is it normal to clunk and have that play to it or is it supposed to be a very tight fit? Why is mine loose? Is it the receiver or the ball mount?

[Spinalguy]

Is it normal to clunk and have that play to it or is it supposed to be a very tight fit? Why is mine loose? Is it the receiver or the ball mount?

No, it should not do that. The ball should have zero movement (is the ball moving?). But the hitch will have movement as you described. You can buy a 'brace' that stops that movement. Mostly its annoying noise and clunking.

[cLAY]

Did you buy a 1" reciver and stick it into your 2" hitch?

Did you buy a recierver with 1.25" bolt hole for the ball and then stick on a ball with a 1" bolt?

Did you buy the correct size pin for the reciever? 5/8" for a 2" reciever.

[Dragonmaster]

I've noticed the same thing in the last 5 years or so.  The ball mounts are getting smaller as time goes on and the receivers are staying the same which adds up to about an 1/8" of play in either direction.  What I have done to fix mine is tack on a couple of washers in the trouble spots for a nice tight fit.

I think the issue is the manufacturing tolerances have gone out the door.

[i_go_commando]

i was thinking a few wraps of lectircal tape around the tow bar would at least silece the bang, if not take up the slack. do it so that the tape will sit in sider the reeciever a bit and none would be the wiser. also could try big haet shrink ( tougfher than tape)

where do you get these shims?

another thought would be to drill and tap a hole on one corner of the reciever and put a jam nntu in there to tightne the slop out.

oh and an aside. the same reciever in my 97 dakota was tight. in the 06 grand cherrokke its sloppy

[barmanjay]

Your beans are too small

you have the wrong size ball

there are many different sizes

1 3/4"
2"
2 13/16
 
that's all i can think of

[stroker sahara]

The problem with extra clearance most likely lies in the reciever itself. The shanks are made from standard 2" HSS of which the wall thickness can vary depending on its rating. The seamless tubing that the recievers are made from is quite expensive compared to the HSS. Some manufaturers may be using HSS for the reciever to cut cost, which may have a larger I.D. than the "hitch reciever tubing" normally used.

Once there is weight on it, it shouldn't still move tho, or have minimal movement.