I just bought a used 1 ton ( mfg not mentioned) it has a plate under the bed and hole in the bed for a ball the chain tie downs are there the only way i can describe it is there is a hole ( where the ball goes thru ) that is very thick metal smooth bore ( no threads ) and thats all so what type of ball or is these something else missing that i need for a ball to mount in this hole
I have included a picture

thanks

 

Looks similiar to http://www.gooseneckpopuphitch.com/popuphitch, or a B&W. Need more of a look from the bottom to tell for sure.

 

bottom is wide open no rails or nothing around the opening no way something could slide up and down... :" a plate with a hole in it....

 

How thick is the plate ?? How wide, fore to aft ??

Is the plate securely fastened to the truck ??


I have seen guys simply cut/drill the hole for the ball's shank; and, when they are gonna pull a goose-neck, they drop the shank through the hole and crawl under to install the big nut; this way, they can still haul sheet-goods, etc., without the ball being in the way.

What we used to do was similar, but far better.

Weld the big nut to the bottom of the plate.

Weld a "handle" onto the base of the hi-rise portion of the shank.

Thread the shank into the nut and whack the handle a few licks with a hammer.

If it makes you feel better, you can give her another whack every few hundred miles.

When you want the ball out of the way, simply whack the handle in the loosen direction.

If that plate is like I think it is, you can also do like I just described.

 

they have a ball with a bolt thru it so it can be removed easily and thats what that hole is. not for one with a nut. the hole is a sleeve for the shaft

 

x2. Dad has one of those in his truck. The gooseneck ball has a smooth shaft with a hole in the bottom to put in a pin or bolt to secure it. When you want to remove the ball, just pull the pin/bolt and lift the ball out.

Just make sure you keep the pin/bolt in it. Knew a guy around home that always pulled a 32' cattle trailer. One day he was loading his Bobcat skidsteer into the cattle trailer. Soon as he got the wheels on the tail end, the front of the trailer lifted up with the ball. Turns out, he was too lazy to crawl underneath when he wanted to install/remove the ball, so he just never did it. No telling how many cattle he hauled with that ball just riding loose in there.

 

had that happen loading a forklift. but the bolt had broken. thank god for safety chains or it would have gone thru the cab

 

A friend of mine was loading a large skid steer on tracks onto his 24' gooseneck, when he drov up the ramps the coupler pulled out of the sleeve of the gooseneck and the trailer did a big wheelie.

It was a tense few momments.

 

Episodes like that are why the last several goose-neck hitches I have built have the nut welded on the bottom and the 30,000-Hi-Rise welded around the shank; THEY STAY THERE; none of that mouse-trap, quick-and-easy, no holes drilled junk for me.

 

Same here.

I would think that the set-up they were describing would have left the ball rather loose in the hole too.

chaikwa.

 

Different strokes for different folks but I have hauled 1000's of head of cattle with my B&W with the pen though the ball and never had a problem in the two trucks I have this hitch in. Never once has this thing felt un stable or scared me nuff to no run with it but I never flip it over so maybe it rusted solid

 

No, you missed my point. I install a LOT of BW hitches and like them a lot.

What the OP was describing was just a simple hole in a plate, no sleeve for a ball to slide into. I can understand how pinning the ball on the bottom side of a sleeve would hold the ball in and keep it marginally tight too, but what I was questioning in my mind was that same pinned ball being pinned when the ball was just passed thru a 1/2" or 3/4" thick plate with no sleeve. No matter how tight to the under-side of the plate that you pinned the ball, it would still wiggle around in it's hole I think. Pinning it THRU the ball like BW does is the ideal way if using the pin method.

chaikwa.

 

Roger that some of the home made goose neck plates scare the hell out of me. Our old ranch trap wagon we got a stupid thick plate with a whole drilled in the middle for the shank of the ball then the nut is screwed on then welded.

 

those ***** come with a sleave to weld to a plate. i have seen the ones with the nut break also

 

Be a little more specific, please.

You can buy a 5,000-pound 2-5/16 ball at the discount store for less than five-bucks.

I have never seen, heard, read, or had a nightmare about a genuine Hi-Rise 30,000-pounder breaking, even in bad wrecks.