Smoothing inside of 1 1/4 in. Outback trailer hitch?

[mountainwalker]

So I was installing a Thule Ridgeline 4-Bike Hitch Carrier on our 2003 VDC Outback H6 3L 1 1/4 in. hitch receiver ("Draw-Tite" brand that came with the car rated to 300 lbs) and couldn't slide the Thule Ridgeline Hitch fully into the Subaru Draw-Tite Hitch Receiver (needed to get the hitch another 1-2 in. in to lock the hitch with the hitch pin).

 

Felt around with my fingers inside and it was feeling a little rough (no big bumps, just not fully smooth surfaces), and I was sure there was a bit of rust inside.

 

Worked around a rag and got out some dirt debris.

 

Then gave it a good spray with WD40 and worked around a rag - sure enough it came out very rust colored. Did this several times.

 

Now I'm letting the inside walls of the hitch soak in a good spray of WD40 for a few hours.

 

I want to get it to the point where I can not only get the hitch fully into the pin-lock position, but so that I'm confident I can remove it when I want to! The way it is now, if I pounded it in it might be extremely difficult to remove it.

 

Questions:

 

1) After soaking in the WD40, should I also clean the inside walls of the hitch receiver with a stiff metal brush?

 

2) Should I apply any coating to the inside walls of the hitch receiver once clean in order to prevent rust? If I coat it and there's any rust at all left under the coating, will it continue to rust? Will the rust coat interfere with inserting and removing the bike carrier hitch?

 

3) What should I lube the inside of the hitch receiver with? Teflon bike spray, WD40, auto grease? I want to be able to regularly put the hitch on at the beginning of a weekend and remove it Sunday evening.

 

The local guys at our local Rack N Road store who are supposed to be experts only murmured WD40 and they seemed like they didn't have a clue.

[mountainwalker]

Another Rack N Road guy from a different store said that some 1 1/4 in. hitch receivers have a notch stamped, usually in the right inside wall, that has to be chisled out to get the hitch all the way into the receiver. Anyone ever see this or hear of this?

[Fairtax4me]

I'd run a file inside it and try to drag as much crud out as you can.

Any kind of grease will do to lubricate the hitch. It will help to get a cover to put over the receiver when it's not in use.

[mountainwalker]

I'm betting it's not a notch and just some crud that needs to be cleaned off inside walls. TiBug at SubaruOutback.org recommended:

 

"I work at a bike shop; last year I was helping a customer install a hitch rack on her vehicle. The hitch had been unused for years, so it was rusted and it was impossible to get the rack in. I just used a metal file to get rid of the rust (took a good five minutes of constant filing) and removed all the debris with a brush, then the rack slid in nicely.

 

I would also recommend using PB blaster instead of WD40...PB Blaster absolutely eats through rust and I think you'll have better results with it. Regardless, you should get as much of the debris out as possible...I'm thinking that a long handled straight brush would be great help to you, so the answer to your first question, in my opinion, is YES.

 

I don't know of any long term rust-prevention coating that would stand up to repeated installation and removal of the rack. I wouldn't bother with trying to coat it; just get as much of the rust and crap out as possible, then just clean it out every once in a while. As far as ease of bike rack installation/removal goes, I would recommend regular chassis/wheel bearing grease that you can get at your local auto parts store (and that you already thought of). Teflon lube will be too light to have sufficient longevity or be of any real benefit. I would buy a tub of the wheel bearing/chassis grease (it's like 4 or 5 bucks at Napa) and apply it every month or so (or more frequently depending on how much the rack is removed/installed) to the hitch walls.

 

Good luck!

Tim"

[idosubaru]

you have a 1 1/4" four bike rack? those are hard to find, most 4 bike racks are 2".

 

nonetheless your issue is a real pain. other than making it routine maintenance i doubt there's much you can do. it's a real pain dealing with this issue, i wish i could just leave it and forget it but mine are always sticking and hard to remove, hard to get back in - and in need of metal filing/soaking in PB Blaster too.

[johnceggleston]

Another Rack N Road guy from a different store said that some 1 1/4 in. hitch receivers have a notch stamped, usually in the right inside wall, that has to be chisled out to get the hitch all the way into the receiver. Anyone ever see this or hear of this?

 

yes, i have seen and dealt with this. my receiver was used and it did have the ''stamped'' notch. but my ball mount was new and from wal-mart? and was too long to line up the hole for the pin.

 

my solution was to shorten the ball mount by the 1''-2'' that i needed. ( zzz ) 4 years later i'm still using it with no problems. my other choice was to drill a new hole for the pin in the ball mount.

[Ricearu]

regular old bearing grease will stave off rust. just regrease it when it gets a little dry. and if it gets "cakey" use brake parts cleaner to clean it out and do it again.

[jp98]

While I don't have a hitch on my Outback I do have one on my Ford F350. I went to pull the ball hitch out of the receiver one time and it would not come out with out one heck of a struggle due to some rust in the receiver. All I did was to take a small angle grinder that you can buy at Harbor Freight for $20.00 and ground down the shank on the ball mount to where it would slide in and out with no problems. Afterward to try and keep the rust inside to a minimum I just spread a little bearing grease onto the shank when ever it is out of the receiver.

[mountainwalker]

After 2 days of dissolving crud and brushing and scraping it, should be fine by tomorrow. Hopefully. Then I'll probably use bearing grease to keep things sliding nicely. My only limitation has been that I couldn't find a straight brush longer than 7-8 in. that would fit in the 1 1/4 in. hitch receiver.

[mountainwalker]

Some people who have this Thule Ridgeline 4 bike carrier mentioned that sometimes the cable that locks the bikes to the hitch rack, which is stored in the hitch arms, can come out and drag along the road and get ruined - though I couldn't pull that cable long enough to come anywhere near the ground.

 

Anyone experience this with a Thule Ridgeline 4 Bike Carrier or similar unit, and if so, what's the best way to prevent it?

[Fairtax4me]

Zip tie maybe? Or just make sure it is secure before every trip, and stop every few hours (like you're supposed to) to make sure the straps are tight and cargo is secure.