Gooseneck Ball Spanner Wrench???

[Flopster843]

I'd personally try the hammer and punch first, since that's the easiest. If it's a no-go, weld a nut to it. Make sure you get it plenty hot to ensure a good weld or els it'll just twist off when you put some pressure on it. Drilling a hole threw it and cutting it out will also work. You'll just have to work in "stages" that way you can get the inner ball stud hot enough to cut out before you get the housing around it hot enough to melt. Cut a little, then cool it all down with some water and repeat. You should be able to get it without any damage to the housing if you're careful. Be extra careful though, you'll end up shooting sparks down on the wires to your rear speed sensor and brake line. If you do the torch thing, i'd suggest covering that stuff with a soaked blanket or something that won't ignite when slag hits it.

 

[WD40]

I'd personally try the hammer and punch first, since that's the easiest. If it's a no-go, weld a nut to it. Make sure you get it plenty hot to ensure a good weld or els it'll just twist off when you put some pressure on it. Drilling a hole threw it and cutting it out will also work. You'll just have to work in "stages" that way you can get the inner ball stud hot enough to cut out before you get the housing around it hot enough to melt. Cut a little, then cool it all down with some water and repeat. You should be able to get it without any damage to the housing if you're careful. Be extra careful though, you'll end up shooting sparks down on the wires to your rear speed sensor and brake line. If you do the torch thing, i'd suggest covering that stuff with a soaked blanket or something that won't ignite when slag hits it.

Burning the wires and brake lines is why I would want to take the thing off of the truck. Would give you lots more room to work. Let us all know how it goes.

 

[JLDickmon]

screw it... throw the whole darn thing away and get a Hide-A-Ball set up..

 

[Hoss 350]

Okay, me laddies, here is the DEFINITIVE answer to the burning question.

It is not notched for a spanner wrench. It is the channels where the pins on the side of the ball assembly slide in, turn, slide down, and turn again and lock in place. It is on both sides because the ball is invertable to make it go down inside the bed.

The manufacturer is Diamond Hitch

And the ball is an INVERT-A BALL.

Unfortunately, they don't make this ball anymore -mad so the only fix is to replace the entire cross-member under the truck.

So, Robert, you're gonna get your way, man, it's coming out...

However, Diamond Hitch has made me a great offer to replace the crossmember and ball for $100 with the new, upgraded version. I figured the ball alone would cost that much. They were a great help. I'd recommend them to you if you need an easy to install, strong, yet simple hitch setup.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice, I am glad to have you guys there to help out when stupidity strikes me or the previous owner, who I'd still like to find....

 

[JLDickmon]

screw it... throw the whole darn thing away and get a Hide-A-Ball set up..

now ain't that what I just said?

 

[RSG]

Try these

Having been around more shit-for-brains in my life than I normally admit to sweet ):
1. apply lots of penetrating oil to the top AND bottom
2. bottom picture suggests a cold chisel and hammer for backing out the retaining ring. Not pretty, but worth a few solid taps after giving the oil a chance to sink in.
3. If not luck, apply a torch (top side is safer and easier) and when warm, hose it down again with penetrating oil.
4. repeat step 2.
5. Still no joy: get thee an "easy out" in a large diameter, drill from the top the proper size hole, then insert easy-out and as you twist counterclock-wise its left-hand thread will dig deeper into your top-drilled hole. You will need a big sucker to keep from shearing it off. Alternatively, as someone previously suggested, weld a nut on there. BUT it must be a LEFT-HAND thread, get you a big old lever and let it rip.

Good luck buddy. This is where you just want to friggin' strangle the butthead that caused the problem.-mad

 

[W4RLR]

I had a monkey wrench to install the new one, but there is nothing to get ahold of with the monkey wrnech on the one that had it's BALL cut off....

Even though my wife has been gone for a week to visit our daughter and won't be back for another three, which accounts for my mnd going completely into the gutter, I WON'T go there, I WON't I WON'T!