Easy question! What size spanner do I need to fit a 50 mm towball nut?

36mm 10 inch cresent no more like a 12 -15 inch cresent

I use a 3/4W (whitworth) ringspanner that fits both the imperial and metric nuts on towballs. OR 300mm shifter.... the ringy is less likely to take the bark off your knuckles (:

I got a tow ball ring spanner from Hall Towbars knowing I wouldn't have a big enough one.

Seems to be mild steel, so I'll have to see how it handles a piece of pipe to tighten the nut sufficiently.

I would be reluctant to put that much strain on a shifter. The nut has to be freaking tight.

Ken

Take a bluddy big shifter just in case!

A 12" shifter is all you need.....and it doesn't have to be overly tight.....as it should have a spring washer ( must have )..

MOST 12 inch shifters will fit. But not all !!! I have 4, 3 fit, one doesn't.!!
Ian

Gripping the flange of the towball to stop it turning whilst tightening/loosening with a stillson can be very helpful.
The towball nut of a genuine Nissan X-Trail is larger than normal...hence the pressed metal spanner referred to above is too small.

Boo Boo,
A 300mm shifter does the job, and the nut has a spring washer with it.

Almost BooBoo

We needed to come up with another lateral solution for this problem to avoid carry to many tools so we got our existing 10 inch and ground it out the few extra mm needed (ground on the fixed side)

1"5/16 af

An easy question with an easy answer. I fit many tow bars in my work, and most balls require a 33mm socket to fit the securing nut.
Jon

I think that towballs should be changed quite often, depending on how much towing you do. They are pretty cheap to buy.

When you get a new one, keep the nut from the old one and use it on the new one as a lock nut.

Im probably wrong but does a Tregg hitch actaully have a towball

I thought it was the one like a universal and just slotted into a normal 50mm towbar hole.

I had to take one off this weekend.

I soaked it with WD40 first then used as mentioned above 'a bloody big shifter' at least 12" long - no troubles.

I found it easier to leave the tongue in the hitch but turn it up side down so the nut is on the top


Richard

The idea of a 2nd old nut as a lock nut has a lot of merit!

Primarily because, it keeps the thread on the ball stem that normally remains exposed with just one nut - "covered" and thus prevents the threads from being constantly hammered with gravel stones flicked up off your tyres on rough roads, and becoming "burred over" to the point that it becomes hard to get the damn things off - even with lubrication.

Nuthin' wrong with carrying spare balls and at least 2 nuts! ;o)

Cheers!

I carry a 18" Bahco shifter (approx 60 years old) in my truck all the time.
Not only does it fit the hitch nuts...but is also a decent sized walloper to put any stupid animal that gets clobbered by my bullbar out of its misery.
Regarding the long threads on hitches and towballs...I usually cut off the excess....leaving enuff thread to drill a hole thru and fit a good-sized splitpin....just in case !!!


Cheers Keith

Thanks for the info everyone

The camper trailer was almost an impulse buy and we are 1200 km from home and a 12" shifter or any big spanner for that matter was not included in the tool box for this trip.

It will be now.

Axle

I've still gotta catchup with you for a beer.

Easy question??

39 answers on a spanner size!