i build my own and no alum for me . rember GM uses aam alum diff housing .. i would snap the alum ball mount in a hreat beat .

Just about every transmission case and transfer case are aluminum too, if something is engineered properly for the material then where is the problem? Stronger material doesn't necessarily negate a bad design.

Clearly that drop hitch is a bad design from an engineering viewpoint, regardless the material.

Regardless, they're fine for what they are rated for.

Buck

wobbel . i weld alum every day asme code cert and i doun't want in for high stress or weight carrying that's stuped to put it there . alum no matter what grad or alloy will not hold what steel will .i promise you that.

oh i have welded maney alum trassmisson back togather the worst are zf found in ford sd my tranny in my dodge is cast steel nv 5600 .. no breakege .

yea ok:evilb:

I've run the Rapid Hitch adjustable(5 3/4) for about 3yrs now and towed every thing from a 34 P/Q Vyper to a 27 pc Formula to a 6x10 motorcycle trailer and have seen no problems/issues yet,,,looking at the engineering of a trailer coupler I'd think the coupler would fail before a billet aluminum ball mount would fail..
Just my personal opinion.

The Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission (VESC) "V-5" Standard may be found here: http://vesc.org/vescregs.html

Additionally, you can look at the FCR for more information on hitch and coupler design requirements:

[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4, Parts 200 to 399]
[Revised as of October 1, 1997]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR393]

[Page 805-813]

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

PART 393--PARTS AND ACCESSORIES NECESSARY FOR SAFE OPERATION--Table of Contents

Subpart F--Coupling Devices and Towing Methods

Sec. 393.70 Coupling devices and towing methods


The V-5 standard requires all hitches and couplers to be able to withstand a longitudinal load which is equal to the MTW X 3.0. (That's 30,000 # for a coupler rated for 10,000)

I say NO WAY!

After reading more about this, and examining those drop hitch designs, it gets even more scary.


BTW, beware of Ratings. They don't mean much. There was a bridge here in Clearwater that collapsed about 2 years ago that was rated, certified and approved....

The highest strength aluminum, 7075, (which that hitch isn't because of it's apparent fabrication method) possesses about 1/2 the strength of common alloys like 4130/4340.

Besuides all that, I wouldn't consider a ball hitch for anything over 10K#. Pintle is the only option for me. I don't need engineering data on that one- I can figure that one out the easy way- by looking at what every commercial application uses.

Speaking of pintle, do they make a hydraulic brake coupler with a pintle ring? That could replace the coupler common on most aluminum trailers? Just curious...