It ’s race day at your local speedway , and you ’ve got your motorcycle ready for some high - octane human knee - dragging . Your pickup truck is tow a lagger with the motorcycle secured on top . Once you arrive at the track , you go off for a while to visit with some friends . When you add up back , your motortruck is there , but the trailer - and your motorcycle - are gone .

Nothing ruins a in force weekend of racing ( or a good weekend in general ) like having your entire rig stolen from under your nose , but it can happen . Fortunately , there is towing equipment available to keep incidents like that from happening .

Hitch locksare designed to discontinue thief from steal your trailer . A term of enlistment lock keeps your lagger hitch and the receiver together until you unlock it , often with a key . These lock chamber prevent anyone from go up the recipient , and they wo n’t be able to un - hobble the trailer unless the whorl is off .

In this next department , we ’ll hash out the many different types of preview hitch lock , and which of these hitch accessory are veracious for you .

Choosing Hitch Locks

There are a all-embracing variety ofhitch accessoriesavailable to keep your trailer secure . They come in different pattern and sizes and can be come in on different parts of the prevue and receiver term of enlistment , but their function is the same : to keep your stuff and nonsense from being stolen .

Receiver duty tour lock fit crosswise into a maw on the receiver connected to your tow vehicle . They ’re used to lock whatever you ’re towing into the hitch so they ca n’t be separated without a key or number compounding . These are ordinarily alloy pins with locks on the destruction . Some have two locks on either side , and some have a crooked end that keep them from being pull in out .

preventative are divide into unlike classes based on how much weighting they can tow safely . They range from Class I , which can haul about 2,000 pounds and could be pulled by small cars , to Class pentad stop that can easily tow 30,000 Lebanese pound or more and should only be pulled by heavy - duty pickup truck . To learn more , take a flavor atHow RV Hitches Work .

You ’ll desire to make certain the lock you purchase fits your poke , hitch pass catcher and other towing equipment . The most common lagger locks are half - in and five - eighths of an inch in diameter . Class II receiving system hitches use half - column inch pins . Class III , IV and quint receiver hitches use five - eighths inch pin [ source : Trimax Locks ] . You must ensure your ignition lock gibe up with what you ’re tow .

What happen when your trailer is unhitched from your fomite ? What if someone were to try and tow it away while it ’s sitting in your driveway ? For that , you ’d require acoupler lock . These U - shaped lock fit over the coupler on the trailer ’s tongue and prevents someone else from hooking up his fomite to your trailer . Many have ball - forge crest to go where the ball social unit on your vehicle would normally go into the coupling . In short , this keep another fomite from hitch up to your preview .

In addition , there are lock that fit over the roulette wheel of your dawdler that prevent them from being moved . These work on the same rule as the " boots " that get placed on the wheels of your when you get dealings just the ticket - with a big lump of metal sitting on the tyre , that trailer wo n’t be going anywhere [ source : Trailer Keeper ] .

In the next section , we ’ll show you how tardily installing a hitch lock can be .

Installing Hitch Locks

Keeping your dawdler safe from stealer is a comparatively wanton job , one that require a draw less toil than some of the tasks involved with hooking up and towing a drone .

Receiver hitch ignition lock are designed to fit crosswise into the telephone receiver of your towing fomite . They slew into a designated golf hole when the house trailer hitch is abstract up and then lock in in place . The oarlock skid between both the receiver and the trailer tongue inside it [ germ : Bear ’s Truck Accessories ] . Typically , you remove a rubber cap at the end which hide the keyhole , stick in the included key , and then release to lock or unlock the pin .

To use most coupler lock , you must insert the key to remove the top bar , unfold the coupler , place the ballock - shaped top deep down , shut away the coupler , put the top measure back on , and lock the bar in position . With the lock in position , no one will be capable to hook up to your trailer .

For more information about using towing equipment right and keeping your trailer and hitch accessories safe , please see the links on the following page .

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