# New Ohio Law on Trailer Hitches ???



## jmshar (Jul 9, 2011)

Was at my local American Legion and my buddy was telling me he got pulled over for having a trailer hitch and ball on his truck... Said there is a new Ohio law stating that if the hitch isn't being used it must be removed from vehicle ....... I do leave mine on most all spring thru fall for the frequency I hook my boat up and use it... And being a lazy "***" I don't remove it..... Anyone else hear about this or was my friend just drinking cheap beer????


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Cheap beer........


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Definitely busch light draft.


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## bradley4 (Mar 31, 2014)

That's the Milwaukee's Best kicking in lol


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## spikeg79 (Jun 11, 2012)

Probably Cheap Beer but some places it is illegal to have the ball on the hitch if it partially blocks the license plate unless you are towing or picking up a trailer.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Natty light??


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Sounds like another 'Rolling Rock' war story to me.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Saugeye Tom said:


> Natty light??


I like mine warm. Goes well with grilled bass.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

sure hope its a hoax. we use our car for doing our running when were up at Geneva and it would be a real pain to have to remove the bar every time we went to the store or anywhere for that matter. and the bar is stuck solid in the hitch on the motorhome. I've tried to get it out but it wont budge.
sherman


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## Farmhand (Jul 11, 2011)

You could drive around for 100 years straight and never get pulled over for that


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

I just got rear ended 2 weeks ago, some young teenager girl hit me, it did absolutely no damage to my truck it barely knocked the rust off my hitch ball, the statie came and said, it sure is nice havin those hitch balls, and off i went she was cited..poor girls grill and hood was smashed tho lol


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## Sciotodarby (Jul 27, 2013)

I'm not sure if it's a law here in Ohio now, but I know it is an actual law in some states. Illinois sticks out in my mind, but I could be wrong.


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## meats52 (Jul 23, 2014)

I haven't heard of it being a law in Ohio, but I think it's a law in Pa. It wouldn't matter to me because mine is only in when I'm towing my boat.


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## eriedude (Jul 15, 2010)

I bought a new Silverado last year and was at a stop sign waiting to go . A Cell Phone Sally rear ended me , Luckily my ball hitch was in and no damage done to my new truck. Her car not so fortunate. Mine is staying in..


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## chrisrf815 (Jul 6, 2014)

Im leaving mine on


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## steelhead steve (May 5, 2012)

it only has to be removed if it blocks your license plate.


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## Hook N Book (Apr 7, 2004)

This one is difficult to believe. Like cell phone's, hang up and pay attention. They can be very hard on the shin's. I have a solid king-pin as oppose to the hollow. They hurt very much if you don't pay attention. I've trained myself pretty well. LOL...!


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## Areemjay (Dec 7, 2014)

It's a law in new York because of insurance lobbyists. The insurance industry is OK with cheap plastic bumpers. They don't like the hitches because they do too much damage to drivers vehicles who are not paying attention. They feel that damages would be less if us guys and gals who have hitches in trucks didn't have them in. the damag to the front ends of cars would be less. Spreading the damage over 2 vehicles and the whole bumper and not just the hitch. I say that they should let us beat cell phone Sally with our hitches for giving us whiplash. Or at least let me throw a beer bottle from my back seat at her. But that might be considered littering


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

Had a cell phone Sally rear end me two years ago. I was at a stop sign and she was behind me. She was watching traffic and not me in front of her. I never even took my foot off the brake and she plowed into my hitch. Not even a scratch on my hitch but a big hole in her radiator.


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## capt j-rod (Feb 14, 2008)

I prefer the triple ball tree style in mine. That way the texters have the choice of what size hole they put in their radiator... My shin says take it out, but idiots and cell phones say leave it in.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Hook N Book said:


> This one is difficult to believe. Like cell phone's, hang up and pay attention. They can be very hard on the chin's. I have a solid king-pin as oppose to the hollow. They hurt very much if you don't pay attention. I've trained myself pretty well. LOL...!


There's an old joke that goes, "God gave us shins so that we can locate our trailer hitches in the dark!"


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## laynhardwood (Dec 27, 2009)

I had an Audi TT play chicken with my hitch. I won


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## greendragon (Sep 20, 2007)

I just got picked up by Ohio State Patrol for speeding and not one word about my hitch being on.


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## mkalink (Mar 28, 2010)

It should be against the law to leave them in. I have scars on my shin from those damn things. Most of the scars are from my hitches over the years. The worst injury was from a truck parked next to me at Walmart in port clinton. I had some money blow out of my hand and I took off after it. Of course not looking down and bam! Down to the ground and blood running down my leg. I removed the hitch from the truck and placed it In the bed. After I thought about throwing it across the lot. I bet the person that owned the truck wondered how it got into the bed. I'm pretty sure I left enough flesh on it to do a DNA test and identify me. Since then I remove mine when ever I remove the trailer.


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## beaver (Sep 28, 2010)

I'd have been red if it was my truck and I witnessed someone taking my hitch off because they weren't watching where they were walking.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

beaver said:


> I'd have been red if it was my truck and I witnessed someone taking my hitch off because they weren't watching where they were walking.


Yep! Wouldn't appreciate walking out and seeing someone messing with my vehicle either. 
Like many, I've barked my shins on a few insert as well. While rolling around on the ground with blood running into my shoe in pain that has to be close to a woman delivering a baby, I've never been upset with the owner of the vehicle. But have surely been mad at myself for not paying attention. With a few of these episodes, it didn't take long to learn that if I was walking close enough to someones vehicle to bark my shins on a hitch insert that sticks out a foot or so, I was walking to close to the persons vehicle in the first place.


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## beaver (Sep 28, 2010)

fastwater said:


> Yep! Wouldn't appreciate walking out and seeing someone messing with my vehicle either.
> Like many, I've barked my shins on a few insert as well. While rolling around on the ground with blood running into my shoe in pain that has to be close to a woman delivering a baby, I've never been upset with the owner of the vehicle. But have surely been mad at myself for not paying attention. With a few of these episodes, it didn't take long to learn that if I was walking close enough to someones vehicle to bark my shins on a hitch insert that sticks out a foot or so, I was walking to close to the persons vehicle in the first place.


My thoughts exactly. I've never understood how people are constantly banging their shins on hitches that stick out less than a foot from the bumper. 

Of course it could just be me. My biggest pet peeve is people who don't know what personal space is. I'm usually good about keeping my cool, but I lost it a few weeks ago while at a buffet. We were the only two in line and this random guy was literally stepping on my flip flops he was so close behind me. I turned around and told him if he can't stay atleast an arms reach away, don't be surprised when my arm reaches him.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

beaver said:


> My thoughts exactly. I've never understood how people are constantly banging their shins on hitches that stick out less than a foot from the bumper.
> 
> Of course it could just be me. My biggest pet peeve is people who don't know what personal space is. I'm usually good about keeping my cool, but I lost it a few weeks ago while at a buffet. We were the only two in line and this random guy was literally stepping on my flip flops he was so close behind me. I turned around and told him if he can't stay atleast an arms reach away, don't be surprised when my arm reaches him.


Hehehe!
Know what you mean. Don't care for someone right up on me...or my property(cars,motorcycles,boats etc) . Been around street rods, custom bikes etc. all my life and have been taught from a young lad to look all you like but keep your distance. Lot of hard work and many hard earned $'s into vehicles. Want to get in a bad situation real fast, go to a street rod or motorcycle show and invade that private space.
IMO, carrying that 'private space' respect for someone else's property whether it be a $1000 vehicle or a $100,000 vehicle is no different.


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## mkalink (Mar 28, 2010)

Funny my wife and I were over at Cleats in Marblehead on Sunday and we were talking about a similar issue. I watched families walk out of the restaurant and walk down to the boats. They just walked on the docks and looked at the boats. Their kids jumping around and standing on some of the boats. You talk about private space my boat is mine. Your kid jumps on my gunnel uninvited we will have a problem. I consider docks same as the sidewalks to your home. If you don't have business there stay out.


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## Redman1776 (Jul 14, 2014)

I doubt I could get mine out if I tried.


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## J2jm (Apr 20, 2015)

Could not get mine out if I wanted. I used to take it.
I left it in all duck season. I could not even persuade it out with a 10lb sledge after the season ended.


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## scioto_alex (Dec 30, 2015)

I know a working truck when I see one if it has three different sizes of balls in a cloverleaf arrangement, maybe combined with a pintle hitch.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I guess until I get a ticket i'll leave mine in. I tow my boat up to erie with my old motorhome then use the car to launch and load the boat. we leave the motorhome at the campground and use the car to do our running into town. the bar and ball hasn't been removed from my car in the last 8 or 10 yrs so I don't even know if it will come out. I know the one in the motorhome is stuck and wont budge. I've tried everything except to tie it to a tree and try jerking it out.
sherman


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## OrangeMilk (Oct 13, 2012)

Sounds like a good way to cut down a Tree, Sherman.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

sherman51 said:


> I guess until I get a ticket i'll leave mine in. I tow my boat up to erie with my old motorhome then use the car to launch and load the boat. we leave the motorhome at the campground and use the car to do our running into town. the bar and ball hasn't been removed from my car in the last 8 or 10 yrs so I don't even know if it will come out. I know the one in the motorhome is stuck and wont budge. I've tried everything except to tie it to a tree and try jerking it out.
> sherman


A fellow employee(and very hard headed one) I used to work with supplied some good entertainment for the rest of us one afternoon a couple years ago. His insert had been stuck in his hitch for many years. This hitch was on its second truck and the insert had not been removed ever since being put in on the first truck.
He decided he was going to chain the insert to a 1/2" thick walled x 10" pipe that was filled with concrete and concreted in the ground about 5' deep. The pipe wasn't going anywhere.
We had all looked at it and advised him that he needed to pull the torches out and use the rosebud to heat the hitch prior to trying to remove insert.

He more or less laughed at us, went into the shop and got some trusty PB Blaster spraying it into the hitch. He commented that his Chevy Silverado had enough power to pull anything and could pull that insert out with ease.
He chained everything up, took the slack out of the chain and spent the next 30mins. leaving many miles of good rubber on the pavement. Lunchtime came and during lunch, he told us he needed to let the Blaster work some more, then rather than take the slack out of the chain, he was going to do some 'snatching' against the chain. In other words, he was going to do his best to tear the hitch off his truck and rip the driveline out. A shame cause he had a very nice Silverado.
After lunch, he proceeded with plan B. After about a half dozen attempts of snatching and doing nothing but ricochetting his forehead off the windshield, a run came in. To keep him from completely destroying a beautiful truck, I sent him and another guy on the call.
Before leaving, he sprayed more Blaster and put tension on the chain saying that it would be loose when he returned.

While he was gone, another guy and myself heated the hitch, took the ball off and put it on insert from the bottom to use the porta-power between ball and hitch to removed. We cleaned and lubed the insert/hitch and repainted the outside of the hitch. We then remounted ball, re-inserted the insert, hooked the chain back up just as he left it awaiting his return.
When he got back, we were all standing out there. He made a beeline to his truck, got into it and romped it. Insert flew out, chain flew up in the air. This fella rolled out of his truck with his chest blown out with an "I told you so look" knowing we were all watching.
We laughed till the tears ran. My buddy that helped get the thing out told him, "look, that PB Blaster even cleaned all the rust off and turned to red grease. That's some amazing stuff".


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## Longhorn (Oct 26, 2014)

I have Ranch Hand bumpers on my F350 with a receiver on the front bumper. I periodically use it when I'm maneuvering my boat trailer. I keep hoping for the day when some moron in a Prius on a cell phone pulls out in front of me. 8,000# of 1 ton diesel pickup just doesn't stop on a dime! Of course, if they hit me from the rear, I may or may not notice it......


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## Bedrock (Apr 15, 2012)

I had an experience in Florida with my hitch-n-haul on the back end. State patrol pulled me over for a headlight out and grilled me about not being able to see my rear license. I countered with why do they sell them if you can't haul anything on them? He let me go, but he was mumbling and grumbling about it.


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## Redman1776 (Jul 14, 2014)




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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Hehehe! 
Well...I guess we have to blame our own lack of paying attention and responsibility on something when we do something stupid. It can't possibly our own fault...no how...no way. May as well be a trailer hitch, a gun, a fork( in case we over eat and get fat) etc. etc.


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## 27482 (Apr 16, 2011)

Hook N Book said:


> This one is difficult to believe. Like cell phone's, hang up and pay attention. They can be very hard on the shin's. I have a solid king-pin as oppose to the hollow. They hurt very much if you don't pay attention. I've trained myself pretty well. LOL...!


Amen to that one


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