I feel dumb but couldn’t find anything via Google. How do I secure this style of hitch so that someone can’t just pull the pins out and easily take it away. I guess they would still have the ball attached because I have that locked but I feel like I’m missing something…
Replace the pins with locking pins.
Do people steal hitches? Seriously? Heavy and not that valuable.
Country bumpkin here, don’t lock any of that crap. Never an issue.
Replace the pins with bolts.
But, be careful: you want the bolts not to have the threads in the gap between the parts. Add washers under the head of the bolt/nut as required to achieve this. Use a bevel washer as the last washer under the nut and use a self locking nut.
https://www.nord-lock.com/learnings/bolting-tips/2015/benefits-of-bolt-shanks/
Take it out of the receiver and lock it in your trunk or garage until you need it. Save someone’s knee cap
Outside of welding the entire assembly to itself and to your vehicle, nothing will prevent a determined person from stealing your hitch out of the receiver.
If welding isn’t an option, simply remove the hitch from the receiver and store it in your vehicle. Otherwise, look into Locking Hitch Pins.
And these are like $50 at harbor freight. IMO, there’s no real big risk to simply leaving it as-is.
Maybe if you drilled the hole to 1/4” diameter and get this?
If you don’t want to buy a locking pin, a judiciously applied blob of JB Weld would make removing the pins a major pain in the ass (for you as well as thieves, unfortunately).
