I bent the plate on my trailer hitch where you connect the two saftey chains pulling someone out of the mud...has anyone ever replaced this plate and if so where can you purchase one...also has anyone ever taken this plate off and put a heavier duty plate or some other kind of mod that would take more of a beating? Thanks in advance...Jeremy

 

First don't you those to pull people out of the mud, use your reciever.
Try a local welding shop to see if they can cut them off and weld up some new ones. Or just use a big hammer

 

a big hammer should do some good, as long as none of the welds look cracked

check this out, a good read for anyone that MIGHT be pulling some one out in the future

http://www.oramagazine.com/pastIssue...ue/finesse.asp

 

Am I wrong? . .or wouldn't bending it back actually cause it to become weaker?

 

It probably would cause it to be weaker but if he doesn't try pulling people out of the mud with it then it probably won't hurt anything. You should get one of these
http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/conten...520417sq01.jpg
or one of these
http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/conten...520052sq02.jpg

 

I have a single piece version of this from Northern Tools.


I like the looks of that Warn one better, but too late now...

 

I do, just watch my video. If you have NFab stepbars (the heavy duty bars) a Hi-Lift jack will prove to be invaluable for getting unstuck (it works ok as a winch). There is more to getting unstuck than just sticking a board in front of your tire and driving over it. Getting a board under your tire is a lot harder, a Hi-Lift jack makes this all possible. The hi-lift jack accessories are 90% useless, especially the bumper accessory, I have stories for a lot of'em including that cheap base. I think hanging out with guys your own size (guys=trucks) is the key to staying unstuck. I have outgrown most of the locals and am leaving those tards unless they invest in a large winch. A winch is the only sure-way to get unstuck. I know it's hard to pull the trigger on a winch as I'm going through that right now but it's a great way to make friends, I think it's safe to say you will get phone calls at all times of the morning if you have a winch setup. If you do go with a winch setup be weary of Superwinch and the other foreign market, even Ramsey (made in the good ol USA) has a few issues (slow linespeed) but is better than nothing. Man I'm rambling on.

I think I'm going to invent an aerodynamic skidplate that splits mud rather than pushes over. It's definitely an idea and it's used today on the bases of bridges for ice protection. Whose with me

 

Definetly take it down to your local welding shop. It'll be much more expensive to replace the whole reciever mount, you can probably get it fixed and reinforced for $50 locally, if they charge you that much. As long as you just bent the safety chain mount, it shouldn't be any big deal at all. But get a square and get underneith your truck and make sure the reciever mount isn't tweaked at all too, thats a much bigger deal.