Hi all,

When I bought my '04 FX4 used it had a West Coast Choppers hitch cover on it...at the time I did not think anything of the add-on, but now that I need to use the two package, it's a problem.

There appears to be a hitch pin that is locking the cover in place, and I do not have the key. It's not the standard type key, but the circular type that apparently is more rare. Any ideas on how to get this thing off? This seems extremely petty, and it's very frustrating for me since I really need to use my truck for serious towing at the end of this coming month. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

A hacksaw or sawzall should be able to cut it right off. If worse comes to worse, you could use an acetelyne torch.

 

If it seems like a hacksaw isn't making a dent...it may be hardened steel as it is a lock.

A 3" cuttoff wheel attached to a high speed drill will work...it will take a while, but it will work and not ruin any tools.

If you don't want to bother, just about any auto shop will have a 3" cut off saw that will take it off like butter....or any welding shop will have a plasma cutter that will take longer to hook up than to cut it off.

 

4" angle grinder w/cutoff wheel.

 

Yep, a cut off wheel will make short work of it. You can get one for like $20-30 from your local Home Depot and about $5 for the wheel...

I wouldn't buy a Harbor Freight one though, they aren't that much cheaper and have really crappy bearings, making them jump around a lot more when you're cutting. When it jumps around, you start cutting things you didn't want to...

 

LOL....I was a mechanic for 14 years and all I have had is a Harbor Freight 3" pneumatic cutt-off....I must have used 2-300 (Napa brand) wheels over the years and it still works fine. Mind you it is no Ingersoll-Rand...those bad boys even sound mean...but it works almost as well. The plastic guard has been busted off of it for about 15 years. I paid $9.99

I do agree that the Harbor Freight Die Grinders aren't very good, but they will last at least one job for a tool that most Joe's will never need again.

 

I was actually thinking of the electric ones, not the pneumatic ones. Many people don't have air tools (or the compressor to run a cutoff wheel for an extended period of time), so I usually don't even think to recommend them. The electric ones are crapola...

But yes, my pneumatic angle grinder from Harbor Freight works great. Best thing I ever bought from them was my $79.99 "Earthquake" with 750lb-ft of impact power!

 

I've got a friend that has a Ingersoll-Rand pneumatic rebar cutter... he says it will cut 1 inch iron rebar...

 

Through shear, or friction? If that's shear, IMPRESSIVE!