Thread: 50mm tow balls

a long time ago, dad helped the neighbor move to the west coast from te awamutu.
had a 1 7/8 ball on the ute and had to change to a 50mm,
they got busy halfwalf thru the change and wasnt untill they got there 900km later they realised they hadn't put the nut on it(found nut in tool box), the freezer on the front with 500kg of meat in it kept it down

I was not impressed when the 50mm ball was brought out as the new standard.
It's to damned close to 1 7/8.
I've seen a number of f**k ups from people putting a 50mm coupling on a 17/8 ball.
Once worn they can easily separate with pretty shit results.
Back a week or two the Heavy Duty combination was 2 1/4".
It was pretty obvious the difference.
All my stuff is 17/8 with 1" shafts (3500kg) rated.
I do carry a spare 50mm for towing other's gear.
If you are regularly towing max legal loads a pintle coupling takes a lot of beating. Stops op from asking to borrow too.

Originally Posted by Frogfeatures

I’ve got an 1 7/8 on the car, and a 50mm in the vehicle toolbox
Got caught once with a hire trailer, bloody annoying.

This is what happened to me.
Long story short I hired a ute specifically to tow a trailer whilst away from home, went to hook up the hire trailer and it didn't fit.
The guy hiring the trailer (who was doing all this via phone) said that car hiring places in Queenstown put 50mm tow ball on all their vehicles despite every hire company he knows of using 1" 7/8 trailer hitches.

According to the hire company it's not their responsibility to know what size tow ball I'd require, despite them choosing to fit the "wrong" sized tow balls.
Every trailer I have towed be it big or small has always been 1" 7/8, seems like a complete balls up to have two different sizes both legally certified but no obvious way to differentiate the two apart and no plan from the powers at be to standardized on one of them.

1 inch and 7/8 everything.

Originally Posted by Mauser308

CONVERT-A-BALL | CM Trailer Parts | New Zealand Trailer Parts & Accessories | Trailer Lights, Boat Trailer Parts, Trailer Wheels & Tires, Brake Systems for Trailers

That is all.

Also comes in stainless for those that boat and don't like rusty balls...

Had one of those on the Safari. Great for towing the 3.5T covered transporter.

I tend to fit 1-7/8 balls on my vehicles and duofit couplings.

Pays to check before hooking up, the consequences can be devastating not alone exspensive.

My boat trailer came with 50mm. Had 1 7/8" on the car at the time. Boat dealer said "she"ll be right" and it was, but it so easily couldn't have been. Brand new pride and joy could have ended up in the ditch or worse! 1.5 hour drive on Northland roads too. Anyway, have an interchange ball now. Agree though, 50mm is a pain in the arse, or at least having two sizes of ball. An example of where health and safety has actually made things more dangerous?

Boat dealer said "she ll be right"

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=go...bVYnAV_ORaVRPM

I use 50 mm. Because Im metric and so is most of the world. 50 mm is everywhere now. Except when people change it back to imperial.

It seems to me that both vehicle & trailer hire businesses are covering their respective arses.
50mm on the vehicle means that if it fits it's good.
1 7/8 on trailer means that if it fits it's good.
No it might be right.
Same reason I use 1 7/8 on trailers.
Seen what happens when it goes wrong , and don't tell me the safety chain will always hold.
pennyless

Got caught out by this yesterday afternoon

Work van has 1 7/8, and works happily with courtesy trailers from Bunnings, Mitre10 and Parapine.

Until the frigging lead on one of the M10 trailers drained my battery. Phoned the Mrs, she brings the ute down. In a rush to get trailer back to M10 - guess what ? 50mm tow ball on the ute and the big adjustable spanner back in my workshop, aaargh !

Bought another 1 7/8 today, and chucked the 50mm in my toolbox.

Most light trailer I've seen have exactly that.
Even rated chain & shackle can fail.
Saying for a friend

Originally Posted by ebf

Got caught out by this yesterday afternoon

Work van has 1 7/8, and works happily with courtesy trailers from Bunnings, Mitre10 and Parapine.

Until the frigging lead on one of the M10 trailers drained my battery. Phoned the Mrs, she brings the ute down. In a rush to get trailer back to M10 - guess what ? 50mm tow ball on the ute and the big adjustable spanner back in my workshop, aaargh !

Bought another 1 7/8 today, and chucked the 50mm in my toolbox.

I feel your pain.
Seems such a cockup to have two standards that aren't immediately obvious which is which and no plan for the country to progress towards one single standard.

Hitching up a bloody trailer shouldn't be something you have to modify your vehicle to do.

Originally Posted by Mauser308

Parking this back in the appropriate place...

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Aussie must have had some weird and wonderful shit, when my brother came back from over there he had a collection of tow balls...i think there were 4 different sizes including one that had to be about 75 mm...i got to use this one once on a trailer that only me and the owner had balls that fitted, a big car transporter...some of the balls were brass which i found unusual.