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Posted to rec.autos.tech,alt.home.repair
dpb dpb is offline
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Default Can I buy these?

On 8/24/2011 11:40 AM, micky wrote:
....

They are the same: two quite thick washers, rectangular, almost 2"
by 3/4", with a square hole in the middle, to accept the square shank
of a large carriage bolt that holds the hitch to the bumper. The
head of the bolt goes where it would be impossible to get a wrench.

What do I call such a thing if I'm trying to buy a couple, and do you
think they are sold separately?

....

Undoubtedly they were punched specifically for the size of (I presume)
tube; it'll be unlikely you'll find them as a separate part unless the
hitch vendor can supply them. If that is so, you'll probably think it's
better to go retrieve them than pay the asking price I'd expect...

Of course, making one isn't any problem for any machine shop w/ a punch
or a guy at home who's fairly adept w/ a torch (or, better yet, here's
the excuse you've been waiting for for that plasma cutter ). Or,
drill the hole of proper diameter and use a file to square out the
corners is nothing but some time doing a repetitive piece of mindless
work...

Oh, other thought...you likely can find a round washer w/ the hole for
the carriage bolt (or a plow bolt) and then just grind two flats down to
get the width on the outside.

If you're not going to reuse the hitch, I'd probably just let the new
owner deal with it...


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