"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
On 05/13/2012 07:04 PM, TomR wrote:
I bought an old used pickup truck a few months ago that has a trailer
hitch
with a lock on it. I have the keys to the lock, but I can't get the lock
to
open so I can remove the towbar/ball (or whatever that is called).

Here's a link to an online image of a lock that looks like the one I
have:

http://www.pacifictrailers.com/index...4,s :0,i:110/

Hopefully, the link will work.

The lock has a press-type button on the end. The key goes in, and
everything seems to turn freely, etc. But I can't get the lock to come
off
so I can pull the bar out and remove the towbar/ball.

I have used oil etc. to get everything loose, and I have tried tapping on
the mechanism. It just won't come apart. If I can't figure it out, I
guess
I'll have to cut the lock off.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what else I could try?

Abrasive cutoff wheel in an air cutoff tool or 4.5" angle grinder. Not
worth any more effort on a $20 part.

Good point. Unless I hear of some trick to get the lock off with the key,
I'll probably end up doing that. A friend of mine already offered to just
cut it off with his angle grinder.

I guess that I was thinking that since everything seems to move freely with
the lock itself, and the bar slides back and forth easily, that maybe I was
doing something wrong in how I was trying to unlock it.