WHY leave trailer hitch on !

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: dave1251
After reading this thread again, my wife reminded me how I busted my shin on a hitch in a parking lot.

I was carrying my youngest and was keeping a close eye on my middle son as he made his way to the entrance at Wal-Mart and boy did that hurt.

But filing a lawsuit or throwing it thru the offending trucks window never has crossed my mind. That being said the last thing I am worrying about is a hitch at my shin level. I am more concerned on doing my best frogger impression with my children and safely arriving to my destination.


Dave I am not sure what you did in the Military, but I have to ask, since the humor there is a bit different. What would the folks you served with do if they saw you do it or heard about it. I know if I busted my shin in the parking lot on a hitch the guys on Submarines would laugh at me and tell me how stupid I am. Maybe our sense of humor is different than that of the rest of the Military and apparently, after reading this thread, the rest of the world or at least BITOG.

I was a Deck Seaman then I struck IT in the Navy on the telecommunications side. For one if I was telling the story to the people I worked with I would make it as funny as possible to make sure everyone had a good laugh. If someone watched me do they would have a good laugh but they would not rib me too much about it. Most everyone I served with seem to enjoy working with me and most everyone thought of me as gentleman for some reason. Likely due to me not ribbing someone to death if they goofed up like tripping over a hitch in a parking lot.

The surface Navy is very different than the Sub Navy. 99 percent of the Surface guys who work at Subase hate it. The Sub Navy is or at least it used to be about finding a button you could push. The ribbing never stops.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: Propflux01

You'd be surprised how easy it is to bang your shin on one when it's installed on a giant 4 door long bed pickup parked at a mall or a WM and already sticking out 2 feet past the other cars...


Here is a novel idea. Actually look where you are going and pay attention as you are walking. That way you won't walk into things and feel so foolish you have to blame someone else for your actions.


Maybe it's not so foolish when it's dark and a car is rolling by you and your staying close to the other cars in the parking lot because it's tight having to walk between the car and some retards ball hitch sticking 2 feet out because he's too stupid to park his mile long truck all the way in the parking slot. But them again, I guess your too perfect to ever have banged a shin on anything.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: Propflux01

You'd be surprised how easy it is to bang your shin on one when it's installed on a giant 4 door long bed pickup parked at a mall or a WM and already sticking out 2 feet past the other cars...


Here is a novel idea. Actually look where you are going and pay attention as you are walking. That way you won't walk into things and feel so foolish you have to blame someone else for your actions.


ball hitch sticking 2 feet out

2 feet that is an awful big hitch...

 

[eljefino]

I could drive an RV that's 50 feet long and people will give me space on the road and in a parking lot.

So why can't I have a 14 foot vehicle with 8 inches of hitch?

For the record I had a rusted-in ball on my old volvo wagon. When I put a class I on my HHR I slathered its interface in grease and run without the ball if I don't need it.

 

[Propflux01]

It was just to illustrate a point. But I have seen hitches sticking out of long trucks that ares at least 15 inches out. And I have also seen this same hitches going into the parked car that it just backed into... Mine.

In this case the guy came out and said he was sorry, tgat he thought he had room and had forgotten about the hitch length.

Novel idea, huh?

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
It was just to illustrate a point. But I have seen hitches sticking out of long trucks that ares at least 15 inches out. And I have also seen this same hitches going into the parked car that it just backed into... Mine.

In this case the guy came out and said he was sorry, tgat he thought he had room and had forgotten about the hitch length.

Novel idea, huh?

15 inches isn't two feet...

Relax, I was only kidding.

At any rate the guy apologized and I assume he paid for the damage. He drove into you. Which is a separate issue then walking into something. Guy was at fault.
I have to assume a long truck is one of your buttons. Seems to be a hot topic on here lately.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
The surface Navy is very different than the Sub Navy. 99 percent of the Surface guys who work at Subase hate it. The Sub Navy is or at least it used to be about finding a button you could push. The ribbing never stops.

On the surface side some sorry guy will get ribbed until he cracks but that is only to one that can not get right.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: dave1251

On the surface side some sorry guy will get ribbed until he cracks but that is only to one that can not get right.


It's how we weed out the weak...

I have worked with a few AKs and SKs now LSs who can take a pretty dang good beating. We currently have a surface ET in one of the shops and he can put me to shame. Brings a tear to my eye.

 

[ddrumman2004]

Leaving the hitch in the receiver on my truck has taught a few people not to tap the back end of it when in line. Plus, it's there when I get ready to pull my atv trailer.

I could find a few other things to complain about besides a trailer hitch left in a receiver.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: Propflux01
It was just to illustrate a point. But I have seen hitches sticking out of long trucks that ares at least 15 inches out. And I have also seen this same hitches going into the parked car that it just backed into... Mine.

In this case the guy came out and said he was sorry, tgat he thought he had room and had forgotten about the hitch length.

Novel idea, huh?

15 inches isn't two feet...

Relax, I was only kidding.

At any rate the guy apologized and I assume he paid for the damage. He drove into you. Which is a separate issue then walking into something. Guy was at fault.
I have to assume a long truck is one of your buttons. Seems to be a hot topic on here lately.


Yes, but like Dave1251 posted, I too have busted my shin on those things doing pretty much the same as him. Not blaming the hitch, but at the same time I've had a couple bad experiences with them that probably could have been prevented on both sides. courtesy of removal for safety when not in use on one end, watching my steps on the other.

As for trucks, this is 'Merica... drive what you like. Most of what I see driving them is those that seem to be 'compensating' for length. The beds on most I see are cleaner than the interiors. I am sure many people would be saying "Geez, look at how that retard parked" if my little car was sticking out of the parking lot a couple feet, and with my luck, they'd probably hit it!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Huh? What's the solution for absent minded people who can't watch where they are going? Let them plow into my bumper or tailgate and cause real damage to my truck that could cause me downtime, all because they won't watch where they are going? Sure, maybe if they plow into the truck itself, they might learn the lesson in a different way, but at my expense. To me, my time is worth something. I don't want to have to go through the hassle of getting a tailgate that won't open fixed and dealing with someone else's insurance, if they have it.

The only problem here is people with no sense of personal responsibility, and it's not my problem to look out for them.


At least around here, I suspect half (or more) of the ones who hit you have no license, registration, or insurance! (The illegal aliens who hit my friend's F-250 & my wife's Blazer didn't)

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: Propflux01

You'd be surprised how easy it is to bang your shin on one when it's installed on a giant 4 door long bed pickup parked at a mall or a WM and already sticking out 2 feet past the other cars...


Here is a novel idea. Actually look where you are going and pay attention as you are walking. That way you won't walk into things and feel so foolish you have to blame someone else for your actions.


Maybe it's not so foolish when it's dark and a car is rolling by you and your staying close to the other cars in the parking lot because it's tight having to walk between the car and some retards ball hitch sticking 2 feet out because he's too stupid to park his mile long truck all the way in the parking slot. But them again, I guess your too perfect to ever have banged a shin on anything.


A ball mount that sticks out 2 feet? Really? You are going with that? Wow, that is some ball mount. Never seen one stick out more than say 10" max.

If it is that close between the parked vehicle and the one driving by I personally wouldn't try and walk through. I would wait for the car to go past. I would worry about being hit by the moving vehicle if it was that close. I also don't like to get super close to other people's vehicles. I don't like it when people walk by mine and touch it or let their purse, bags, etc... hit it so I try and return the favor.

Yes, I have banged my shin on a ball mount. My own while putting stuff in/getting stuff out of the bed of my truck or cargo area of the SUV. No, I have never walked into a ball mount in a parking lot. Not even at night( I don't see why that matters - you can still see the ball mount in the dark ). I watch where I am going.

It isn't about being perfect. It is about having some personal responsibility for your own actions. If I ever do walk into a ball mount in a parking lot it will be on ME not the vehicle owner.

 

[Silverado12]

A little consideration goes a long way. Not everyone is expecting a hitch sticking out from a truck. If folks would remove it after each use, there wouldn't be a need for a lock on it. But that's just me. Not here to try to knock others.

 

[mcrn]

It is not surprising to me at all that people do not take responsibility for their own actions. This is happening around the country more and more. I am a little surprised so many on here feel that way. I have hit my shin on my neighbors truck while walking around his tight garage. I never once thought it was his fault! I knew it was my fault! If you are walking and drop your keys down a city drain.......is that the cities fault that there was a whole there? I am just trying to grasp how it is not your fault when you are walking probably at the fastest of 4mph and hit your shin on something that is SOOO big and sticks SOOO far out. Plus, shouldn't something that people are complaining about being so big and sticks so far out be easier to see if you are actually looking in front of you while you walk?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I'm normally not one to live in the past, but seeing this thread made me thankful that the majority of my life was lived in a different time. A time when, if someone barked their shin, they knew it was because they weren't paying attention, and they learned to watch what they were doing.

It was a time when a man didn't act like a spoiled little brat and threaten to throw something through a windshield when it was his own inattention that caused the issue. It was a time when people learned from their mistakes; a time when people didn't threaten a lawsuit over every little bump or bruise. It was certainly a time when people didn't moan and complain about every issue in their life.

I sometimes think it would be interesting if some of the folks here could experience what it was like to grow up in the 40's and 50's. Then I see threads like this one and I realize that a lot of the folks here wouldn't be able to survive the school of hard knocks that was growing up in the 40's and 50's.

 

[eljefino]

My state inspection standard requires frames, and by extension, bumpers, to be a certain height, to be helpful in accidents with other cars.

Though trailer hitches have a legitimate purpose, they need to be backed up with a reasonable, legal height bumper.

However if you walk into the above truck, you're still an idiot.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI

A ball mount that sticks out 2 feet? Really? You are going with that? Wow, that is some ball mount. Never seen one stick out more than say 10" max.

If it is that close between the parked vehicle and the one driving by I personally wouldn't try and walk through. I would wait for the car to go past. I would worry about being hit by the moving vehicle if it was that close. I also don't like to get super close to other people's vehicles. I don't like it when people walk by mine and touch it or let their purse, bags, etc... hit it so I try and return the favor.

Yes, I have banged my shin on a ball mount. My own while putting stuff in/getting stuff out of the bed of my truck or cargo area of the SUV. No, I have never walked into a ball mount in a parking lot. Not even at night( I don't see why that matters - you can still see the ball mount in the dark ). I watch where I am going.

It isn't about being perfect. It is about having some personal responsibility for your own actions. If I ever do walk into a ball mount in a parking lot it will be on ME not the vehicle owner.


I think I explained myself well enough in my last post. And it does seem that since that post there have been some who agree as well. You can come down off your pedestal now.

 

[ram_man]

Originally Posted By: Traction
Originally Posted By: volk06
Why? Because I use it a lot of the time, it's not illegal in Iowa and it'll teach the person who rear ends me to be pay better attention instead of texting or being distracted.

It should be illegal. I use mine a lot, but it is simple to remove, and I will do it twice a day if needed. And what are you going to teach someone who rear ends you? It is hard enough to maneuver around long vehicles in parking lots, let alone have the hitch hanging off the back doing nothing.



yea thats what we all need more pointless laws. Here is how you avoid walking into a trailer hitch . Stop looking down while walking and watch where you are going.

 

[ram_man]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm normally not one to live in the past, but seeing this thread made me thankful that the majority of my life was lived in a different time. A time when, if someone barked their shin, they knew it was because they weren't paying attention, and they learned to watch what they were doing.

It was a time when a man didn't act like a spoiled little brat and threaten to throw something through a windshield when it was his own inattention that caused the issue. It was a time when people learned from their mistakes; a time when people didn't threaten a lawsuit over every little bump or bruise. It was certainly a time when people didn't moan and complain about every issue in their life.

I sometimes think it would be interesting if some of the folks here could experience what it was like to grow up in the 40's and 50's. Then I see threads like this one and I realize that a lot of the folks here wouldn't be able to survive the school of hard knocks that was growing up in the 40's and 50's.



im certainly the minority for my generation, why am I the minority because I was never given anything and have always busted my butt for everything. If you bang your leg it is you fault. People need to learm accountability like you said.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Geessseee.......... 5 pages?? Bunch of citified yuppie winers..

Us old country folk have more important things to think about...

Wayne (certified old country boy)