reese hitch rusted

[350MJ]

So it seems I have the exact opposite problem as most people ive seen online. my reese hitch is rusted. the ball mount is not stuck in, rather it can't be put in. The rusting caused the side walls to swell some. Ive been trying to chip away at the rust with a chisel but it is hard to get down inside the mount hole. Any advice? I took it off the truck so I can work on it better. I'm going to sandblast it and repaint it after.

[neohic]

I wouldn't even dink around with it. Cut it off and weld on a new receiver tube from just about anywhere you can get a draw bar from:

 

 

Then to keep things clean, I use a real fancy square wire brush that's made for use inside a 2" receiver tube. Can't find a picture online, but just imagine a wire brush that's square... I think I got it at a Harbor Freight? Anyhow, I'll scrub it out good at least once a year depending on how much it gets used. Make sure to touch up the paint inside afterwards too.

[johnj92131]

Suggest you try a file with a wood handle for you hand first.  Just about any scraping tool would work, again with a wood handle to protect your hand.  A Harbor Freight wire brush would be good.  They have a 1 inch wide or so brush that is a foot

[GregM]

You can use electrolysis to remove rust. Use Google to find articles that describe how.