Broken Hitch Pin

[Jim Harvey]

At 04:56 PM 7/29/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi Phil,
>         THe one and only time I ran into that, I drilled it out (center 
> punched first) and replaced it with a short piece of 16 penny nail (which 
> happened to be the same diameter). Hitch pins are pretty soft metal, so 
> they drill reasonably easily. They are typically perpendicular to the 
> plate when inserted, then bent over. So drill perpendicular. As long as 
> you can get a good centerpunch close to the middle, it shouldn't be a big 
> deal. THen pound in your replacement (I expect an assortment of nails 
> will provide you with the right diameter. Cut to length with hack saw, 
> put it in a vise and dress the end to look reasonably like the 
> originals). ANd bend it over with a hammer and drift.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico

Yeah Phil, my experience has been what Fred said, including the one and 
only time part. I think some of the factories have a special drift or tool 
for bending the pins, similar to bending action posts in uprights, but 
there's no need for specialty tools for your first (only?) time.

-jh-