Help With Square Hole Thingy

[Perianne]

A couple of months ago, I bought a bicycle carrier for my SUV. The carrier has a square thing that fits into this:



This thingy ^ is welded or bolted to the SUV. The carrier square thing that fits into it is the problem. It has a pin that goes through the holes on the side of the receiver (?). Now I want to take the bicycle carrier off but I don't know how. I tried to knock the pin out with a hammer, but the pin will not move.

Can some strong, handsome, intelligent man tell me what to do?

[Bilgerat]

I'm a BIG fan of WD 40. Try spraying the pin with this before applying the "force multiplier" (aka Hammer time)

[LongTermGuy]

A couple of months ago, I bought a bicycle carrier for my SUV. The carrier has a square thing that fits into this:



This thingy ^ is welded or bolted to the SUV. The carrier square thing that fits into it is the problem. It has a pin that goes through the holes on the side of the receiver (?). Now I want to take the bicycle carrier off but I don't know how. I tried to knock the pin out with a hammer, but the pin will not move.

Can some strong, handsome, intelligent man tell me what to do?

Hard to give advice without getting my `hands and eyes` on it....Go to your nearest U-Haul or Tire place (Firestone or similar) and have one of the Guys look at it...I don't feel it would be a big deal...and would be NO charge....But make sure you watch and learn as they take care of the problem...

[Elessar]

Get penetrating oil and let it sit. CRC makes a good one. Then lightly tap the
pin with a ball-peen hammer.

After that, lube it.

Dry lube works very well.

Try a Lithium spray lube. It repels water.
WD 40 is O.K. but will not repel water.
Another is Hi-Temp bearing grease.
I put that on my hitch balls.
Get a good locking hitch pin, too!

Get a cap for the hitch; one that has a seal on it.

[NightTrain]

A couple of months ago, I bought a bicycle carrier for my SUV. The carrier has a square thing that fits into this:



This thingy ^ is welded or bolted to the SUV. The carrier square thing that fits into it is the problem. It has a pin that goes through the holes on the side of the receiver (?). Now I want to take the bicycle carrier off but I don't know how. I tried to knock the pin out with a hammer, but the pin will not move.

Can some strong, handsome, intelligent man tell me what to do?

Can you take a picture of it? Specifically the pin on both sides of your receiver that you're trying to get out.

[Gunny]

A couple of months ago, I bought a bicycle carrier for my SUV. The carrier has a square thing that fits into this:



This thingy ^ is welded or bolted to the SUV. The carrier square thing that fits into it is the problem. It has a pin that goes through the holes on the side of the receiver (?). Now I want to take the bicycle carrier off but I don't know how. I tried to knock the pin out with a hammer, but the pin will not move.

Can some strong, handsome, intelligent man tell me what to do?

You got a trailer hitched welded on to carry a bicycle? Little bit over overkill here.

You have to have the same size receiver as what you're trying to hitch it to. THAT would be the first thing you need to check. They come in different sizes. You might need something that offsets the size of the receiver vs the size of you bicycle hitch.

[Perianne]

You got a trailer hitched welded on to carry a bicycle? Little bit over overkill here.

You have to have the same size receiver as what you're trying to hitch it to. THAT would be the first thing you need to check. They come in different sizes. You might need something that offsets the size of the receiver vs the size of you bicycle hitch.

I didn't get it welded on, it was there as part of the SUV. Everything works just fine. Everything fits just fine. I just can't remove it now that the bicycle shop mounted the carrier.

[NightTrain]

Usually when the pin is jammed in there like you're describing, it's pinched from the insert. I asked to see a picture of what you've got there to make sure there's no clips holding your pin in place.

If you've already removed the clip on that pin, then it's just a matter of wiggling the bike rack either in or out until it frees up your pin. You shouldn't need to beat on it with a hammer, they come right out when you relieve the pinching. If you've backed into anything (or someone backed into you), then the insert is jammed in, so you'd need to work it back out a little to free the pin.

[Gunny]

I didn't get it welded on, it was there as part of the SUV. Everything works just fine. Everything fits just fine. I just can't remove it now that the bicycle shop mounted the carrier.

A LOT of questions go with this.

My first best guess is take it back to the bike shop and find out what they did. Next best guess is if it's just jammed, you need to find someone big and strong enough to un-jam it.

[fj1200]

Can some strong, handsome, intelligent man tell me what to do?

Gladly. Did you take the pin out?

[Perianne]

There was surprisingly no pin to keep it in. My husband had taught me a lot of stuff about those types of things, so I was expecting a pin, but there was none.

Thanks for everyone's help. NightTrain I will take a picture when I can and post it.

[Gunny]

There was surprisingly no pin to keep it in. My husband had taught me a lot of stuff about those types of things, so I was expecting a pin, but there was none.

Thanks for everyone's help. NightTrain I will take a picture when I can and post it.

That's wrong. There's always a pin if it is detachable.

[Perianne]

There was surprisingly no pin to keep it in. My husband had taught me a lot of stuff about those types of things, so I was expecting a pin, but there was none.

Thanks for everyone's help. NightTrain I will take a picture when I can and post it.

That's wrong. There's always a pin if it is detachable.

I think my lack of calling things by the right name is a problem here. There is a pin there that keeps the thing in, but no pin to keep the pin in. Here is the photo.

[Gunny]

I think my lack of calling things by the right name is a problem here. There is a pin there that keeps the thing in, but no pin to keep the pin in. Here is the photo.

Hold on now. You're crossing two threads. Square hole? How does THAT happen?

Looks like it's just jammed. Take it to Discount tires and pretend you're interested in tires. They'll fix it for you AND inflate your tires for free.

BTW ... got a lot of rust under that bucket, ma'am.

[fj1200]

I think my lack of calling things by the right name is a problem here. There is a pin there that keeps the thing in, but no pin to keep the pin in. Here is the photo.

No cotter pin but there's a hole for it. Is the bolt pin threaded on? Get an adjustable wrench and try that.