Rear Bumper Pin (Right Side)

[Imelda]

All, I have had trouble getting the right side rear bumper pin in and out from when I got my Ollie last year.  The left one seems easier but I have to work hard with silicone grease, wiggling the bumper and a few added profanities to get the right side pin out on my Oliver 2020 Elite 2. The pin has to go through 4 holes with little clearance that have to line up perfectly to get the pin in or out.  I have seen a previous post where someone reported the same difficulty and one suggestion was to drill the bumper holes diameter a little larger. Anyone ever try this? Or are there any other suggestions like using a smaller diameter pin etc. 

[ScubaRx]

17 minutes ago, Imelda said:

All, I have had trouble getting the right side rear bumper pin in and out from when I got my Ollie last year.  The left one seems easier but I have to work hard with silicone grease, wiggling the bumper and a few added profanities to get the right side pin out on my Oliver 2020 Elite 2. The pin has to go through 4 holes with little clearance that have to line up perfectly to get the pin in or out.  I have seen a previous post where someone reported the same difficulty and one suggestion was to drill the bumper holes diameter a little larger. Anyone ever try this? Or are there any other suggestions like using a smaller diameter pin etc. 

By far, the best and easiest way to fix this problem (many of us have had this through the years) is drill it out, I would start with the easy side locked in place and use the correct size bit (as determined from the opposite side) if that doesn’t fix the problem, go up to the next larger bit until it works, try not to go too much oversize to prevent “slop” in the fitment.

 

[Patriot]

Our pins which secure our bike rack to the bumper are a little tight as well, but a little wiggling of the bumper works. I don’t see a need to drill ours. 
 

[John E Davies]

Drilling is very simple, just get a bit the same exact size as your pin, do NOT go larger! That is not needed and will just make things too loose, the tight fit is needed for the ball to work correctly… There may be a slight misalignment or burr, and a bit the exactly same size as the pin will clean that up nicely. make sure the other pin is installed and lift up very slightly on the bumper to center the holes. My pins are 3/8”, double check yours, but I expect that is correct. A 3/8” bit will be found in most basic drill bit sets. If you don’t already have one, this set is quite nice for emergencies and fits in a galley drawer neatly. I also carry a Dewalt cordless drill and 1/2” impact driver when travelling, but that may be too anal for you. 😬

If you drill the holes with that bit and the pin still doesn’t go in, then you should replace it. There is either something wrong with the ball detent or it might be bent. You could try straightening a bent one using a bench vise and mallet, but there isn’t much you can do if the ball is messed up.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Imelda]

Thank you John and all.  I did use a 3/8 drill bit to drill out any burrs and now the pin is going in and out freely.

[hobo]

I put wax on ours (candle type wax, not car wax) and it has helped immensely.

Simple fix.

[Trainman]

I've had to do several things on my trailer to get them to work better, 1. lube the pin on the Anderson hitch will make a big difference in it's use, 2. drill out the pin holes on the rear bumper so the pins will go in and out with much more easy (John way is the proper way to do it), 3. file the side slide cut on the folding steps so the steps would slide properly, be surprised taking off a 100/1000's of a inch will do. I find that just about everything I buy these days needs a little tweaking to make it work correctly, I sometime wonder what people who are not mechanical minded do, use this forum and learn, good source for knowledge. 

trainman