Shelf life of EAZ-Lift?

Greetings TM Gurus,
I've found an EAZ-Lift WD hitch for sale (750 lb tongue weight). They guy used it for one season and then it's been in his garage for a "few" years. The pictures look OK and there doesn't appear to be any rust - just some dust. The hitch will cost me about $200 including the gas needed to drive the 400 mile r/t to pick it up. The hitch includes the adjustable shank and the 2" ball.

1) Am I looking at trouble buying a hitch that has been sitting in a garage for a few years?
2) I could spend $130 more and buy a new EAZ-lift from PPL or smilar place

Any advice?

Thanks much!

Ted

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by tritterbrew

Greetings TM Gurus,
I've found an EAZ-Lift WD hitch for sale (750 lb tongue weight). They guy used it for one season and then it's been in his garage for a "few" years. The pictures look OK and there doesn't appear to be any rust - just some dust. The hitch will cost me about $200 including the gas needed to drive the 400 mile r/t to pick it up. The hitch includes the adjustable shank and the 2" ball.

1) Am I looking at trouble buying a hitch that has been sitting in a garage for a few years?
2) I could spend $130 more and buy a new EAZ-lift from PPL or smilar place

Any advice?

Thanks much!

Ted

Unless he damaged it by overtigtening the spring bars (pretty unlikely), or there's severe corrosion, or the bars were subjected to extreme heat (e.g. went through a house fire or were welded on) such that they lost their spring temper, WDH do not lose effectiveness with time. Fundamentally they're just chunks of cast steel, a few bolts, and a pair of springs. As long as springs aren't permanently deformed by sustained overloads...or heated to high temperatures, they keep their spring rates.

And the hitch shaft casting should be OK as well unless it shows signs of being welded on or drilled in areas that don't have factory holes. Welding/drilling will definitely weaken this casting.

Finally, try inserting the bars (probably round bars at that price) into the ball mount portion of the hitch and make sure there's little sloppiness (little wear) and no signs of broken tabs at the ends of the bars because those tabs are what keep the bars attached to the hitch ball mount section.

Strange you should post this question now, I just returned from the dump where I unloaded a 750# Reese WDH that was 25 years old. I'm sure it's still good but I couldn't think anyone would want it being that old.

Originally Posted by Windbreaker

Strange you should post this question now, I just returned from the dump where I unloaded a 750# Reese WDH that was 25 years old. I'm sure it's still good but I couldn't think anyone would want it being that old.

Windbreaker and RMR, thanks for the feedback. This hitch is probably 4 years old. The guy has dropped his price a bit to help compensate for the petrol. I'm going to check it out and hopefully buy it tomorrow! I'll post an update.

Thanks,
Ted

Got It!
Drove the 200 miles to pickup the WD hitch today. Man, PA is a beautiful state - we've gotta do some camping there. Anyway, it looks to be in great shape. The guy is ex USAF and he takes care of his stuff. The torsion bars are the round ones. He gave me the original instructions, extra clips, some grease and the warranty card. It's got a 2" ball on it so I think we're ready to start distributing some lbs.
Cheers,
Ted