Talk about a "safety hazard"!!

[soberups]

The object on the floor is a "stinger" that fits into the receiver on my hitch car. It is basically a 45 lb solid bar of iron with a trailer ball at one end and a hole in the bar for the hitch pin to insert into. It is awkward and an absolute bitch to handle; back in 2009 I dropped it on my foot and wound up with a broken toe. Its so heavy that if you drop it on concrete and it will knock chunks out.Theoretically at least, when not in use it is supposed to be stowed by inserting it upright into the square receptacle that is bolted to the floor. The problems with this theory are obvious; the receptacle's location in the corner beneath the shelf makes it impossible to stow or remove this heavy iron bar without a very dangerous end-range motion, plus if your car is full in the morning you have to unload a bunch of packages and get them out of the way in order to gain acess to the stinger. As a result of this incompetent design, most drivers simply leave the stinger lying in the rain gutter next to the door where it is more accessible. Unfortunately, this creates yet another safety issue; the stinger bounces around on rough roads where it beats up and eventually damages the wiring harness for the rear lights that pokes up thru the hole in the back corner. I wound up shorting out my brake and reverse lights on that side, and the mechanic told me I needed to start keeping the stinger in the receptacle again. In the car I used to have, the receptacle was bolted to the floor in the cab in front of where the passengers feet normally rest. This keeps the stinger in your "power zone" when you remove or replace it while standing upright outside the passenger side door. To keep it secure, all that is needed is to drill a hole in the recptacle big enough to put the hitch pin through, which will keep the stinger in place even in the event of a rollover. For some unfathomable reason, this modification was deemed "unsafe" and the receptacles were relocated to their current, functionally useless position.So....do I tear up my back and shoulder reaching all the way under there to dig that bitch out of the receptacle, or do I leave it lying in the gutter where it will beat up and short out the wiring for the rear lights? Is it too much to ask for UPS to think before they install equipment in such a foolish matter?

 

[Upsmule]

Everything about this entire concept is just wrong. More proof, safety isn't first at ups.

 

[bottomups]

Why not just leave it with the TP60?

 

[Indecisi0n]

If you can't wedge it behind that square hole then I would push it out the back of the truck in the woods somewhere.

 

[104Feeder]

Stinger? That's a new one. We always called that a ball mount for a receiver hitch.
Seems like they could weld a similar receiver underneath the bumper at a 90 degree angle to the one that's there so you could just move it over when you uncouple or develop a "swing away" trailer tongue but in reverse so it's in the receiver hitch part. You see that on boat trailers all the time so they fit in garages.

 

[over9five]

Sober, how'd they figure it was a safety hazard when it was secured in the front? I remember seeing it there in older pictures you've posted. It looked like a good spot.

 

[Cementups]

Stinger? That's a new one. We always called that a ball mount for a receiver hitch.
Seems like they could weld a similar receiver underneath the bumper at a 90 degree angle to the one that's there so you could just move it over when you uncouple or develop a "swing away" trailer tongue but in reverse so it's in the receiver hitch part. You see that on boat trailers all the time so they fit in garages.

I think he only started calling it a stinger after he dropped it on and broke his toe. "ouch!!!"
​

 

[sigreq]

Had the same problem, so I just started leaving it at the tp60. Problem solved

 

[soberups]

Why not just leave it with the TP60?

I dont tow one every day. There are about 15 pup trailers at our building and maybe 20 or 25 hitch cars and not all of the cars have interchangeable stingers due to variations in the bumper geometry and designs of the hitch in the different models of cars. So, the stinger needs to live in the car whether the car is towing a trailer that day or not.

 

[soberups]

Stinger? That's a new one. We always called that a ball mount for a receiver hitch.
Seems like they could weld a similar receiver underneath the bumper at a 90 degree angle to the one that's there so you could just move it over when you uncouple or develop a "swing away" trailer tongue but in reverse so it's in the receiver hitch part. You see that on boat trailers all the time so they fit in garages.

"Stinger" is a lot easier and quicker to pronounce than "ball mount for a receiver hitch." Plus, when you install it in the hitch it sticks out behind the bumper and looks similar to a stinger on a bee.

 

[soberups]

I think he only started calling it a stinger after he dropped it on and broke his toe. "ouch!!!"
​

I didnt say "ouch". I said other things, none of which can be repeated here.

 

[soberups]

Sober, how'd they figure it was a safety hazard when it was secured in the front? I remember seeing it there in older pictures you've posted. It looked like a good spot.

It was a very good spot. Unfortunately, some high-ranking bigwig from the regional automotive department came out to our building one day and saw it and decided that it was an "unapproved modification" and he made the mechanic remove it. He said it was unsafe because if the car rolled over the stinger would come out of the receptacle and fly around in the cab. What he failed to notice was that the mechanic had cut holes thru the receptacle with an arc welder so that it could be secured with the hitch pin itself. If the hitch pin is strong enough to take the weight of a 5,000 lb loaded trailer it is certainly strong enough to keep the stinger from falling out in a rollover. The higher up you go in the heirarchy of UPS management, the less common sense you apparently have.

 

[over9five]

It was a very good spot. Unfortunately, some high-ranking bigwig from the regional automotive department came out to our building one day and saw it and decided that it was an "unapproved modification" and he made the mechanic remove it. He said it was unsafe because if the car rolled over the stinger would come out of the receptacle and fly around in the cab. What he failed to notice was that the mechanic had cut holes thru the receptacle with an arc welder so that it could be secured with the hitch pin itself. If the hitch pin is strong enough to take the weight of a 5,000 lb loaded trailer it is strong enough to keep the stinger from falling out. The higher up you go in the heirarchy of UPS management, the less common sense you apparently have.

Copy that!

 

[soberups]

Sober, how'd they figure it was a safety hazard when it was secured in the front? I remember seeing it there in older pictures you've posted. It looked like a good spot.

I took this picture a few years ago of a goat that jumped up into the truck. Its a poor quality photo (pre-iphone) but you can see by the goats feet where the stinger used to be stowed in its receptacle. It was out of the way, secure, and you could stand on the ground outside the car and lift it out of the receptacle using both hands and staying well within your power zone.

 

[cachsux]

Copy that!

I think past center manager the numbers turn negative.

 

[Johney]

We have a couple of trucks that have a permanent hitch. The rear bumper has a cut out that flips up and there is access to the hitch. When you drop the trailer just flip it back down and it's good to go.

 

[oldngray]

We have a couple of trucks that have a permanent hitch. The rear bumper has a cut out that flips up and there is access to the hitch. When you drop the trailer just flip it back down and it's good to go.

those permanent hitches are all my center had

 

[soberups]

We have a couple of trucks that have a permanent hitch. The rear bumper has a cut out that flips up and there is access to the hitch. When you drop the trailer just flip it back down and it's good to go.

All of ours used to be like that too.

Back in '06 we sent all those cars down to California (all new cars on the West Coast are purchased in Oregon because we dont have a sales tax) and got brand new Freightliners. They didnt come with hitches installed, and because peak was close and our mechanics were swamped, they sent the cars to a local RV dealer to have aftermarket hitches installed. These cars all have "Reese Tow Beast" brand receivers which are identical to the ones you see on RV's or heavy duty pickup trucks. To save money, they went with removeable stingers that stick out behind the bumper instead of going to the expense of hinged bumpers.

 

[cachsux]

All of ours used to be like that too.

Back in '06 we sent all those cars down to California (all new cars on the West Coast are purchased in Oregon because we dont have a sales tax) and got brand new Freightliners. They didnt come with hitches installed, and because peak was close and our mechanics were swamped, they sent the cars to a local RV dealer to have aftermarket hitches installed. These cars all have "Reese Tow Beast" brand receivers which are identical to the ones you see on RV's or heavy duty pickup trucks. To save money, they went with removeable stingers that stick out behind the bumper instead of going to the expense of hinged bumpers.

Is the backside of the reciever open and unobstructed? I've seen guys with trucks turn their hitches around and slide in from behind to keep them out of the way when not in use.

 

[Tiny Panda]

It was a very good spot. Unfortunately, some high-ranking bigwig from the regional automotive department came out to our building one day and saw it and decided that it was an "unapproved modification" and he made the mechanic remove it. He said it was unsafe because if the car rolled over the stinger would come out of the receptacle and fly around in the cab. What he failed to notice was that the mechanic had cut holes thru the receptacle with an arc welder so that it could be secured with the hitch pin itself. If the hitch pin is strong enough to take the weight of a 5,000 lb loaded trailer it is certainly strong enough to keep the stinger from falling out in a rollover.

They said this about DIAD 4, you had to lock in place so in the event of a rollover it wouldnt come loose and possibly hit you. My answer was, if the package car was upside down the last thing on my mind would be the DIAD coming loose.