LR3/LR4 Rhino OX hitch weld failures

[dylan22]

I have a Rhino OX hitch and love it for ease of use and as a rear recovery point (especially compared to the stock removable hitch). I have only used for light bike rack use and the extra height is great for this.

Last month I received a concerning call from Tactical 4x4 stating that the welds were bad on these hitches and they had heard of some failures. They offered to take mine back and re-weld/paint the hitch.

Has anyone heard similar or resolved this issue with Tactical 4x4? I have reached out via email to Tactical 4x4 but no response. NOTE: tactical 4x4 is not the maker of these, just a reseller, but they graciously offered to make things right and safe.


Pic of the rig in utah in late feb for fun.

 

[krick3tt]

I have a T-4x4 rear bumper with swing out tire carrier. When I received the bumper shipped from them there was a problem and although located in CA they drove to me in Denver to replace the bumper at their expense, in my garage.
I have complete faith in them and if there is an issue with anything they sell or create they will make it right.
I have not heard of an issue with this particular hitch but if they say there is an issue and are willing to repair it I would be incline to fully deal with them.

 

[gravey]

I received the same call. I am going to have them replace with a new one instead of repairing the one I have. my hitch looks fine currently so still using it but checking it every time out. i only use it for towing a small offroad trailer.

 

[TexasTJ]

How old is your. I have the same set up and just got pulled out of a deep bit of trouble from it. All looked good after the pull but you never know...

 

[gravey]

I bought mine November 2020. I haven't used it much. I pulled a Jeep and Colorado out and towed a small trailer for ~2k miles. Mine looks good but the powder coat on the bolts is a bit rusty. I live in Phoenix so rust is not a problem.

 

[TexasTJ]

I bought mine November 2020. I haven't used it much. I pulled a Jeep and Colorado out and towed a small trailer for ~2k miles. Mine looks good but the powder coat on the bolts is a bit rusty. I live in Phoenix so rust is not a problem.

I would guess mine is okay then its about 6 years old.

 

[NYCRover]

i bought mine in October/November 2020 from T-4x4. First time it got wet it I saw rust around the weld seams the next day. Not to mention this is probably the crappiest powder coat i've seen. There was a guy on another forum who had the hitch fail at the welds while hauling a trailer (luckily at the gas station).

T-4x4 is fixing it and re-powder coating it. I personally trust T-4x4 welding and QC versus whoever the fk makes that ox hitch after seeing how pss poor the welding was.

 

[TOUGE]

What time frame were you guys given to get your replacement hitches? I'm looking to buy new one and they are out of stock everywhere. The warranty ones should go out before they start reselling them, if they are going to resell them.

I'm only looking to get my bike rack as far off the ground as possible, total weight will never be over 50kg(110lbs).

 

[XJLI]

What time frame were you guys given to get your replacement hitches? I'm looking to buy new one and they are out of stock everywhere. The warranty ones should go out before they start reselling them, if they are going to resell them.

I'm only looking to get my bike rack as far off the ground as possible, total weight will never be over 50kg(110lbs).

They sell cheap ass ones on Amazon, like $40, if that’s all you’re doing with it.

 

[krick3tt]

I use this one. Got it so long ago

 

[TOUGE]

They sell cheap ass ones on Amazon, like $40, if that’s all you’re doing with it.

I use this one. Got it so long ago

Thanks but I want the clearance as I do a lot of my trips with my bike and do hardish 4x4 trails with it on there.

I have the long OEM one right now which makes the clearance almost nothing.

 

[douglastic]

View attachment 653391

What's the plug on the right?

 

[jdbragg]

I also am looking to buy one of these hitches and reached out to T4x4 that stated the problem and not knowing exactly when they might be back in stock. Anyone have any new time/table updates from them for the warranty repairs and/or getting them to re-stock them with better welds?

 

[dschwartzaz]

Anyone have any recent luck with these recently? Mine is about 1.5 years old I found it severely cracked on the side weld and all the other welds rusting. I’ll reach out to Eric at Tactical 4x4 Monday but I’m finding it harder and harder to trust this hitch…

 

[gatorgrizz27]

Bummer to hear this, but if you stop and think about how tongue weight forces are applied it makes sense that they are failing. The top link should not be allowed to pivot, since it does all the vertical stress goes into the narrow section of the side plates where they attach to the piece that goes up into the factory receiver. That tries to flex the side plates, and welds don’t enjoy flexing. FWIW I think it would do fine when used for recoveries, but so does the giant factory ring that the hitch attaches to.

I‘m planning on building something similar with a pintle plate for my off road trailer, but without the pivoting top link. I also had one of those Amazon hitches nearly fail while pulling a 6x12 enclosed trailer, luckily a friend noticed it before it was too late. I now use the factory short hitch with no issues.

For a high clearance bike rack alone, I plan to build a drop in swing away unit that mounts in the top flat part of the factory bumper whenever I have more than 5 minutes of free time.