The hitch housing has a plate geometry with vertical alignment bars and rib stiffeners. It weighs approximately 60 lbs. with nominal dimensions of 18" x 20" x 5". The housing is made with SC 8630 steel and sees loads as high at 15,000 lbs. (for the 5 ton truck). The first prototypes of the hitch housing were fabricated steel assemblies, consisting of more than 35 pieces bolted and welded together. The assembly required 4-6 hours of alignment effort during installation. The projected production cost of the steel fabrication assembly was $5000 per unit.
The Metalcasting Solution
The challenge was to improve the hitch housing assembly. The goals of the metalcasting design approach were to --
- Reduce the number of parts in the assembly and lower the weight.
- Decrease the final, manufactured cost
- Provide faster, more precise alignment/adjustment procedures during assembly on the truck
- Improve the hitch durability.
