Suggestions for removing this GN ball

[hookem2oo7]

First of all, since I haven't been around here for long, I'll introduce myself. I recently purchased a 2001 F250 Extended Cab SB pickup with 179,000 and I love it. I've put an air intake with an AFE ProDry filter on it, deleted muffler/cat, done the CCV mod, RiffRaff FRx kit, and changed fluids/etc. on it. I like to think of myself as pretty handy with the wrench, but this is my first diesel pickup--I've spent loads of time working on diesel farm equipment and the like as well as turbocharging and installing a megasquirt EFI controller on a little saturn for fun, but not pickups. This site is full of useful information and I thought I'd present this problem to y'all to see what suggestions were out there.

The truck has a plastic bedliner in it that I'd like to remove so I can get a spray in type liner in it. Any suggestions on brand of liner, DIY or otherwise? The problem is there's a homemade gooseneck hitch in my way. I made a MS Paint diagram since it's raining outside and I can't take a pic of it.



The gooseneck hitch is made of a piece of channel iron welded in between the framerails. The nut for the ball is welded in between two pieces of angle iron right in the center of the crossmember. On the top of the bed/bedliner there's a small 12"x9" plate of 3/8" steel. The ball goes through and threads in sandwiching the plate, bed, and bedliner in. The ball doesn't appear to be welded to anything at any point in this setup. Hopefully that makes since.

My problem is the ball is stuck. With the help of my 6' cheater pipe I've broken two smaller pipe wrenches I had laying around and I've brought out the big daddy 36 incher and still nothing. I've heated, soaked in PB blaster, heated, shocked with water, BFH'd it, you name it, and nothing. Not even a budge. I've read several threads here and on other boards suggesting I tie onto a GN trailer and drive on a gravel road to loosen it up. I may try that tomorrow if anyone thinks it will work. Any other suggestions or magic potions that will help me loosen this ball?

I'd really like to get this bedliner out so I can get the bed sprayed and get my toolbox put in. I don't haul anything requiring a GN trailer, but I'd like to keep the capability. If I have to destroy this ball then so be it, but I'd like to keep the crossmember in place.

[hookem2oo7]

Went out this morning after letting the PB blaster do it's thing and.....nothing. Feels like I'm about to snap the big daddy pipe wrench. Weld a nut to the top of the ball and take it to the shop here in town and let them get after it with the 1" impact? I'm out of ideas.

bump...

[Clay Henry]

Cutting torch from the bottom side....

[hookem2oo7]

After I snapped the first wrench that's the first thing i tried.

[Clay Henry]

Originally Posted by hookem2oo7

After I snapped the first wrench that's the first thing i tried.

And you couldn't cut it off with a torch???

[hookem2oo7]

Didn't ever try to cut it off--just heating it to see if it would let me unscrew it. I want to save the crossmember/nut if possible but if I cant get this stupid ball to break loose I may have a cutting torch-a-thon

[Clay Henry]

I would cut the whol thing out and go back with a setup that was engineered properly.