Patent ID: 8875817

Claim:
A hitch assembly, comprising: a yoke portion; a tube portion extending from the yoke portion; a driveshaft; a hitch carrier located at a first end of the tube portion opposite the yoke portion and configured to rotationally support the driveshaft inside the tube portion, the hitch carrier having a plurality of first holes; a plurality of fasteners configured to connect the hitch carrier to the first end of the tube portion via the plurality of first holes; a thrust collar located at the first end of the tube portion and configured to threadingly engage an outer periphery of the hitch carrier, the thrust collar having a plurality of second holes; and a locking plate having at least one pin configured to engage at least one of the plurality of second holes, and a plurality of third holes configured to receive at least some of the plurality of fasteners, wherein a number of the plurality of second holes is greater than a number of the plurality of first holes.