Fly in the ointment
So, not gonna rehash the whole store, just that ive been trying to get into a 5ver with a small budget but cant get past the hitch.
Needless to say, the hitch installation was never completed because i could not find a way to install the spacers due to the location of the rail holes in a crossmember.
So i took the truck to a local expert who put it up on a lift and inspected the install. Thats where the concern turned from spacers to frame brackets.
Once on the lift, we could see that the brackets installed by the previous owner was an accident waiting to happen.
The previous owner had welded on the universal brackets to the frame, and did a rather fair job on the front brackets. However, once on the lift, we could see that he had cut the rear brackets short and then welded them to the top of the frame. Holy ****!!!! Frome looking from the outside it appeared to be a full bracket welded onto the inside of the frame.
So, heres what im thinking. First, the installed hitch is too far forward. Reese says 28 5/16 from the rear and mine is at almost 33. I may order the reese brackets 50040, bolt them in place and relocate the position of the rails to a more centered location and leave the welded brackets on the frame.
So 4 questions:
Will the current location of the hitch be a big problem?
Has anyone used the 50040 bracket and do you have a pic of it installed?
Can you grind off these brackets without weakening the frame if they are in the way of installing bracket 50040?
What other options may i have?
Im running real low on funds for this project so i could use some budget minded advice. Thanks in advance.
Needless to say, the hitch installation was never completed because i could not find a way to install the spacers due to the location of the rail holes in a crossmember.
So i took the truck to a local expert who put it up on a lift and inspected the install. Thats where the concern turned from spacers to frame brackets.
Once on the lift, we could see that the brackets installed by the previous owner was an accident waiting to happen.
The previous owner had welded on the universal brackets to the frame, and did a rather fair job on the front brackets. However, once on the lift, we could see that he had cut the rear brackets short and then welded them to the top of the frame. Holy ****!!!! Frome looking from the outside it appeared to be a full bracket welded onto the inside of the frame.
So, heres what im thinking. First, the installed hitch is too far forward. Reese says 28 5/16 from the rear and mine is at almost 33. I may order the reese brackets 50040, bolt them in place and relocate the position of the rails to a more centered location and leave the welded brackets on the frame.
So 4 questions:
Will the current location of the hitch be a big problem?
Has anyone used the 50040 bracket and do you have a pic of it installed?
Can you grind off these brackets without weakening the frame if they are in the way of installing bracket 50040?
What other options may i have?
Im running real low on funds for this project so i could use some budget minded advice. Thanks in advance.
