C5H RPO code 6900 lb GVWR and WD issues

lawrosa wrote:
well to recap..

I bit the bullet and bought that heavy duty curt hitch unit on Amazon.. Got a good deal $190 with free shipping. Came from overstock .com from Amazon and was here in 2 days.. Amazing..

The bouncing went away and I can now get the nose to go down on the truck with the WD . Wow what a difference..

Before with that bumper mount GM piece of junk with bumper attachment point, I could not get the nose of truck down..

I'm glad you got it replaced. Your situation is just like my friend, once he installed the new receiver he was amazed at the difference in weight transfer and truck handling when towing his TT.

Also, in case you're not aware, with your torsion front suspension you will not be able to 'level' the truck. What I mean is you won't be able to get the front and rear to drop evenly. The torsion system has a urathane bumper that is in constant contact with the lower control arm. It is meant to flex in response to momentary compression and not to be constantly compressed. What you CAN DO is measure the front wheel well height when unloaded and then with the WD bars attached transfer enough force forward to bring it back down.

lawrosa wrote:

My welding buddy says round tube is actually stronger then square tube. But when I showed him the hitch he said the welds were crappy. Plus the design to use the bumper attachment points were not smart.

I can't argue the virtues of round or square tubing. As your buddy noted, using the many pieces in the bolted bumper food chain are the reason the system flexed rather than transferred weight. As in the picture you found from '03, the weak design can't handle side forces and made it easy for the metal to shear.

lawrosa wrote:

The only issue I have now is the chains from the trailer.. The hooks do not fit well.. Im not sure what to do or how to do it..

Get hooks like PerrysBurg linked to and it will solve your problem.

lawrosa wrote:

Also I had to cut off the wire harness bracket from the old hitch. My buddy welded a piece on so I could screw it to the bumper ..

That's the same problem we all had to solve when replacing the OEM receiver. The '08 and later trucks GM changed the receiver a little and abandoned the bracket welded to the cross tube. They moved the 7-way receptacle up to a place in the bumper just to the left of the license plate. When I installed new receivers on my GM vehicles I bought a new receptacle and copied that design. However, thanks to your welding buddy you solved the problem very inexpensively and it looks just fine.

KJ