Is installing a hitch receiver a reasonable DIY job?

[kokotg]

We just bought a new toy hauler, and we're pushing up against the limits on tongue weight for our current hitch receiver, so we're planning to upgrade it. I found one that says no drilling required; bolts should match up with the holes that are already there...any reason we can't install it ourselves? My husband is reasonably handy in a general sort of way but without much experience working on cars specifically...but my brother, who does have a lot of experience with that, will be here to help. Husband's nervous about it, since the consequence of messing it up would be losing the trailer on the highway somewhere....but it sounds like a pretty straightforward job to me. Thoughts?

[kokotg]

Grit dog wrote:

I'm in the "as long as I'm pretty close to the ratings I don't worry", but I've been towing stuff for a long time with a lot more rag tag setups than any newer vehicle and also have seen the failure point of suspensions, axles, frames, bent hitches etc working as a mechanic. In all cases things were grossly overloaded. This give me comfort in pushing some limits a bit, with caution.

This is more where my husband is, but I'm in the overcautious to the point of paranoia camp ;). We picked it up out of state, so we already towed it 500+ miles with no problems, but the heavier duty receiver would just make me feel better.

[Hannibal]

Nice job krobbe!

[krobbe]

Use a floor jack to hold the old receiver in place while removing the bolts and to lower. Also to raise the new one in place and hold while installing the new bolts. Last thing you want is to drop it on your head while trying to man handle it.
It took 20 minutes to swap mine out. A lot longer to install the new trailer plug receptacle into the bumper. The original plug recpt was attached to the OEM receiver and I saw the new trucks had them in the bumper. So I drilled, used an electrical knockout and filed to fit it in. Came out like a factory job.

[BenK]

Only use the fasteners provided by the new receiver OEM...if none or lost, replace
with Grade 8

DO NOT drill/hog out/grind/etc any portion of the TV's frame rail to fit the
new receiver. Worst place on any stressed member is the flanges, as they are
the main source of strength...the web to a lesser extent, but they too are in
the game (cross section of the 'C' channel frame rail)

After taking off the old receiver...clean, clean, clean the area down to OEM
paint/undercoating/etc

Apply a good coating of paint or whatever you choose. On BOTH mating surfaces
between the new receiver and TV frame

Torque the new fasteners to spec and on that...if the new receiver instructions
say to 're-use' the original fasteners...I'd get new Grade 8 fasteners. As
you do NOT know how they have weathered the years. Worst yet if you live in
an area where it snows and they use some sort of salts to de-ice

DO NOT drill/hog out/weld/etc on the new receiver cross tube. It is a torque
tube and any change in cross section will create a stress raiser that the OEM
did NOT design in or knew about

Other than that, not rocket science...just lots of work with a very heavy
hunk of metal...

[Grit_dog]

Koktg, did not mean to mislead you.
Yes you'll be right around 1000lbs tongue weight it appears. Thinking you'll offset a bit of that with toys loaded in back. (But you're right, bikes and kayaks may not offset much tongue weight.)
I'm in the "as long as I'm pretty close to the ratings I don't worry", but I've been towing stuff for a long time with a lot more rag tag setups than any newer vehicle and also have seen the failure point of suspensions, axles, frames, bent hitches etc working as a mechanic. In all cases things were grossly overloaded. This give me comfort in pushing some limits a bit, with caution.
Bottom line a direct fit replacement hitch is at most a one day job I'd say even with just hand tools and a little experience and not that costly if you're concerned with overloading.
helping hands, a floor jack and some bigger tools for stuck bolts will make the job much easier though.

[drsteve]

With a 2700 lb payload capacity, you're good to go.

In answer to your question, yes, the tongue weight will be reduced by loading stuff in the back of the trailer. That is why toy haulers have such high dry tongue weights compared to other floor plans--the manufacturer knows people are going to put dirt bikes, quads, and other heavy vehicles back there, and design the trailer so it won't be fishtailing all over the road due to having too little loaded tongue weight.

The only way to truly know is of course to head for the scales fully loaded and ready to camp, but it sounds like you're OK, especially with a heavier receiver. The tips about penetrating oil and air tools are spot-on too. Those bolts almost certainly won't want to cooperate.

[dodge_guy]

THe hitch and dogs don't account for th trailers tongue weight! That goes against he vehicles GVWR. Anything you put in the trailer goes against its GVWR. The tongue weight will be dependent on how you load the trailer. If you put 1500lbs directly over the trailer axles the tongue weight will not change from its dry weight! Now when you start moving that around the tongue weight will change. But in the end you want the final tongue weight to be 12-13% of the trailers loaded ready to travel weight. And there is only one way to know that. Load it up as you would for a trip and go weigh it. Move stuff around until you arrive at the proper weight.

[kokotg]

Grit dog wrote:


Like bedlam said, impact wrench is your friend for on and off. Barring that, no pun intended, make sure you have a breaker bar or cheater pipe and a bfh.
Also decide if you really need a new hitch. What I've gleaned of your setup you may not need one especially if you use a wdh on the camper.

Grit dog wrote:


Like bedlam said, impact wrench is your friend for on and off. Barring that, no pun intended, make sure you have a breaker bar or cheater pipe and a bfh.
Also decide if you really need a new hitch. What I've gleaned of your setup you may not need one especially if you use a wdh on the camper.

Really? I've thought more about tongue weight than I thought possible over the past few weeks, but I'm still not quite sure I get it....so if the dry weight of the hitch is 985--I'm figuring another 40 pounds for full propane tanks (battery goes in a compartment farther back on this rig), the weight of the WDH (say 100 pounds or so?), then another 60 for dogs in the back of the van. So we have right under 1200 pounds sitting on the tongue. But then does the weight we load in the back of the trailer offset that? I.e. is it possible for the actual tongue weight when everything's loaded to be lower than the dry hitch weight? Current receiver says tongue weight 500/1000 with a WDH; the upgraded one would be 1000/1200.

Even if it is, though, it sounds like it would tow better with a tongue weight over 1000 once we're fully loaded so that we can get up to 12-13%

We'll definitely get exact weights with everything packed up before we go on any long trips with it (which is something we never did with the old trailer; it was much lighter and so far under our overall towing capacity that we just didn't think much about it...so the heavy hitch is forcing us to be more thoughtful about our towing setup and hopefully safer).

[Hannibal]

I've installed a few. Not a bad job at all. The plug can be the biggest challenge if it's integrated into the OEM hitch receiver. The use of tie wraps helps with holding the new hitch up while bolts are started. Definitely use a torque wrench. You'd be surprised how much we all overtighten nuts and bolts without one.

[Grit_dog]

kokotg wrote:

bucky wrote:
Go spray the bolts on the old one right now with rust penetrant. Not WD40, rust penetrant. Spray again every few days until the new hitch gets there.

thanks for the tip! those bolts have been on there 14 years now, so I'm sure they'll be stubborn.

Like bedlam said, impact wrench is your friend for on and off. Barring that, no pun intended, make sure you have a breaker bar or cheater pipe and a bfh.
Also decide if you really need a new hitch. What I've gleaned of your setup you may not need one especially if you use a wdh on the camper.

[kokotg]

bucky wrote:
Go spray the bolts on the old one right now with rust penetrant. Not WD40, rust penetrant. Spray again every few days until the new hitch gets there.

thanks for the tip! those bolts have been on there 14 years now, so I'm sure they'll be stubborn.

[kokotg]

J&R wrote:
I have a Reese 12000 hitch we took off of our 03 ford E350 van. Bolted on with same holes as factory 10000 hitch. It's yours for free. Tried to sell it but shipping was killer. PM me if interested, up here in Jefferson, ga. Moderator not selling, just trying to help another member.
'

That would be awesome--thank you! (ours is even a 2003 as well)....PMing you

[bucky]

Go spray the bolts on the old one right now with rust penetrant. Not WD40, rust penetrant. Spray again every few days until the new hitch gets there.

[tmm2good]

kokotg wrote:


Payload capacity is just over 2700 pounds, and we don't pack anything in the van except us (there are a lot of us; two adults, two teenagers, one tween, and a preschooler....hence the van for towing) and 3 small dogs (they weigh about 60 pounds altogether). the dogs are the only thing past the rear axle. Van is a Ford e350 V10.

Good deal, sounds like you are good to go.