Anyone put a front hitch on their Silverado??

[pmfinnegan2]

Thinking of putting a front hitch on my 2009 Silverado as a place to carry the bikes when we travel. I want to stay away from modifying or trimming any part of the front air dam (or other pieces) when I install it.

Has anyone put one of these front hitches on their Silverado? If so, can you give me pictures? Did you have to trim anything to make it fit? If so how much?

[Double_Haul]

I added the draw tite to my 2004. no cutting, bolted right on. When carrying the bikes I had to tie them down to keep them from porpoising and also removed the seats for better vis.

[bobsue2]

A friend has one on his Ram. Had to trim the black plastic under the bumper to make it accessible.

Same here.....just make sure your transmission/power steering cooling lines don't rub against the new hitch.....GL

[tuna_fisher]

2001 GMC with a Draw Tite I got from E-trailer, bolts right up, no cutting. I carry my dual sport motorcycle up front, have for years with 0 problems.I can't drive at night but thats it, I'm always sleeping then anyways. The only way to go as far as I'm concerened.

[dave17352]

nevadanick wrote:
On my 2011 i had to notch the air dam

Same year here I got mine from curt and carry a honda eu3000 on a heavy cargo rack, no problems.

[nevadanick]

On my 2011 i had to notch the air dam

[Mike_Taverniti]

Have one on a 2004 GMC. Bought from Curt Hitches. Perfect fit with no mods other than you have to remove the tow hooks. Using it for 11 years now with no issues.

[Norskeman]

I have seen quite a few going down the road this summer.

My solution was adding a RV hitch to the trailer. Just did not want anything obstructing the air flow to the coolers mounted on the front (power steering, tranny, engine and inner cooler).

The hitch is much stronger than what I need for two bikes. The hitch sits lower than I like too - has rubbed a few times this summer on the rear of the hitch plate. I may make some modifications to it to bring it closer to the bumper.

[Latner]

I've had 2 of them, 1 on a '94 silverado and 1 on the '12 I now have. Like 1oldtruck said, you have to notch the black plastic trim under the bumper enough for the tube to stick out, maybe 2.5". It makes moving trailers in tight spaces alot easier. I also use it for a receiver mounted snow plow. Go to e-trailer.com and you'll find install videos for this.

[1oldtruck]

A friend has one on his Ram. Had to trim the black plastic under the bumper to make it accessible. Nice addition to the truck though.

[lizzie]

We had a front hitch on our 2003 Silverado Truck. We used it to carry two bicycles when traveling and for a winch (as needed). I didn't like the bike rake on the front as I found it to be distracting. My husband didn't have a problem with it. As far as I know it was legal and it didn't cause any damage to the truck. lizzie

[Peg_Leg]

On my old 97 Chev, I mounted a homemade one where the tow hooks bolt on. I've used it a bicycle rack and did a lot of work with a 8,000 lb winch. BIL tried using a boom and the winch as a mini crane. He told me the boom bent. When I looked at it the bottom of the truck frame had went from a square shape to a U shape. The weight of the winch and a couple of hundred pounds on the end of a 6 foot pry bar was putting a good pull on the mounting bolts.

If you have tow hooks consider removing them and mounting a square tube receiver on both sides. Then you can slide any kind of rack you want into them and hit the road.

[gmcsmoke]

With their incredibly weak IFS I'd be nervous just with the bumper hanging up there.

Just ask cummings1998z82, he'll tell you they all fail.

[RoyB]

brirene - after reading your Bodiak report it mentioned some other good uses for the front mounted hitch. Says they are great for spotting your RV trailer. I guess you would be always be better at pushing your trailer back into the parking spot instead of backing it into place.

That would be perfect for my off-road POPUP trailer. I can just see the camp ground folks watching me unhooking my trailer out in the middle of the camp road and driving off to find to find a turnaround spot... haha... "What the heck is wrong with this guy" hehe...

[brirene]

Would a Bodiak work for you? I was looking at one that connects to my tow hooks, but didn't go through with it...yet.