Would you trust this hitch

[tmills213]

So I bought this truck a few months ago and have fixed nearly every known issue within my ability. I got a nicer bumper for the rear and started looking around and noticed this terrible weld job on the hitch, yes weld... This thing looks patched together. There is a 3/8ths or so plate spacer on the bumper mounts and a few seemingly small bolts that look like they just tried to hit existing holes in the frame.

My gut says get rid of it and find a traditional receiver. When looking around I see most bolt vertically to the bottom of the C channel with three holes or so. Looking at mine, it doesn't look like there would be any big enough for anything larger than maybe 1/4" and the spacing would be garbage.

Thoughts are appreciated.

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[Wvdirtroad]

If it were me, I'd replace with a properly setup hitch. If you absolutely had no choice, I wouldn't pull anything other than a light load.

 

[IDIoit]

i would not trust that at all.
scrap that thing.

 

[homelessduck]

I wouldn't... If it were to fail it could cause some serious damage / injury, not worth it.

 

[Waystro]

My truck has the same kinda homemade hitch on it too. I would get a Curt Hitch Etc.

 

[bobs_idi]

About as far as I could throw it.

 

[dunk]

No. Bolts are much stronger in tension than shear. Not worth the risk if you're doing anything more than moving stuff around the yard.

 

[Can30Diesel]

Toss it and get a proper receiver. Just think of the grey hairs you won't gain by doing this! Really its a win win if you toss the "hitch" thats in there now.

 

[The Warden]

Not sure what you plan to haul, but for what it's worth, take a look here: http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?73252-Curt-Class-V-Trailer-Hitch

Money well spent IMHO...there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to this!

 

[jaluhn83]

I don't actually thing the bolts are that big of a problem - rear set look like the bumper bolts which are decent sized, and the fronts aren't really under that much load. What I would be more concerned with is that neither the cross piece or the 2 side tube sections are big enough to have decent strength under much load. The rear cross member is under a pretty decent twisting load in addition to bending, and the side arms under a bending load - this is why you usually see a fairly large tube crossmember and plate side frames. The tube gives the best resistance to twisting, and a rectangular tube, channel, etc are actually much weaker than you'd think under that load.

Rip that pos off and get a proper engineered receiver.

 

[FarmerFrank]

My last truck the PO WELDED some hitch to the bottom
Of the frame. And he WELDED a 1/4"x 12" plate to the top of the frame then welded the 5th wheel ball to that. Needless to say that all got torched off Promptly after getting home.

The peace of mind having a hitch that will not fail is worth fighting a 1/2 drill bit through the bottom of the frame ( I actually went with 5/8 bolts)

 

[mcghan]

lookws like the same installer as mine,only more welds on mine,not looking forward to cleaning up this mess,welded to frame,bumper brackets,bumper brackets welded to frame and welded to bumper.seems like less work to do it right the first time

 

[BDCarrillo]

Uggg... I have a nice bolt-in on the parts truck. 6 pack and it's up for grabs. 12 pack if I help ya remove it.

 

[IDIoit]

Uggg... I have a nice bolt-in on the parts truck. 6 pack and it's up for grabs. 12 pack if I help ya remove it.

there should be a bottle of whiskey involved too....

 

[Waystro]

Uggg... I have a nice bolt-in on the parts truck. 6 pack and it's up for grabs. 12 pack if I help ya remove it.

Is this for me? Cause I'm the only tx member that's posted here