Drilling hitch to fit new truck?

[chillman88]

Ok guys I'm weighing my options here. Long story short my new truck the bumper interferes with the hitch going in far enough to pin.

The square is where the hitch "ends" on my dually.

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Do I dare redrill the pin hole 7/8" farther back? Leaves approximately 1-5/8 of material in front of the pin when inserted. It's a pintle hitch for my trailer. The hitch is solid 2" square steel. Trailer weights around 2500-3000# empty and is used for hauling cars/trucks.

Alternatively I can just build a channel bumper for the new truck but I was hoping to avoid that right now.

What are your thoughts? I'm sure it will work, but I'm concerned with the added leverage put on the hitch by making it stick out further.

 

[sjwelds]

I'd think you'll be fine. We have a tri-ball hitch we use, and it had two holes in it from factory.

 

[chillman88]

I'd think you'll be fine. We have a tri-ball hitch we use, and it had two holes in it from factory.

Yeah the second hole doesn't worry me by itself, just the fact it's back that much further.

I think I would be fine too but I'm paranoid lol

 

[Ironman03R]

I'm a cheap ass too and I'd drill it, there's plenty of material infront of the new hole. Maybe weld up the old one, but if it were to break between the holes it only going to move and inch and a half.

 

[sjwelds]

I wouldn't weld the hole shut.

 

[79jasper]

I think you would have more chance of issues if you welded it vs leaving it alone.
Maybe I'm not visualizing exactly why it doesn't work currently, but could you just cut some off the back end to let it slide in further?

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[chillman88]

I think you would have more chance of issues if you welded it vs leaving it alone.
Maybe I'm not visualizing exactly why it doesn't work currently, but could you just cut some off the back end to let it slide in further?

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It's not bottoming out...

I don't have any pictures and it's raining out and I'm a wuss lol

It's a pintle hitch with lift built into it. It hits the bumper before it will go in far enough to pin it. I really don't want to cut an inch or so out of a perfectly good factory bumper.

 

[reset2]

As long as you don't extreme load the tongue it will be fine. The things that I fret about is the 6 bolts that hold my hitch to the frame. Its always a good idea to check this from time to time.

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[79jasper]

Ah, I see now.

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[sjwelds]

Yeah I follow it.

So what, the hitch pulls maybe a 10k load?

On the hitch I mentioned the second hole was right at the end of the receiver when you were using the first hole, so all the tongue load was at the weakest point of the square bar.

Never an issue so far.

 

[chillman88]

As long as you don't extreme load the tongue it will be fine. The things that I fret about is the 6 bolts that hold my hitch to the frame. Its always a good idea to check this from time to time.

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Yeah they should be fine, they were installed with red loctite on my dually. Definitely worth double checking on the new truck though.

Yeah I follow it.

So what, the hitch pulls maybe a 10k load?

On the hitch I mentioned the second hole was right at the end of the receiver when you were using the first hole, so all the tongue load was at the weakest point of the square bar.

Never an issue so far.

Yeah sounds about right, could be up to around 12k but I doubt it. Thanks for the info!

The hitch is rated for 17k, I have no intention of ever loading it near that, especially on the new truck, which will pretty much only be used when the dually is down.

 

[subway]

would it be easier to just cut some of the back of the insert down so you can use the stock hole and not stick out any more from the receiver?

 

[chillman88]

would it be easier to just cut some of the back of the insert down so you can use the stock hole and not stick out any more from the receiver?

It's not bottoming out...

It's a pintle hitch with lift built into it. It hits the bumper before it will go in far enough to pin it. I really don't want to cut an inch or so out of a perfectly good factory bumper.

You're late to the party Jared

Merry Christmas though!

 

[Big Bart]

If it it uses at least 90% of the reciever depth I would drill it. But if the reciever is say 8 inches deep, and this is only going back 6 inches deep, it begs the question if you can damage or bend the reciever hole since you the hitch is not all the way in and now the hitch is pushing directly on the reciever roof and the hitch sticking out has more leverage pushing down.

You also can tow a couple of loads and jump out every 10 minutes and look to see if all is well. Then you should know. But likely you will be fine.