M1008 class 4 hitch install

[dunedigger]

Just put a hitch on today. I did a lot of measuring to find a hitch that would fit inside the factory brackets. I ordered this hitch from my local hitch shop and it's made in Michigan no shipping fee for around $170. I dedided to cut the bottom lip off the factory support brackets and after getting the hitch bolted together I don't think I needed too. The hitch came with spacers to clear any rivots in the frame and I had a box of misc other hitch spacers and came up with a combo of spacers to clear factory brackets. I'd rather not have spacers in there but I don't really see why it would be that big of deal. I'm planning on slipping a some plate stock between the factory bracket and the hitch, welding the plate to the factory bracket and bolting it to the existing holes on the hitch to reinforce the stock bracket because I didn't put the bolts back in the bottom side of the frame due to clearance problems with the hitch.

 

[Westech]

Nice work and write up.

 

[doghead]

Why are there "fresh" bolts in the 2 bottom holes of the pintle hitch? Did you use those holes too? Also, I don't see what you trimmed. Do you think a spare tire will still fit?


Looks good

edit, just did a google search for "51017 hitch", it seems to be a universal number(used by multiple manufacurers) and they all seem to advertise it as a class III hitch. But I think that weight rating on your label is right for a class 5. I'm confused

 

[ralbelt]

Looks like a nice clean install, can you still fit the spare up in there.

 

[dunedigger]

I think a class 3 hitch is rated for 5,000 gtw 500 tounge with ball and with distribution bars 7500 total trailer wieght and 750 tounge. This one is a class 4, class 5 was the way I wanted to go and much bigger hitch with more rating but I wanted one to fit inside the factory brackets. I'm not sure on the spare tire yet, I'm just getting around to getting a spare. I have the factory spare tire brackets to check with. Doghead the two bolts on the bottom of the pintle is kind of a story, I had this bumper on my pickup trailer conversion for awhile and had a bumper hitch bolted to it just for a cargo rack. Don't have the original bolts anymore but they are not involved with the new hitch at all. There is a bent over lip on the bottom of the factory brackets, I cut them off with a die grinder the length of the exposed bracket. I don't think I had too which bums me out, there is quite a bit of room between that bracket and the hitch.

 

[dunedigger]

I just did a google search too and it always comes up a class 3. Strange. I guess maybe that is the correct lable for it? I'm a little confused myself.

 

[35Z-SGM]

I want to add a similar set up to my 1028. Let us know when you determine if the spare will fit between the hitch. If it does, then I am going with the same set up!
Thanks!

 

[cocco78]

Anyone else try this hitch? I tried looking for the part # and it is a generic number that fits many vehicles, not 80's chevy trucks. It looks like its a great fit and doesn't hang down low at all. I need to get a hitch and wiring on my M1008 soon.

 

[allenhillview]

Here is mine. Don't know what happened to thumbnail, Hitch was a pain but got it in,.. a while back, no mods on frame or pintle supports, I did a four bolt class five, also shaped a u-bolt for extra since one trailer has a large tongue weight ---20'-- tandem.

Cut one ear off hitch and moved it where I wanted it go re-welded. Mine was time dated GM found at neighbors.

 

[corelokt]

When I bought a hitch awhile, class 4, and brought it home, it used all the same mounting as what was used by the Army already for their brackets. I took it back and welded a bumper hitch to the bumper. I've towed a Camaro on a trailer rated for a bulldozer "Heavy square steel frame", worked fine.

 

[INcountryboy]

Hate to revive an old thread but just wanted to comment that I installed this hitch on my m1008 over the weekend. In order to get the hitch to fit, I had to cut the bottom lip off the support brackets. However, that was all it took to get this hitch to fit. As is stated in the first post, spacers are needed to clear the rivots and bracket mounts. To me, a class 3 hitch will do fine because I'd rather have a gooseneck for heavy loads. I haven't checked yet to see if the spare tire will fit under there.

 

[Whitfield]

Thanks! I just ordered up the same Reese thru Amazon. Getting tired of dragging trailers with wifeys SUV. Hopefully my install goes as well. BTW I never knew theses trucks had a provision for a spare tire.

​

 

[Gonzomatic]

I made this up last year. Made a plywood template and hit it with the plasma cutter. It uses all of the pintle bolt locations it can and many more 1/2" bolts through the 3/8" plate. As I said, I don't tow a lot so I haven't had much weight on it, but it will be as strong as the pintle hitch.

my spare tire still fits

 

[dunedigger]

I wanted a heavier hitch because of my 1031 box a goose neck will never be an option. I never put the spare back under like I wanted to try because I went with larger tires and I now know my new spare will not fit so I never tried. I still wonder if the stock tire would but it will do me no good as a spare with the locker. I have been pulling with this truck for quite some time now with no issues.

 

[doctorwho]

Gonzomatic's self-build and install under the bumper is the way to go in my opinion. I spent many hours installing a Curt Manufacturing 14082 Class IV Receiver this weekend. It's all working and definitely attached in a solid way thanks to my efforts, but it involved some cutting, and just for good measure, I fabricated some secondary brackets to get a total of 8 bolts holding it in place. (yes, overkill, but I like the peace of mind) The reason I say Gonzomatic's build/install is the way to go is that, during my install, I got to see a lot more of the bracing for the bumper - it's massive and extremely well done. The underside of the middle of the bumper has an extra 3/8" plate welded onto it. Between the brackets holding the bumper, the extra brackets for the pintle hitch, and the extra metal they put under the bumper, the middle of the bumper itself is just as solid as any hitch available to install on the truck. A good solid under bumper hitch install would do just as well as the hitch I installed in my opinion given you find or build a really heavy bumper hitch.

 

[doctorwho]

I'm attaching some photos of my Curt 14082 install in my above post for anyone who might want the reference points.

Side of install after I fabricated and installed a brace. I decided to add the brace mainly because I could - I don't really think it was necessary, but since I had to remove some of the bracket holding the D ring tube which accounted for one bolt point, I figured I'd fix that and add one more bolt point to replace the one I removed. This essentially adds back that bracing between the D ring tube bracket and the frame via the hitch now.


Side of install before I added the above brace. You can see the part of the bracket that I cut off. (the bracket that adds one more bolt hold to the D ring tube)


Right side finished


Underneath shot. One bolt hole lined up perfectly, one needed to be reamed out a bit, and the middle bolt had to have a hold drilled. I could have just had two bolts on this part of the bracket on each side, but it came with 3 bolts for each side, so I decided to stick with that.


Under the bumper


The last part of the project was figuring out how to put the spare tire back up. I got it to fit but barely, really barely. I had to move the left side spare bracket from the outside hole to the inside hole (which moves the bracket to the left about 2 inches), and then I had to make a new way to hold the right side of the spare tire bracket up. What I ended up doing was welding a chain to a small bracket that I attached to one of a bolt point on the frame. The chain hangs down and goes through the hole on the right side of the spare tire bracket and is then secured with a padlock on the under side of the bracket along with a really large washer. The tire is secured now, but it's an extremely tight fit to be clear.

Well, if I had to do it again, I'd go with a really heavy fabrication/install of a bumper hitch as I said in my above post. However, at this point, I have a good heavy duty hitch ready to roll regardless of it taking a little more effort than I would have liked.

 

[Gonzomatic]

Update: I have pulled a few loads since I installed the hitch. Probably 3-5000 #s of logs being the heaviest. I just took it slow and checked for loose bolts every time I stopped. The safety chains hook up the same way as on the pintle and everything worked out fine. I never welded the 1/4 inch plate to the 3/8, but still hope to. As mentioned, my spare fits in its factory spot. Overall I am extremely happy with this setup. 15 bucks of receiver tube, some scrap 1/4 inch plate, and my buddy's Tig welder is all it took.

 

[doghead]

I had attempted that same installation and with my trailer empty, it bent my bumper down(on the flat portion with the hook holes).

I was using my load leveler hitch with no equalizers installed since the trailer was empty.

Never even moved, this happened just cranking the jack up. I never moved it or used it like this.

I bought a class 5 hitch instead.