M1010 Receiver Hitch Install

[Recovry4x4]

Yup, hitched. Only problem with the CUCV ambulance is the fact that it has no hitch. In order to remedy that I took a nice receiver tube supplied by harleyhouse down to a friends shop and we got busy. First order was cutting a hole on the channel on the rear. Traced out a quick pattern and clamped it to the back and he wacked out a hole with the plasma cutter. 15 seconds of finish grinding netted us the perfect hole.

We trimmed the receiver tube down to clear the spare tire and squared it up. The collar on the tube was only welded on the corners. Mike welded it all the way around then welded it in place inside and out. From there he fabbed a piece of channel to support the inner part of the receiver. At first we had the perfect spot but after tacking it in place determined that the rear step catches wouldn't clear.

Soon we mapped out a way and installed that cross piece. Finished up cleaning it up and added a little shim to the back of the steps. This helped level the steps and clears the receiver. Attached are a few pics. Sorry, don't have a completed one from the bottom showing the channel in place but I'll get one soon.

Left to do, waiting on a plug to do wiring and adding loops for safety chains.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Nice. Do yourself a favor, though. Close up the back of that tube.


Oh, about the title of the thread?

Report for flogging!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Yeah, I have the plug from the bumper cleaned up to plug the receiver, just ran out of time that visit. I need to edit the title to assist in future searches. It was fun for a day.

 

[2002ford]

Looks real nice, I may copy this in the spring. Nice 1010 also.

 

[Danger Ranger]

I was gonna comment before reading the whole thing. Looks and sounds like you got it covered. Well done. It will be a heck of a useful setup I imagine.

 

[GerWJ]

morning.... I am doing the same install on my M1010.... but after being under the rear and looking at it I felt that it needs some support for the receiver tube..... I am worried that it will flex and cause problems? thought of bolting and then welding a bar for receiver tube to the frame on each side?
anyway wondered what y'all thought

 

[panzerwillie]

Good job kenny looks good, hope to get ours up and running next few months got the new 6.5 just being bussy with the halftrack

 

[Recovry4x4]

morning.... I am doing the same install on my M1010.... but after being under the rear and looking at it I felt that it needs some support for the receiver tube..... I am worried that it will flex and cause problems? thought of bolting and then welding a bar for receiver tube to the frame on each side?
anyway wondered what y'all thought

I agree. I did install a cross piece in the rear, just not photographed it yet. Originally it was attached directly to the frame but before it was completely welded in place we realized that the hooks from the rear steps wouldn't clear. Ran a piece of channel across and notched the top of it for the receiver tube. The M1010 bumper channel is adequate to pull the weight but we were concerned about flexing up and down from a raised pintle required to level the 3/4 ton trailers. It is quite ridgid now. Still need to get those pics.

 

[GerWJ]

morning would like to see those pictures..... always open to ideas..... but have plenty of other stuff to do on it... lots of little things to work on.... my M1010 was used for parades and otherwise just sat.... amazing how much can go bad and wrong when a vehicle just sets
thanks

 

[Recovry4x4]

I will have some more pics in the AM. Should have taken them today. Today I embarked on wiring trailer lights. I got the factory plug from Erik's and made up a harness for it. Being ever worried about splice connections, I added packards to the factory harness and used the little "Y" adapters to add the trailer harness. Used color coded wire for the normal wires but the factory blackout wires had tracers so I did those in secondary colors. I'm printing up a small schematic of what I did and laminating it for the glove box. One thing I wished I had done was mount the plug at the top of the bumper. I'm going to have to do a small mod so that the ladder clears. Here are 2 pics and tomorrow I'll get a pic of the install and the back brace.

 

[m1010plowboy]

One thing I wished I had done was mount the plug at the top of the bumper.

Hind-sight is great........ We mounted low, which is a problem, and will be using your thread when I do the next one. We also dropped the receiver to the bottom of the frame because it interfered with the spare tire and our trailer hitches all run around 21" tongue height. I've dug more dirt out of that receiver and it can hang you up. It's also the correct height to catch the knee, right above the bone, if you leave the hitch in.

Mounting things the way you have keeps the plug from getting damaged and the hitch clean when you must drive off road. Awesome job, don't change a thing.

Hooked up the 24', 1700kg double-double last year for a humorous photo op and to see how she handles a trailer. Fortunately I found the passion in all that a Steel Soldier means to most folks and my 1010 will not pull trailers for work.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Here are 2 pics I just took. One shows the channel welded in the back. I opted to do the channel vertical vs horizontal to add strength in more of an up and down movement. I was not so concerned with pulling the hitch free or collapsing it but more with the raised pintle bending the front of the tube up or down. As you can see I'm still pulliing wires. Second one is where it ended up on the bumper. Had I positioned it at the very top of the the back bumper, the top step would have just cleared it. My steps seemed to be on a lean and too close to the truck anyways. My solution will be to drill 2 holes in the bumper and add a 1/4" bolt. The ladder will rest on these, shimming it out and leveling the steps. I'll finish that today and add more pics. I did take the pioneer trailer for a spin and thus far I'm very happy. All of the blackouts and regular lights function as they should.

 

[MilChevyguy]

That is awesome post...thank you for the pics...I think my M1010 needs a hitch too!!!!
Wish it was warmer here to mess with it a little!!!

M1010plowboy....I was gona tow my littel M104...but WOW you rocked it with that 24footer...!

 

[Recovry4x4]

So here's what I did to obtain clearance for the steps. When we added the hitch we added a small piece of steel on the ladder to shim it out and level it. It wasn't quite enough but I was OK with it. Now that I needed the clearance for the plug, I came up with this. I drilled 2 5/16" holes in the bumper and added bolts. The bolts level the steps perfect, gives me the clearance I need and gives me a place to bolt a ring to run the wires through. Pretty happy with it.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Safety chains was an issue as was getting in the back of the wagon while the trailer or hitch was installed. My solution was the adaptive reuse of an M1009 pintle mount. I trimmed off the top and bolted it on the pintle riser under the pintle. Now I have a small step and a place for chains.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

That's slickern' snot on a glass doorknob!