Hitch Preference

[GLS]

What brand of hitch does everybody use? I am going to buy a class III hitch, but want to know what kind to get. I'm thinking of going with Valley...not the universal fit because IMO they look like junk. This will be going on an '89 silverado 1500. I plan on installing it myself, but they will do it for $40 I think. If I do it myself (which I will probably do), are there any major problems I may run into? I plan on having to drill holes etc.

Please let me know of any comments/suggestions you have.

Thanks,
Ryan

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Class 5 here.

1000 tounge weight 10,000 towing.

I have towed 24,000 with it before.

Do you have a 1" drill bit?

[SCAPEASAURUSREX]

For a 1500 a 1/2 ton truck a class 5 is over kill, if they even make it... All you need is the class 3...

Look at Draw tite... I have had quite a few diff hitches on various trucks and the Draw tites seem to be the best built , & finished, clean welds and so on... I think alot of the newer trucks the hitches line up with factory holes, On the older Fords you have to drill, not sure about the older chevys.. But I believe the ford class 5 on an F250 I did last year was only 5/8 " holes, and the class 3 on my F150 was 1/2" holes... Not too bad to drill on the 1/2 tons. Just make sure you wear very good eye protection !!!!!!!

[jeffex]

I got a class III hitch from u-haul. I think it was u-haul.com . It is a hide away type and it bolted to holes already in my 2000 silverado. took maybe 20 min. Nice clean look like those on suvs
price was $109 I think

[alfman]

I would go with the class 3 also. When you go to put it on use vise grips to clamp it in place then drill if needed . I always drill a smaller pilot hole first,it makes it so much easier. Good luck!

Alf

[jeffyr]

I have a class 4 on my dodge 1500 because it was only $15 more than the class 3. Better to be safe for the small amount of money. Besides, I can carry more toungue weight on the receiver carrier safely than the class 3. If the frame on that Chevy is open then it should be a really quick job. If it is closed then you will have to snake the bolts through from the end with a wire that I believe is supplied.
I was installing alone and it was too heavy to lift in place and hold so I put a 2x4 across a floor jack and raised it into place and was able to work hands free.

Oh.....mine is a hiddenhitch and I like it because most of the hitch is tucked under the bumper and all you see is the receiver box.

jeffyr

[Turfdude]

Use a class III Reese or Draw-Tite. Either one makes hitches to fit your vehicle, just remember to specify vehicle yeare when ordering. If ever you get a larger truck (dump or stake), you may be better off having a welder fabricate one for you;)
Bob

[scagman]

What is a class 3 hitch. I just bought a 6.5 x 12 trailer I just have a regular Drawtite hitch with a 2 5/16 ball , is this ok???????

[LAWNGODFATHER]

It's what they class tounge and trailer weight.

How did you get a 7000# trailer with a 2 5/16" tounge?

[scagman]

#7000 pounds is what it can haul, not what it weighs. If thats not what your talking about then ya they did sell me a #7000 GWR trailer, they also installed the hitch and brakes. It seems to do just fine with my Sonoma. If its dangerous let me know!

[LAWNGODFATHER]

7000# is the GCVW (Gross Combined Vehical Weight)

Trailer should weigh in at or a little less than 1000# so that leaves you with a 6000# weight carrying capacity. The axles and srpings are 3500# for each set if tandum, if single axle the 3000#, or 3500#.

Single axle should weigh in at or about 700#

With a S10 or Sonoma should be able to tow about 2000# or less safely, but you should get trailer bakes.

My question was how did you get a trailer with a 2 5/16 ball hitch.

It has to be at least a 7000# trailer to have that size tounge hitch.

[heygrassman]

Just bought a Class 3 Reese. The directions sucked. I had to figure it out myself. The directions (with pictures) for the model I bought were completely inconsistent with what came in the box.

Other than that the Reese is nice. Look on ebay you can get them cheap $137 with express delivery.

Jeff

[scagman]

L.G.F This is exactly what they sold me last friday.

6.5 X12 Tandem axle, 4 wheel electric brakes, and split expanded metal ramp gates.

I got all the options: Weedeater racks, shovel/rake holders, Catch all box.

The trailer weighs 905# Bare bone, so id say your right on, its a 1000 pounds with all the options. Im looking at the papers and it ses it has payload of 6095#

The hitch is a regular hitch that most everyone has its a drawtite, probably the same as a U-Haul hitch. It has a slide in with a 2 5/16 ball which does fine so far.

I had them put in a brake controller box in my truck also.

I will have in the trailer a 32" w/b, a 48" w/b, and 2 21"s

I will probably will be pulling 2000+ pounds.

Total for trailer, hitch, and brake box $3850

Whats wrong with my hitch setup? It looks perfect to me. I hope its ok because I spent $200 on it.

[GLS]

Look on ebay you can get them cheap $137 with express delivery Or I can go pick one up myself for $100.

[andyslawns]

I called U-haul to see if they had any hitches at our local U-haul store, For a cat. III hitch, installed it the total will be $150.50. Seems pretty feesable to me.

[Grass_Slayer]

reese from wal-mart 3inch drop hitch (upside down to compensate for 2inch lowering) 2inch switchable ball bowtie hitch plug all for 150.

put on 90 ck1500 in 20 to 30 min. no holes to drill but the directions were a little cofusing. just make sure u torque the bolts to spec and not under.

[GLS]

Well I bought and installed my new hitch yesterday. I went with a Valley (http://www.valleyindustries.com/trailer_hitches.html) Class III. It was $89.99 from Farm & Fleet, plus 15% off on sale ($76). They offered to install it for $45, but I decided to do it myself because it didn't seem that difficult.

I had to remove two existing bolts on the frame. One zipped right off with the impact wrench, but the other one was rusted on there good. I tried some bolt buster, but that failed, so I got out the recipricating saw and cut through it.

I also had to drill two 1/2" holes in the frame. My drill bit was really dull, so I had to buy a new one for $5.

Total time spent was about two hours. It was fairly easy IMO, I wouldn't spend $45 to have it installed, although that seems cheap compared to other prices I have heard (over $60).

I went with the Valley because it appeared to be a good solid hitch and it was $15 cheaper than a Reese. Also, the Reese hitchs at Wal-Mart had torn boxes with bags of bolts hanging out of them.

Here are some pictures of it:
http://0ryan0.home.mchsi.com/hitch1inbox.jpg
http://0ryan0.home.mchsi.com/hitch2closeups.jpg
http://0ryan0.home.mchsi.com/hitch3complete.jpg
Sorry they're out of focus. I don't really have a digital camera yet, it's one of those webcams that I have to manually focus.

[landscaper3]

We run all class 4 hitches on our trucks. The dump trucks have a special higher rated hitch that is welded on, we have a pintle ball combo rated at 30,000 and 3000 tounge hitch is rated on dump trucks. our trailers are also 7000 GVW and 2 5/16 ball and our 20,000 GVW is pintle. I have hauled a case 580 back hoe on the dump truck hitch which is a 30,000 hitch. All on a 1 ton!

[yardboyltd]

I just bough a 1/2 ton ram. It had a dent in the bumper, so I went to the junkyard, they had 2000 ram that had just been wrecked with a pristine bumper and hitch. $100 for bumper, $50 for class 3 hitch...

[Commander]

I see you have the plate for the pintle hook and what not. Get the combination ball / pintle. Stick that ball coupler behind your seat and forget about it. I purchased an 8 ton pintle hook / 2" ball coupler for about 80 bucks several years back.

[SCAPEASAURUSREX]

That Valley looks identical to the Class 3 Reese I have on my F150.. Those types of hitches , 3 piece are pretty easy to install with one person... The heavier hithces like the class 4 and 5 are al welded one piece, so quite hard to handle with one person...

Cool looks good...