What type of hitch for a 2004 Chevy 1500

[EJ797]

Agreed, they can ring their bells and blow their whistles. I could care less about the display and such. And to be honest I would rather deal with an electrical brake system as I have a background in electronics. So now P3 for me...

[EJ797]

Hmmm...

http://www.etrailer.com/pc-L~3774DAT.htm

[austinado16]

I have that exact same kit, except the skinny lock that goes through my tongue latch is shapped more like the bigger lock that's for the draw bar.  I use the draw bar lock year round to secure either the drawbar, or my old school GMC badge receive plug, and use the tongue lock about 90% of the time when I tow any trailer.  The big tongue lock goes on at the campground, hotel, or where ever, if I'm unhitched and a trailer is left parked.

Great investment, and use that little suitcase to store other little towing goodies, like my 7pin to 4pin adaptor, other tongue latch pins, my 1-7/8" ball, a pair of rubber safety chain hook keepers (if I'm towing a trailer with an old set of safety chains that done have built in keeper latches, etc.

[wavery]

I just did this same install on my 2006 Chevy 1500 about a month ago. Super easy.

You will use one of the existing bumper bolts on each side. Get grade "8" bolts 7 nuts for the other 2 holes in the frame and you will also need 2 bolts to bolt it up to the bumper, in the center (threaded holes are there already.

I suggest putting in the 2 center bolts to the bumper 1st. just screw the bolts in about 6 turns. Then line up the rest of the holes and loosely install all of the bolts before tightening any of them.

The reason for this is because many truck bumpers have been whacked at one time or another and may be slightly (or greatly) out of alignment. If you install the frame bolts 1st, you may have a heck of a time aligning the center bolts (under the bumper). Don't be surprised if you have to loosen all of the bumper bracket mounting bolts to get it aligned. That's not a big deal either if you are prepared for it. If you don't know about loosening all of the bracket bolts, you may kill yourself trying to get the center bolts to line up.

[EJ797]

Okay, one last toy and the list is complete:

http://www.etrailer.com/pc-hcps~03409210145.htm

Placing my order now...

[EJ797]

Well, that went well... My order is processed, free shipping, and I found a 5% off coupon code at retailmenot.com... Now it is time to find a place where I can rent a torque wrench.

[austinado16]

That AF cover is super nice!  Good find.

A torque wrench?  You gonna fly that thing to the moon?  Just make 'em good and tight.  You're going to be working with some large diameter fasteners, so you put some force on them and not worry about snapping them off.  You'll know when they're tight.

[EJ797]

That AF cover is super nice!  Good find.

A torque wrench?  You gonna fly that thing to the moon?  Just make 'em good and tight.  You're going to be working with some large diameter fasteners, so you put some force on them and not worry about snapping them off.  You'll know when they're tight.

You soud like my Father... "A torque wrench? Just grab a big wrench and tighten the friggen bolts. The only thing I have ever torqued was the head of an engine." He then followed up with "Yeah, but if you don't use a torque wrench every time you hookup you will be thinking about whether the whole hitch is going to rip off because you didn't use a torque wrench."

I know that if I don't use one it will haunt me... (My whole family calls my dad Mr. Safety, some of that has rubbed off on me it seems...) Besides, I think I can rent one for like $10 at the autopart store around the corner from where I will be doing the install.

EJ

[austinado16]

I would say exactly what your dad has said.  Having spun wrenches for a living, the only thing I use my very expensive Mac torque wrenches for is cylinder head bolts, crankshaft main bearing cap bolts, and connecting rod nuts.  That's it.

You know that hitch isn't going to just drop off because you gave those bolts a good hard pull with a 16" long 3/8" ratchet.  If you really want some insurance, use Grade 8 nylock nuts.  They'll never come loose, whether the nut is tightened to 5ft/lbs or 80.

And be aware that the rental torque wrenches are probably not accurate because they don't get taken care of, or sent in for recalibration.

[EJ797]

Okay, so no torque wrench... Etrailer.com worked really well. They didn't have the Air Force cover instock so they shipped the rest of the order and moved me up to 3-5 day shipping for free. They will send the Air Force cover when it comes in.

[wavery]

That AF cover is super nice!  Good find.

A torque wrench?  You gonna fly that thing to the moon?  Just make 'em good and tight.  You're going to be working with some large diameter fasteners, so you put some force on them and not worry about snapping them off.  You'll know when they're tight.

You soud like my Father... "A torque wrench? Just grab a big wrench and tighten the friggen bolts. The only thing I have ever torqued was the head of an engine." He then followed up with "Yeah, but if you don't use a torque wrench every time you hookup you will be thinking about whether the whole hitch is going to rip off because you didn't use a torque wrench."

I know that if I don't use one it will haunt me... (My whole family calls my dad Mr. Safety, some of that has rubbed off on me it seems...) Besides, I think I can rent one for like $10 at the autopart store around the corner from where I will be doing the install.

EJ

I agree with Austin16 but if it's gonna give you concern get a torque wrench.......it's not worth the concern.

You can get one at Harbor Freight for about $15. Then you'll have one when you need it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=239

I have two 1/2" torque wrenches. I keep one in mt truck and one in my tool box at home. The one in my truck is a $15 harbor Freight....the other a $200 Snap-On. I use the Snap-On to calibrate the HF one, never had an issue.

I use the one in my truck to torque the lug nuts on my trailer wheels. Now.....if you want to be concerned about torquing something....torque those while your at it.

BTW....locknuts are a good idea. You only need 2. All of the other holes are threaded.

[austinado16]

Hey Wavery, did you get my PM from a few days ago?  Hadn't heard back from you.

To EJ707; since you've got threaded holes that you'll be using, blue or red loctite thread locker is a good secure way to make sure nothing loosens up.  Blue is used pretty standard on many "external" type bolts and studs, for assemblies like external engine stuff, brake calipers, brake rotors that bolt to hubs, steering/suspension related fasteners, etc.  Holds the fastener firm, but allows ease of disassembly with normal tools and normal force.  Red is used on critical internal engine/trans fasteners where if the item came loose it would grenade the assembly and "they" don't care how hard it will be to disassemble in the future.  I would choose blue for an installation like your hitch, if I were going to use loctite at all.

[EJ797]

Would that torque wrench from HF come calibrated or would I have to take it somewhere?

[rabird]

Don't forget the ball/nut. The one inch requires 250 ft-lbs not 249 or 251!

[austinado16]

Still haven't torqued one of those ball nuts either.  It's a 1" shank, so a couple of grunts and a jerk, and there....torqued down.

The HF is probably calibrated, but I can't say how accurately, or how accurate it might be in use. Plus, all torque wrenches are really only very accurate in the middle range.  So you don't use a 150ft/lb rated version to torque 35ft/lb connecting rod nuts.

Seriously, don't worry about torquing this stuff.  If you've spun a wrench, you "know" how to tighten down a bolt per it's size.  Torque specs are for assemblies where distortion or warpage can occur if the fasteners aren't torqued in a specific pattern, and to an exact same amount.  Like a headgasket.  It's torqued in an ever widening X pattern, in 3 or more stages, to the same amount for each fastener, per stage, until the final torque value is reached.  Wheels: you may want to torque them so that you can get 'em off later with a standard tire iron, and so you don't damage the lug holes in the wheel.

You're just bolting a frame of the hitch assembly to the frame and bumper of your truck.  You're not going to bend anything, distort any assembly, wind up with a leak or warped component, or have it so tight that you'll never be able to change it on the side of the road.  The company lists a torque value because of the liability in selling something to the general public.  If the hitch fell off, the trail came loose, killed a bunch of people and a law suit was filed, the manufacturer can just say, "Hey, we told you to torque those bolts, and you didn't.  Have a nice day."

But as Wavery says, if you'll have piece of mind, torque 'em.